Student Life Taking its Toll? Improve Your Health with these Tips

Student life - a revolving door of parties, cheap booze, student debt and new friends. A simplistic portrait, perhaps, but not entirely untrue. Outside of your studies, socialising on campus can be never-ending if you join a few societies.

But the stress of studies and the casual hangovers of a party lifestyle can take their toll. According to the Nightline Association, 65% of students feel dangerous levels of stress - and it's impacting their health dramatically. The problem is so dramatic that universities are even setting up petting zoos to calm any students on a knife edge before their studies.

If you're feeling the impact of being a hard-living student, here are a few tips to help relieve the strain.

Have a Day to yourself

No matter how much work you've got to do, taking a full day where you can kick back and relax is vital for effective studying. Why not set aside a day of pampering for yourself? Head off for laser hair removal, nail painting, a full-body massage, an eyebrow tweak or any makeover that takes your fancy. It might seem like a lavish way of beating your stress, but in some cases looking good can mean feeling great.

Meditation

When the gasket seems set to blow, one thing could help - just breathe.Indeed, meditation is the perfect way to sit back and let go for a little while to avoid stress. Even performing breathing exercises for 10 minutes a day can help centre you - and it could even lead to an epiphany about your coursework.

You don't have to go full-blown swami priest in the library, but a little bit of time to clear your mind will do wonders to your health.

You are What you Eat

You wake up hungover and phone in a Domino's pizza, then you head off to the library and tuck into a pre-packaged sandwich and an energy drink. Ploughing through your 15th Mars bar of the day, you feel the grease and spots coalescing on your face. Your energy wanes - time for another energy drink?

It's tempting to survive through your studies with more questionable foods than a Hot Dog Van's Offcuts Convention, but overdoing those saturated fats and processed gumph will have a lousy impact on your health.

Whether you're waking up from a heavy night or breaking through writer's block on your next essay, try to eat healthy and sensibly, with (at least) your five portions of fruit and veg a day.

Sleep Tight

All-night cramming sessions are the vocabulary of some students. Unable to focus until the very last minute, they belt through essays in the wee small hours, emerging from the library with Gollum-like spasms away from the sunlight.

Despite this being common practice, a disrupted sleep pattern is catastrophic for your health. More than this, focusing while trapped in a sleep-deprived stupor is unlikely to unleash the best of your capabilities.

Get a full-night's kip every evening, and set a schedule in the day to make your studying time optimal.

Share with friends