Are you stressed out after reading that title? Finals week is approaching quickly for many college students. Saying “Finals” alone will cause a students heart rate to accelerate. Being a college student is stressful. Work can be stressful. Everyday life can be stressful.

Stress is something that has been hard for me to control. I like to be able to control things in order to know the outcome. The unknown stresses me out.

I’ve always been told nothing worth doing is easy and you only get out of it what you put into it, so it’s easy to put so much pressure on yourself and become stressed. If you think about anything for too long it can only make things worse. So today I want to share with you 5 ways I never feel stressed out. Okay, I’m lying, I still feel stress, unfortunately there’s not a “cure”, but these should help you live a less stress-filled life. 🙂

1. Stay Organized. I get that not everyone enjoys having a planner or color coding their notes, but there are small changes you can make to your life to make it even the slightest bit more organized for you. Maybe your room is a mess. Buy some totes and organize your things that way. Maybe you always get lost in your notes. Buy yourself some colored pens and organize those notes! Whatever level of change this may be providing to your life, I’m sure it will help.
2. Change your Expectations. Have you ever hyped something up so much that when you actually do it, it’s not as cool as you thought it’d be? I do this all the time. Rather than going into something with specific expectations and making sure everything goes just as the itinerary says, give room to let what happens happen. Over Spring Break, I went with a group to Ecuador for a mission trip. We were told not to have expectations, but rather be fluid. Now, let me tell you, a lot went against what was planned. Flights were “discontinued”, van tires went flat, rain was pouring, the list goes on. Rather than going into Ecuador with all these expectations, we had an idea of what we wished to do, but knew that it could very well be different than what we wanted, which made it a little easier to adjust to. Most things have a better story if things don’t go exactly as planned.
3. Take Care of Yourself. I’ve definitely had those days. You get so caught up in what needs to be done that you forget to eat lunch, you stay up way later than you should have, or you had to cancel on that friend you were looking forward to meeting with. Although it is important to meet those deadlines and ace those exams, it is also important to take care of yourself. You could get A’s on every exam, but if you don’t take care of yourself, those scores mean nothing because your own health is coming at the cost of achieving those scores.
4. Evaluate your Priorities. I think everyone struggles with this to an extent. Some people struggle to say “no” when asked if they can help a friend with something or join a club. There is only so many things one person can be a part of. I struggle with the fear of missing out; like badly. I always want to be in 5 places all at once and that’s just not possible. If you are involved in 10 different things in a given day, odds are you’re unable to be fully present and put forth 100% in each of those tasks. You’re only creating a lot of unnecessary stress for yourself.
5. Give it to God. Easier said than done, I know. It takes time to truly be able to do this, but I feel so better when I just sit back and do only as much as I can do. Dwelling on whatever it is that stresses you out won’t make you any more capable. There is a point that you need to trust in the Lord to do what he has planned for you. Now, I’m not by any means saying just don’t study for that exam because God will give you an A. That’s not how it works. What I am saying is to put as much work into whatever you’re doing and then give it to God. Once you’ve done all you can do, there’s noting more you can do other than trust in him. Give it to God and go to sleep. He’s got you. He knows what he’s doing and he will not lead you astray.