Com Arts 2

Name: Risel Guevarra

Date: August 12, 2015
Section: BM14210
Prof. Nora Amarante
Assignment: RRL
Helpful tips on how to manage every day stress.
College can be a stressful time for anyone. Some stress pushes you to meet goals by studying more, working
harder or sticking with a challenging task. But sometimes stress reaches an unhealthy level that can prevent
you from functioning well and meeting your goals. Recent research from The Jed Foundation and mtvU found
that over half of all college students had been, at times, so stressed that they couldnt function during the last
year. Your health, school performance and social life can all suffer when stress becomes too much to handle.
Thats because stress can affect your mood and ability to think clearly. It can also weaken your immune
system and make you more susceptible to getting sick.
Chronic stress can lead to or worsen serious health problems, including high blood pressure,
autoimmune illnesses, digestive issues, depression and anxiety. So its important to manage stress, prevent
negative stress levels and speak up if you are feeling overwhelmed. Here are some tips for managing stress
while in college:

Watch out for signs of stress overload. Symptoms of too much stress can be physical, emotional,
mental and behavioral. While everyone is different, some common signs are: memory problems, trouble
concentrating, racing thoughts, irritability, anger, sadness, headaches, frequent colds and changes in sleep or
appetite.

Know your stress triggers. Stress and its triggers are different for everyone. Certain people, places or
situations might produce high levels of stress for you. Think about what causes you stress, and brainstorm
solutions. If public speaking or presentations make you stressed, start researching early and practice several
times. If there are friends or social situations that cause extreme stress, you may want to avoid them when
you are already feeling tense or overwhelmed.

Exercise. All forms of exercise reduce stress hormones, flood the body with feel-good endorphins,
improve mood, boost energy and provide a healthy distraction from your dilemmas. Plus, exercise may make
you less susceptible to stress in the long run. Find physical activities that you enjoy and try to devote about 30
minutes to them each day.

Relax. While its impossible to eliminate all negative stress from your life, you can control the way you
react to stress. Your bodys natural fight-or-flight response can take its toll. When youre faced with a stressful
situation that your mind perceives as a threat, it sends various chemicals, like adrenaline and cortisol,
throughout your body. As a result, heart rate and breathing speeds up and your digestion slows down. This
tires out the body.
Relaxation techniques are a huge help in calming you down, boosting mood and fighting illness. Try a variety
of techniques like yoga, breathing exercises, meditation and visualization to see what works for you, and
schedule a relaxation break every day.

Manage your time well. Time can seem like a luxury in college, but there are various ways to manage
it effectively. First, focus on one task at a time. Multitasking rarely works. Jot down everything you need to do
in a calendar or a task management app/program, prioritize your list and break projects into single steps or
actions.

Be realistic. Pulling yourself in different directions will only stress you out, so try not to over-commit
yourself or do extracurricular activities when youre super busy with school.

Curb your caffeine. Caffeine might help you study in the short term, but it interrupts sleep and makes
you more anxious, tense and jittery. This obviously ups your stress level. Try and drink no more than one
caffeinated beverage a day.

Dont self-medicate. Some students drink, take drugs, smoke and use other unhealthy behaviors to
cope with stress. However, these behaviors can exacerbate stress by negatively affecting your mood and
health.


Reach out. If youre stressed out, talk to your friends and family. If you feel like you cant handle the
stress on your own, schedule an appointment with a counselor on campus.
(http://www.ulifeline.org/articles/427-managing-stress)

Job Stress (http://www.stressstop.com/stress-tips/articles/job-stress.php)

