By: Jada Jones (she/her/hers), Peer Success Leader, 2019-2020
Read time: <5 minutes
Recently, you may have made the transition from living on Tulane’s campus to staying at home, attending face-to-face classes to logging onto Zoom for online classes, and spending time with your friends face-to-face to video-chatting. As a college student, this transition period can be very difficult and stressful to navigate moving forward. It can be challenging living at home, balancing your academics, staying healthy, and staying connected with your friends. Add on top self-quarantining to protect our health and our loved ones, it can be challenging to find ways to distress and stay focused. But, have no fear! Below, I have listed some ways to help you distress while you are at home! Feel free to get creative with the supplies you have in your home and make any adjustments to these activities to help you cope when you feel stressed!
Stay Connected with Your Friends
Even though you may be hundreds of miles away from your friends, there are still ways for you to stay connected! It is more important than ever to check on your friends and to continue building connections even when your friends are far away! Personally, I have practiced staying connected to my friends by video-chatting my friends and hosting study sessions via Zoom. So, don’t forget to check in on your friends frequently! This is a great way to stay connected and feel less stressed when you’re talking to your close friends.
Create a Routine
Remember to stick to your daily routine or create a new one to keep yourself busy. Having a routine to follow will keep you focused on completing your assignments on time. This will help you structure your time for staying up-to-date on upcoming exams, completing assignments, video-chatting with your friends, and other activities. It can be easy to procrastinate while you are at home, but as long as you have a routine to keep you grounded, this will help you stay stress-free and on top of your academics.
Self- Care
Don’t forget to practice self care! You can wear face masks, and if you don’t have any you can create your own DIY sugar masks. Every other day, I usually reward myself with a charcoal face mask or by creating my own DIY sugar mask. You can also practice social distancing by taking a walk in your neighborhood or even sitting outside in your backyard. You can even try meditating to clear your mind. No matter what you try, remember that self care is the best care. It is very beneficial for your mental and physical health!
Get Creative
While you are at home, this is the perfect time to test your creative skills and try out new things. One creative activity that I have done so far has been creating vision boards with my family. All you have to do is gather art supplies, some old photos, cut out pictures from old magazines, and create your own vision board with all your goals for this year. This will help you stay focused on your goals, and it is a great way to distress with your family and friends. You can even make it a competition with your friends and family to see who can create the best vision board!
Exercise
Even though the gyms are closed, as long as you have a phone, internet, and an empty space to move around, you can still do at-home exercises to distress. There are many YouTube videos and workout apps that have daily at-home exercises for you to do, and, luckily, you don’t need any gym equipment! Personally, I have a workout app downloaded on my phone that recommends daily workout exercises for me to try. It’s a great way to stay in shape and to stay stress-free.
Try Making New Recipes
While at home, I have found time to cook different meals to occupy my time. Cooking also helps keep me stressed free when I have cooking competitions with my friends via FaceTime. So, test out your cooking skills! There are many recipes you can try using BuzzFeed, YouTube, and other apps to create new, delicious dishes!
Listen to Music
Create a playlist with all of your favorite songs! Music always helps me distress when I am feeling overwhelmed with an assignment or any challenging situation. Listening to music can take your mind off upcoming exams and assignments. It’s a great way to relax your mind and distress. So, get a playlist going, find a quiet area, and listen to all your favorite songs!
