5 WAYS TO STAY FRESH REGARDLESS OF OAU STRESS

OAU students face the intense competitiveness of taking challenging courses, then, studying and acing tests. Many students feel a sense of needing to relieve stress, but with all of the activities and responsibilities that fill a student’s schedule, it’s sometimes difficult to find the time to try stress relievers to help dissipate that stress. These options are relatively easy, quick, and relevant to a student’s life.

1. Eat healthy:Eating a healthy diet can decrease the negative effects of stress on your body. Ensure that you eat regularly, take healthy snacks as necessary. Small, regular meals will help to maintain energy levels and mood while helping to decrease tiredness and irritability. Start the day with a balanced breakfast. Do not take sugary cereals, pastries and too much caffeine. Stimulants such as tea and coffee may provide a temporary energy boost, but consuming too much may reduce energy levels and deplete nutrients in the long term. When chronically stressed, the body has increased demand for protein. Choose chicken, fish, eggs, beans, nuts etc in each meal. Protein helps to slow the release of sugar into the bloodstream. Also, processed foods with highly refined sugars, low nutritional value and high in calories can leave us feeling out of energy and sluggish.

2. Get enough sleep: Most OAU students don’t get enough sleep reading overnight all the time in the process of wanting to bag first-class, this is a very bad habit as this later takes a toll on their body. A lack of sleep can cause the body to react as if it’s in distress, releasing more of the stress hormone, cortisol. Cortisol is responsible for fight or flight reaction to danger, increasing the heart rate in anticipation of a fight. Too much cortisol, however, can lead to weight gain and cardiovascular issues over time. Getting a good sleep reduces the cortisol in the body which improves a person’s mood, making a positive impact on their body.

3. Make time to unwind and engage in your hobbies: Hobbies bring a sense of fun and freedom to life that can help to minimize the impact of stress. You need to set aside time for things you enjoy. Try to do something every day that makes you feel good, and it will help relieve your stress. It doesn’t have to be for a long time, 15 to 20 minutes will do. Relaxing hobbies include things like: cooking, photography, watching movies, solving puzzles, knitting etc.

4. Exercise: This doesn’t have to be a gruelling gym session, a brisk walk, jogging etc is enough. Regular exercise can increase self-confidence, improve your mood, help you relax, and reduce symptoms of mild depression and anxiety. Exercise can also improve your sleep, which is often disrupted by stress, depression and anxiety. All of these exercise benefits can ease your stress levels but you have to do it often for it to pay off. If you haven’t exercised for some time or you have health issues, you may want to talk to your doctor before starting a new exercise routine. Also, build up your fitness level gradually. Excitement about a new program can lead to overdoing it and even possibly cause an injury.

5. Time management: Students often get stressed when they feel that they’re running out of time to complete a task. However, simple time management techniques can help you to feel more relaxed and focused. Try creating a written schedule, divide your work into urgent and non-urgent tasks, and important and non-important tasks. Time management helps you to reduce long-term stress by giving you direction when you have too much work to do. It puts you in control and helps you to increase your productivity.

OAU stress isn’t a joke but remaining fresh is important. Above are ways to stay fresh regardless of whatever stress OAU is throwing at you. Stay HEALTHY and stay FRESH!!!.

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