Struggling with homework can cause lots of stress for students and put a lot of pressure on them. It can be frustrating and hard to deal with, especially if you don’t know what to do to help yourself. This stress can be caused by many different situations.
An example of a stressful situation, (and one I’ve definitely struggled with!) is when you get stuck on a math problem, and no matter how long you work on it, you just can’t seem to figure it out. All your friends could answer it, but here you are still struggling! Even after asking for help, you may start to think, “How come it’s so easy for them? They figured it out in 5 minutes, but it's taken me over an hour, and I still can’t get it!” This situation shows that some things can be overly stressful and frustrating for you, even if they are not for others. This is totally okay, so don’t worry if others don’t feel the same way! It’s okay to feel stressed, but it’s also important to take care of yourself. So, here are some tips (that have personally helped me) that can help you deal with your school or homework-related stress.
1. Take a Break
If you’ve been working on finishing something for hours on end, your brain will start to get fatigued and it can give you a mental block, making it difficult to focus on the task at hand, think straight and get any ideas out. The best thing to do in a situation like this is to take a break! I’ve been in a situation before where I was stuck on a homework question for almost an hour and it was becoming really frustrating. To help me relax, my mom told me to take a 5-minute break outside to get some fresh air. I did and when I came back in to try my question again, I got it! Taking breaks is a very important thing to do, especially when you have an overload of work that needs to be completed in a short amount of time. To make working through your homework as stress-free as possible, take a quick break here and there. If you don’t know what to do on your break, here are some things you could do to help clear your mind:
Going outside/on a walk
Eating a snack
Talking to your friends/family
Spending time with your pet
2. Meditate
A great way to help reduce stress after a long school day is to meditate. You could do it in the morning, when you get home, before bed or anytime that you like! It can help you to fully clear your mind and relax. I always recommend this, even if you do it for just a couple of minutes. You can follow along with a meditation podcast, YouTube video, or use an app. I’ve found that exercise can also be a great way to meditate, especially when doing yoga! This has personally helped me reduce my stress this past school year. One situation I had was a couple of days before we were about to start our final quarter of the school year. I was very stressed about starting my French class. I was worried about how difficult it would be, who would be in my class and the workload we would get. My mind was all over the place and I was worried for days! The main thing that helped me overcome this abundance of stress was that I meditated the night before the first day. I felt so much more relaxed and my friend even said to me the next day, “Wow, you’re so calm!”
3. Find Someone to Talk to This past school year has been tough for students. There’s been an increase in the workload and a lot less time to learn each course. On top of that, a lot of the work has to be done online. Something that’s very beneficial to have in these tough times is someone you can talk to! Talking to someone about how you’re feeling can help take some of the weight off your shoulders and make you feel a lot better. Some people that you could talk to about how you’re feeling could be:
A friend
A parent/guardian/sibling
A teacher
A counsellor
Anyone who you feel comfortable talking to
If you’re not too close or comfortable with talking to people about how you’re feeling, here are some alternatives:
Writing in a journal/on a paper
Talking to a stuffed animal
Talking to a pet
There is a wide variety of situations that can cause students to become overly stressed, and each situation is completely valid! Just because your friends or peers might be fine in a certain setting, doesn’t mean you have to pretend to be fine too, especially when in reality you might not be!
Edited by Riwa Amam.
Sophia Downing is going to be a senior in high school. Some of her hobbies include baking, working out/being active in any way and watching movies! She hopes her article will help any students that struggle with school/homework-related stress, and she recommends trying some of these tips if you haven’t already. You never know, they might help!
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