The Student Survival Guide: How Self-Care Sets You Up for a Healthier & Happier Future
I think we can all agree that college life is basically a stress marathon. The kind fueled by caffeine, all-nighters, and idolizing the idea that if you’re not constantly exhausted, you’re not doing enough.
Sound familiar?
For many students, self-care takes a backseat to other priorities like classes, assignments, and the constant pressure to perform. And sure, this all might work (temporarily), but what if we told you that by building these unhealthy habits now, they’ll follow you long after graduation?
At Soultality Psychotherapy in Boston, MA, we help undergrad and graduate students find balance while addressing mental health struggles. In this survival guide, we’ll show how small (but mighty!) changes students make today can improve their mental health, boost their grades, and create a more sustainable lifestyle.
But First: How Academic Stress Can Wreck Your Mental Health
Do you feel like you’re a victim of the “always on” mindset? As students, you’re always being told to push through! Work harder! Sleep is for the weak!
But here’s the thing about always doing the most. Your brain and body have this little thing called limits.
Your body can only function under stress and caffeine for so long until it crashes. And it’s not IF it crashes, it’s when. And we can practically guarantee that when your body decides it needs a break, it will be during the most inconvenient time for you.
Finals anyone?
This constant stress leads to:
Increased anxiety & higher risks of depression
Brain fog, poor focus, and (unsurprisingly) lower academic performance
Physical symptoms like headaches, stomach issues, or a weak immune system
Plus, always being “on” leads you towards that all-or-nothing mindset trap that makes you believe that if you don’t study all night, you’ll fail. Or if you don’t go to the gym every day, you might as well not go at all.
As Mental Health Professionals, we strongly challenge this common belief because…
Your Habits Now = Your Future Reality
If you’re living off caffeine, skipping meals, and locking yourself away in your dorm room, you’re basically a car running on fumes when the nearest gas station is still 100 miles out. And you probably haven’t been doing this for just a week or a month. You’ve been living this way for a WHILE.
The biggest problem with living like this isn’t entirely the way you handle stress, habits, and schedules now. It’s the way you’ll handle life AFTER school.
Ever see professionals who:
Skip lunch and run on coffee all day?
Stay up all night working?
Feel guilty taking breaks?
Yeah… they probably started these habits in college.
The GOOD news is that you’re here reading this article. This means it’s safe to say you’re not loving this whole ‘work until you die’ kinda college mentality you’re in. We want to help you balance school and your mental health, and the first step is doing the basics so your brain and body can function properly ⬇️
Meeting Your Basic Needs as College Students
Get Sleep. And Enough of It.
We all know that the average human needs 7-9 hours of sleep each night. Do you want to guess how many hours on average a college student gets?
6 - 6.9 Hours per night
Yikes. On top of just feeling sleep deprived, students who don’t get enough sleep have a higher chance of experiencing:
More illnesses
Increased weight gain
Lower GPA and decreased academic performance
Increased automobile accidents due to “drowsy driving”
Decreased performance in athletics and other activities that require coordination
By allowing yourself to get a couple of extra hours of zzz’s each night, you’re actually setting yourself up for MORE success! While it may feel like you’re getting ‘more’ done by burning the midnight oil, you’d be surprised how much more efficient you’d be by giving yourself a couple of extra hours of rest.
Pay Attention to Your Nutrition
Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are the staples we need as humans to function well throughout our days. But when you’re a busy college student with a hectic (some may say, the worst) school schedule, respecting those eating times can be tricky.
We recommend finding convenience foods that are fuel FOR your brain and body in between your other main meals. These are NOT meant to replace regular meals.
Healthy snacks could be in the form of:
Cut up fruits & veggies
Mini charcuterie boards
Protein shakes
Trail mix
Hummus & pretzel chips
Energy balls
Apple sauce
The possibilities here are literally endless. When you take a couple of extra moments to find foods that are good for you (and are NOT just junk snacks), then you’re able to give your body the energy and nutrients it needs to perform well for you in between other meals!
Take REAL Breaks
According to the Harvard Business Review study on breaks and productivity, people who take small breaks throughout the day are happier, more productive, and feel better about their work.
They discovered the most optimal working “sprints” should be anywhere from 50-90 minutes with a minimum five-minute break in between. An ideal break is taking a walk, playing with a furry friend, talking to coworkers, getting a snack, etc.
*Important to note, the HBR study did say that scrolling social media does NOT count as a break. Breaks for your brain require it not to be consuming and processing information.
Self-Care Extras for Students
*Hint, these are the ones that make you feel like YOU again
Now that we’ve covered the bare minimum you need to survive, it’s time to talk about self-care. In college, it’s very easy to push aside the things that are good for you to make room for the things you feel you SHOULD be doing instead. And this isn't to say that you should ignore your homework to get a facial. What we ARE saying is when you take time to do things that light you up as a human being, you’re energetically charging yourself to feel better, perform at higher levels, and (surprise!) feel like a thriving human being again.
‘Cause at the end of the day, you’re not a house plant. You’re a person. Food, water, and light are just the basics.
Movement
Gentle exercise has a direct correlation to your mood and energy. And when we tell people to integrate movement into their daily routines, their minds almost always go straight to the gym.
If you’re a person who enjoys the gym, this is great! If you are repulsed by the gym, there are other ways to integrate movement without fighting over sweaty treadmills.
Take a walk with friends around campus
Find a yoga video online that you can follow
Get a walking pad or a mini stair stepper that you can use while watching shows
Movement can be however you imagine it to be. By giving your body something physical to do, you’ll be able to rest better, have more natural energy, and feel more focused when it is time to study.
Create a Happy List
A happy list is a list of things you have access to right now that bring you joy. When you do something off your happy list each day, it automatically boosts your self-esteem and makes you feel better! Plus, if you’re an overachiever, this helps manage your ever-optimizing brain by giving it something productive to focus on.
Examples of items on a happy list can be:
Putting on a face mask
Wearing fluffy socks
Lighting a candle (if your dorm allows it, ofc!)
Using the good lotions
Enjoying tasty snacks that you love
Going out with friends
Hobbies!!
Work With a Therapist
Therapy is for more than just crises. Many grad & undergrad students are coasting that line of barely hanging on, and that shouldn’t be the norm. By working with a therapist 1:1, you can have professional help you work through problems you’re experiencing, learn about your triggers and how to manage triggers you may have, and learn how to start building healthy habits. And while working with a therapist in an ongoing way, they’ll be able to help you navigate all of the changes and opportunities that come with college and life after college.
Plus! Here at Soultality, we have several themed group programs so you can find like-minded people going through similar situations you’re in while learning healthy ways to move forward.
Contact Soultality Center for Psychotherapy in Cambridge, MA, Today
The summary for all of this is that if you don’t take care of yourself now, you’re setting yourself up for some lifelong burnout. We promise that you CAN be successful without destroying your mental health, and you’d be surprised how cutting back can actually allow you to be MORE productive (while feeling a heck of a lot more fulfilled)
And if you need help? We’re here for you. Therapy can do wonders for students, and our job is to help you create a life that allows you to thrive.
Want to learn if therapy is right for you? Schedule a call, and our therapists will help you decide exactly what you need to succeed in school (and long after!)