Students are often stressed out while attending classes, participating in extracurricular activities, and maintaining a balance with social life. According to the report by Research.com, 45% of students reported suffering from ‘more than average stress’ while 33% said that they suffer from ‘average stress’. Therefore, it is important for students to take care of themselves and practice some self-care activities.
These activities are significantly helpful in maintaining their emotional and mental well-being. However, there are countless self-care acts that students get confused about while picking the most effective. For those who are looking for the best self-care ideas, this article is for them. Here, we’ll share the best self-care activities for students.
Let’s start with the importance of self-care for college students to boost their focus.
Why Self-care Is Essential for College Student’s Academic Success?
Students prioritise their coursework and assignments over their health and well-being. As a result, they face burnout, anxiety, and depression. As per the study by Transforming Education, 41% of students feel anxiety while completing their academic tasks. Such students can get assistance from London-based professional assignment writing services to effectively complete their academic responsibilities and get more time to take care of themselves.
Additionally, practising self-care leads them to improved mental and emotional well-being and eventually assists them to become more productive. Self-care comprises activities that play a key role in protecting mental, emotional, and physical well-being.
Various self-case activities are available for students to practice; however, here, we are going to mention the best self-care activities for students that can greatly improve their mental and emotional health. Continue reading to explore these activities.
8 Best Self-care Activities for College Students
We know it is difficult for students to take out some time from their hectic academic schedule, but self-care is non-negotiable. If you get only half an hour in a day, you must use it to take care of their mental and emotional well-being. Below, we’ll share some creative and effective self-care activities for college students to reduce stress and increase focus.
Let’s get started.
- Prioritise Time
Sleep has significant positive effects on physical and mental health. However, most students find it difficult to follow a constant sleep pattern due to late-night studies. The American Physical Therapy Association stated that 72.7% of students get insufficient sleep, and 20% of them take less than 6 hours of sleep.
Therefore, the best thing that students can do to improve their mental, emotional, and physical health is to sleep 7-8 hours. To achieve this, students should minimise their screen time before bed and must practise mind-relaxation activities.
- Eat Healthy
Eating nutritious food is always the best and easiest way for students to take care of themselves. A healthy diet fuels your body and enhances your cognitive functioning and mental stability. Therefore, whenever you are considering practising self-care activities, first make a healthy diet plan that you can follow even on your busiest days.
This healthy diet plan must contain fruits, vegetables, meat, protein, beans, and grains. Moreover, eating healthy food maintains a good blood sugar level, which keeps your energy high throughout the day. Nutrition food also improves brain functioning and reduces feelings of depression and anxiety.
- Go For a Walk
Taking a walk is one of the best self-care activities for students who need mind peace. If you want to practice this activity, you can go to a nearby park for a walk. Spending time observing things around will refresh your mind and eventually improve its functioning. Moreover, this walk is also beneficial for your physical fitness.
As per the Better Health Channel report, a 30-minute walk every day significantly helps in improving cardiovascular fitness, reducing body fat, and strengthening bones. All in all, when you get time, just go for a walk, which plays a key role in improving your state of mind and physical health.
- Practice Mindfulness Activities
Another way to take care of your mental and emotional well-being is to practice mindfulness activities. Mindfulness not only helps you to accept the current situation but also enables you to pay attention to it. Mindfulness activities include:
- Meditation
- Deep Breathing
- Listening Music
- Conservation
Many students prefer to meditate daily, which significantly reduces their stress levels and improves concentration. However, others prefer deep breathing as it is the best mind-relaxing activity. They just have to breathe with their nose, breathe through the diaphragm, breathe when relaxing and do silent breathing. You can start any of the above-mentioned activities that best suit you and relax your mind immediately.
- Opt Digital Detox
One of the prime concerns of elevated stress levels among students is the excessive use of digital devices. Most students sit at their study table to write their assignments and other homework tasks, ending up scrolling through their social media handlers. As a consequence, they are unable to complete their homework and get bad grades.
Therefore, it is beneficial to take regular breaks from digital devices to enhance your productivity and reduce stress levels. Specify time during the day for usage of these devices and limit yourself from using these devices while studying. Furthermore, taking breaks from digital devices allows you to get involved in productive activities such as reading, exercising, and spending quality time with your family.
- Exercise Daily
Doing physical exercise is considered the best self-care activity for college students. Regular exercise, whether it is yoga, running, or sports, improves physical health, reduces stress levels, and enhances mental functioning. Further, physical exercise boosts the productivity of endorphins, which are body chemicals that are responsible for improving our mood and mental functioning.
The best benefit of exercise is that it naturally regulates the sleep pattern, which is the prime concern of students. It is recommended that every student devote 30 minutes daily to physical exercise. You can be involved in group sports and fitness clubs to follow a daily exercise routine.
- Start Creative Work
Creative work such as painting, writing, or playing music have therapeutic advantages, so these can be the best self-care activities for students. These activities give them emotional release, a break from academic pressure, and boost their mental well-being. Additionally, many students are passionate about these creative activities, but they aren’t able to follow them due to their hectic schedules.
By involving in these activities, college students can work not only on their mental and emotional well-being but also get a chance to pursue their passion. Furthermore, these activities empower students to express their ideas or feelings who are not good at expressing themselves in words. In a nutshell, by dedicating time to creative work, college students give their lives a positive outlook.
- Learn Time Management Skills
For a student’s life, it is essential to draw a sharp line between your academic life and personal life. It is only possible when you learn effective time management skills. So, when consider to focus on your mental and emotional well-being, first manage your time in the best possible way.
Additionally, this time management skill plays the leading role in reducing stress. College students can follow the below tips to manage their time effectively:
- Use a study planner, time management apps, and techniques to specify time for each task.
- Plan your daily schedule and try to follow it.
- Prioritise important academic tasks such as assignments and don’t leave them for the last minute. Rather, contact trustworthy assignment writing services to get assistance in completing your assignments on time.
How Many Pillars of the Self-care?
Self-care is significantly important for students as it offers them a chance to bring positivity to their lives. There are many ways of taking care of yourself, such as exercising, going for a walk, eating healthy, and more. However, before practising self-care activities, students should know the seven pillars of self-care.
Check out what they are.
- Environmental
- Emotional
- Physical
- Mental
- Spiritual
- Recreational
- Social
Conclusion
Student life is tough, so there is a dire need to maintain a balance between academic duties and good health. Self-care activities are the best way to achieve this balance. These self-care activities for students aim to reduce stress levels, promote mental health, and help them to achieve academic success.
However, there are numerous options available for college students to take care of themselves, so picking the best one is surely overwhelming. Therefore, we have shared some of the best and most effective activities to help them out. These activities include eating healthy, going for a walk, limiting the use of digital devices, doing exercise daily, starting creative work, and learning time management skills. You can pick any one of these to start your self-care journey.
