Top tips for students to combat stress for International #StressAwareness Day

Ahead of International Stress Awareness Day next week (5 Nov), Exemplar Education, the UKs biggest supplier of home learning support, have penned their top tips for students to combat stress.

1. GET ENOUGH SLEEP 

Children and students are notorious for missing sleep, especially during exam periods where many students are up late at night studying. Students that lack sleep are at a distinct disadvantage to those that are getting the recommended hours.

2. TAKE PART IN REGULAR EXERCISE

One of the most well-known stress busting tips is exercise. Consistent exercise has positive effects on people’s physical health and their mental wellbeing. Children can let off steam and concentrate on something other than school work.

3. LISTEN TO MUSIC

Listening to music has many cognitive benefits for children. Lots of children listen to classical music whilst studying or to relax after a particularly hard day. Listening to classical music can slow your heart rate, lower your blood pressure and in turn make you feel less stressed.

4. VISUALISATION 

Children can use visualisation to help them organise their thoughts during periods of stress. This technique allows them to detach from what is stressing them out and therefore calm themselves down.

5. HEALTHY EATING 

Your diet can boost your brain power. Whilst not a conventional stress busting technique, eating healthily can help your brain function and actually help prevent you from becoming stressed in the first place.

6. STAY ORGANISED

It is frequently said that clutter in real life creates clutter in your mind. By having an organised and tidy space where you work, you are ensuring that you are giving yourself the best possible chance to learn effectively.

7. SPEND TIME WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS

Support from your family and friends during tricky times is invaluable. Spending time with people you love releases oxytocin, the body’s natural stress reliever, which immediately helps you feel less stressed.

8. GIVE YOURSELF TIME TO LEARN AT YOUR OWN PACE 

Lots of children can find it hard to keep up with the pace of teaching in a classroom. With larger classes, it is increasingly challenging for teachers to ensure that all children are keeping up. Learning support outside the classroom helps ensure that children can learn at a pace that works for them, meaning that they won’t miss out on anything. This flexible approach to learning can reduce the pressure and stress that some children experience in a classroom.

Stress is something that a lot of people experience and children appear from reports and research to be becoming more prone to it. International Stress Awareness Day is a great way to highlight the importance of trying to alleviate stress for as many people as possible.

At Exemplar Education we are proud to offer a learning system that enables children to learn in their own time. One of the big stresses of classroom learning is having to keep up with the teacher’s pace and the pace of the rest of the class. Children having access to self-paced learning can really help to reduce the stress that classroom teaching can cause for some children.

Dr Andrew Hobbs, Chief Operating Officer at Exemplar Education