MANAGING COLLEGE STRESS

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MANAGING COLLEGE STRESS

• Presented by
• Michael Cummings

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Have You Ever Felt Like This?
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Or This
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One for the guys
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One for the girls
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Objectives of the workshop

• To equip students with information about college
  stress due to test
• Improve test taking skills
• Help students cope better with college stress
  anxiety
• Equip students with study skills techniques

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Stress Causes Anxiety

• Although we tend to think of stress as caused by
  external events, events in themselves are not
  stressful. Rather, it is the way in which we
  interpret and react to events that makes them
  stressful. .
• Stressors are something with the potential to
  cause stress.
• This can be
• Life events (marriage, death in the family)
• School/work issues (hard classes, heavy workload)
• Relationship problems
• Daily grind (homework, deadlines, irritating
  people)

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Effects of Stress in College

• Nervousness
• Having difficulty reading and understanding the
  questions on the exam paper.
• Having difficulty organizing your thoughts.
• Having difficulty retrieving key words and
  concepts when answering essay questions.
• Doing poorly on an exam even though you know the
  material.
• Mental Blocking Going blank on questions.
• Remembering the correct answers as soon as the
  exam is over.

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What Can Help Stress?

• S Study Skills
• T Time Management
• R Reducing Stress
• E Examination Preparation
• S Self Talk
• S Seek Support

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Making the Most of Your Study Time
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STUDY BEFORE THE TEST

• Plan two to three hours of study time for every
  hour you spend in class.There are exceptions,
  but this is a good general rule.  Its also one
  that few students follow. Student making the
  transition from high school to community colleges
  are often unaware of the increased workload
  expected of them.  The benefits of following this
  rule will be apparent at exam time.
• Study difficult (or boring) subjects first.If
  your chemistry problems put you to sleep, get to
  them first while you are fresh.  Most of us tend
  to do what we like first, yet the courses we find
  most difficult often require the most creative
  energy.  Save the subjects you enjoy for later. 
  If you find yourself avoiding a particular
  subject, try getting up an hour earlier to study
  it before breakfast.  With that chore out of the
  way, the rest of the day will be a breeze.

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STUDYING TIPS (Cont.)

• Avoid scheduling marathon study sessions.When
  possible, study in shorter sessions.  Three
  separate three hour sessions are far more
  productive for most people than one nine-hour
  session. When you do study in long sessions, take
  a planned break every hour. 
• Be aware of your best time of the day.Many
  people learn best in daylight hours.  Observe
  yourself, and if this is true of you, schedule
  study time for your most difficult subjects when
  the sun is up. The key point is to determine your
  best learning time.

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STUDY TIPS (cont.)

• Be prepared!Learn your material thoroughly
• A program of exercise is said to sharpen the mind
  
• Get a good night's sleep the night before the
  exam
• Learn to say no!

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Time Management
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Make a To Do List

• By putting the most important things first, you
  are sure to get the most important things done on
  time.

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Prioritize Your List

• A - Highest priority. Getting these items done
  tomorrow is very important.
• B - Medium priority. You would really like to
  finish / accomplish these things, but they can
  wait if you run out of time.
• C Lowest priority. Getting these items done
  tomorrow is not very important.

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Double Your Time Estimates

• Most people tend to underestimate how much time
  a particular activity / assignment will take.
• A good rule of thumb is to estimate how much
  time you realistically think something will take
  and then double it. More often than not, this
  doubled estimate is accurate.

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Write Down A To Do List

• This includes class readings, work on papers or
  problem sets, chores, errands, phone-calls,
  exercising, etc
• Break the studying down into review chapters
  2-5, review chapters 6-10, do six practice
  problems, etc and the research paper into
  spend 1 hour collecting articles at the
  library, write an outline, write
  introduction, etc These items are much smaller,
  easier to start, and more likely to get done.

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When I know I am under STRESS, what can I do to
manage it? Select three of the following options
to implement this week!
HELP!!
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Ask For Help!!

• It never hurts to ask for help with a class or
  an assignment.
• Talk about your stress, let one of the SSS staff
  members know about your stress and we will help.
  Besides, talking is a good way to cope.
• Tutoring, seek academic support to help you
  study and prepare for a test.