Most working people don't realize that stress is a vital part of their job. Without some job stress you wouldn't
be very productive. That's why, when your boss places reasonable demands on you (like giving you a deadline
you both agree on) it can actually help you get the job done more efficiently.
There are many (stress-related) factors that can effect your performance at work. For one thing, each worker
handles stress differently. So the right amount of job stress for one person might be too much for another.
In addition, not all jobs are created equal. An air traffic controller, coal minor, stock broker, emergency medical
worker or an inner-city school teacher is thought to have more job stress than workers in other professions.
But everyone experiences stress differently. Thats why some people love roller coasters and other people
hate them. So you cant predict whether a job is going to be stressful strictly based on objective measures (if
there were such a thing) of how stressful a job might be.
That's why determining how much job stress is too much is a tricky proposition. But you can start this process
by asking yourself three questions. 1. How adept am I at handling job stress? 2. How much control do I have
in my occupation? 3. Is my job environment more stressful than other job environments?
How adept am I at handling job stress? Take a look at your coping skills. You can improve your coping skills by
learning standard relaxation techniques like progressive muscle relaxation, deep breathing and mindfulness.
Meditation and regular exercise will also help. Even getting organized can help you cope better with job stress.
How much control do I have in my occupation? Nurses often have more stress than doctors; air traffic
controllers often have more stress than pilots; And assistant managers often have more stress than managers.
Why?
There is a correlation between responsibility and control when it comes to job stress. If you have lots of
responsibility in your job and little or no control you are going to have more stress. But if your levels of
responsibility and control are in balance chances are your stress will be lower.
For example, nurses often have as much responsibility for patients health as doctors but not as much input
into the control of their care. This imbalance can be very stressful. Pilots and managers have more
responsibility but the increased levels of control helps decrease their susceptibility to job stress. If you feel the
responsibility in your job doesn't match the control, see if you can make adjustments: Making minor changes
in your job description can sometimes bring these two forces into balance.
Is my job environment more stressful than other job environments? In order to answer this question you need
to examine the circumstances under which you work. Conditions that can contribute to job stress include:
chronic time pressure, a difficult supervisor, unsafe working conditions, a period of downsizing, changes in
management, major changes in policies, increase in the pace of work, conflicts with coworkers, or being
forced to work overtime.
In a healthy organization, the management:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Clearly defines your responsibilities.

Empowers you to participate in decisions that affect your work.
Creates work schedules that are realistic and compatible with the demands outside your job.
Challenges you to work up to but not over your capabilities.
If job stress is adversely affecting your life carefully examine the three areas we've just discussed. Try
to improve your coping skills, seek out jobs that have equal measures of responsibility and control and
most importantly look for healthy organizations (and/or supervisors) that encourage you to work at
optimum levels.

Stress & Time Management for College Students

(http://www.healthywomen.org/content/article/stress-time-management-college-students?page=2&context=agesand-stages/15&context_title=)

stress - college student studyingAttending college can be a stressful experience for many new and returning
students. Heavy academic workloads and the feeling that you're constantly racing to meet another deadline
can be daunting. And this is in addition to campus activities, new friendships, the pressure to go out multiple
nights a week and variable sleep schedules that often come with the fast-paced college lifestyle. No wonder
so many college students feel stressed out. (Print out this tip sheet for your teen on reducing stress)
It's important to pay attention to stress because it can affect your health. Read on to learn about how stress
can affect your body, why sleep is so important and how you can incorporate important stress-busting
techniques, including useful time-management tips, into your life.
Stress ... It's Personal
One person's stressor can be another person's motivator. The way you respond to potentially stressful
situations is determined in part by your personality, genes and life experiences.
Stress typically occurs when the demands facing you (stressors) exceed your ability to cope or adjust. When
the stressors in your life meet your coping abilities, you feel stimulated, engaged and appropriately
challenged. Too many stressors in your life, however, can overwhelm your attempts to cope and result in
depression or anxiety.

Managing Stress as a College Student

Stress is a common and natural condition of our mortal existence. It arises through our daily efforts to achieve
goals, relate with others, and adjust to the demands of living in an ever changing world. It is a part of the
"opposition in all things" referred to in the scriptures.(1) We often view stress as a negative element in our
lives and seek to reduce or eliminate it. We forget that there can be a great deal of growth from learning how
to deal with stressful situations. Dr. Hans Selye, an authority on stress, states, "Our aim shouldn't be to
completely avoid stress, which at any rate would be impossible, but to learn how to recognize our typical
response to stress and then try to modulate our lives in accordance with it."(2)
It is easy to become depressed when there is too much stress in our lives. Elder Boyd K. Packer explains a
positive way to deal with such a condition in an address to LDS Church leaders:
We live in a day when the adversary stresses on every hand the philosophy of instant gratification. We seem
to demand instant everything, including instant solutions to our problems. We are indoctrinated that somehow
we should always be instantly emotionally comfortable. When that is not so, some become anxious--and all
too frequently seek relief from counseling, from analysis, and even from medication. It was meant to be that
life would be a challenge. To suffer some anxiety, some depression, some disappointment, even some failure
is normal. Teach your members that if they have a good, miserable day once in a while, or several in a row, to
stand steady and face them. Things will straighten out. There is a great purpose in our struggle in life.(3)
Elder Packer helps us see how accepting stress as a natural part of life can provide us strength in getting
through tough times.
College is a particularly stressful time for most of us with the pressures of examinations, large amounts of
reading, research papers, competition for grades, financial expenses, and social and career decisions. The
remainder of this booklet contains suggestions on how students can effectively deal with stress rather than
become discouraged and immobilized by it. These suggestions are supported by a major study conducted
with university students which examined their most stressful challenges and how they dealt with them.(4)