Seven tips for relieving stress

By Joie Atejira, March 8 2016 —

It’s the time of the semester when midterms seem like they’ll never end and we’re all wishing for another Reading Break. Unfortunately, that’s never going to happen, so here are a few tips to relieve stress.

Prevent stress: Organize your life by rewriting, colour-coordinating, highlighting and putting tabs on all your notes. Nothing says stress less like spending six hours arranging cue-cards alphabetically by Crayola colour classification. Plus, you get a chance to unleash your creative side. Remember not to freak out when you run out of two-by-two inch Post-It tabs and have to use two-by-three inch ones instead.

Skip showering: Studies show that covering yourself with three days worth of filth releases more pheromones than eating chocolate. And your “woke up like this” look falsifies how hard you’ve been studying.

Literally walk away: Pick a direction, get your feet on the ground and keep walking. Don’t stop for anyone — traffic, cute dogs, friends or family.

Practice a reward system: Every time you answer a question or read a sentence, catch up on Twitter celebrity feuds or binge-watch the new season of House of Cards. Nothing eliminates stress quite like being reminded of Kanye’s foibles. Productivity, however, is not guaranteed.

Get creative: Create a flip animation on your cue cards instead of filling them with notes. Release your inner anxieties with unnecessary art.

Pay attention to your diet: The three dollar meal specials from Oriental Wok are affordable, and will fulfill your midterm cravings. They’ll also make you feel awful about yourself for three days. Need to stay awake but don’t want the crippling anxiety from dark roast coffee? Frappuccinos are five per cent coffee and 95 per cent sugar — basically the blood content of every university student.

Exercise: The most dreaded of all stress relievers. To make it more exciting, take your dog — or anybody’s dog, no need to ask — for a long walk through Nose Hill Park and practice tricks with them. It will be beneficial for your dog and useless for you.