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Stress Management Strategies

• Exercise - regular, routine, and aerobic.
• Support system - friends - community involvement.
• Express yourself - talk it over with family,
  friends, counselors, clergy.
• Eat right - select a healthful diet high in
  fruits and vegetables. Reduce caffeine (2 1/2
  cups of coffee doubles the epinephrine level).
  Consider comfort foods as appropriate.
• Get at least 8 hours of sleep the night before.

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Humor Is A Wonderful Stress-Reducer

• It is clinically proven to be effective in
  combating stress, although the exact mechanism is
  not known.
• Experts say a good laugh relaxes tense muscles,
  speeds more oxygen into your system and lowers
  your blood pressure.
• So tune into your favorite sitcom on television.
  Read a funny book. Call a friend and chuckle for
  a few minutes. It even helps to force a laugh
  once in a while.

Dr. Lee Berk and Dr. Stanley Tan at Loma Linda
University School of Medicine
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Stress Buster

• Identifying unrelieved stress and being aware of
  its effect on our lives is not sufficient for
  reducing its harmful effects. Just as there are
  many sources of stress, there are many
  possibilities for its management. However, all
  require work toward change changing the source
  of stress and/or changing your reaction to it.
  How do you proceed?

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How to Handle Test Anxiety
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Reasons For Test Anxiety
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How to Handle Test Anxiety

• Prior to the test Arrive early so you can sit
  where you are most comfortable, and avoid people
  who are anxious and might cause you to doubt your
  knowledge. When you receive the test look it
  over, read the directions twice, and then
  organize you time efficiently.
• Engage in deep breathing for 2-5 minutes. Close
  your eyes and concentrate on the air going in and
  out of your lungs. Take long, deep breaths, fill
  your lungs and abdomen, hold your breath, and
  then exhale.

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Anticipating Test Anxiety

• What is it you have to do? Focus on dealing with
  it.
• Just take one step at a time.
• Think about what you can do about it. That's
  better than getting anxious.
• No negative or panicky self-statements just
  think rationally.
• Don't worry worrying won't help anything.

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How to Handle Test Anxiety

• Tense and relax different muscle groups. For
  example, if your shoulders are tense pull them
  back and hold them for a few seconds, then relax.
  This will help you to be aware of the relaxation
  of muscles and help you to relax more.
• Aerobic exercise will help you to release
  anxiety and excess energy and, as a result,
  reduce body tension.

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How to handle Test Anxiety

• Try to describe the anxiety. Focus your attention
  on your anxiety and think about the feelings it
  causes how large is it? Where is it located in
  your body? What is its color, its shape, and its
  texture? If you can completely experience a
  physical sensation it will often disappear.
• Engage in guided imagery for a few minutes. Pick
  a scene that you find peaceful, beautiful, and
  natural. Think about what you see, what you hear,
  what you feel and what you smell while in this
  scene.

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During the Test

• Read the directions carefully
• Budget your test taking time
• Change positions to help you relax
• If you go blank, skip the question and go on
• If you're taking an essay testand you go blank
  on the whole test, pick a question and start
  writing. It may trigger the answer in your mind
• Don't panicwhen students start handing in their
  papers. There's no reward for being the first
  done

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Self Talk and Test Stress
I cant do this
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Test Stress and Self-Talk

• Selftalk refers to the dialogue that goes on
  inside your head when faced with conflict or life
  challenges or even simple day-to-day concerns.
• Stress is maintained by self-doubts and
  self-putdowns The more we entertain such
  negative thoughts, the more stress we feel. We
  need to find ways of challenging and stop this.

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Negative Self Talk

• Unfortunately, most of us have been
  pre-programmed to think negatively the majority
  of the time.
• Your inner voice often sets very high
  (impossible) standards of performance. This can
  cause stress.
• Some examples are
• I cant do this
• It is to hard
• Etc.

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How to Overcome Negative Self Talk

• For  three days monitor your self talk
• Keep a  list of at least ten negative attacks
  your inner voice makes daily and replace them
  with positive statements
• Some examples are
• (a) I have the ability to do this, I just need
  to get some help
• (b) I can write this paper if I break it into
  smaller steps

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Seek Support

• Ask for help from you teacher or a tutor
• Get tutoring in the Academic Resource Complex,
  room 236.
• Form a study group with classmates

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Success is not measured by what you accomplish,
but by the opposition you have encountered, and
the courage with which you have maintained the
struggle against overwhelming odds. Orison
Swett Marden