Take the moment to focus on the goals you want to accomplish with your time in school, knowing how to cope with the anxiety, stress, or depression that may arise. According to Northwestern Medicine, backing away from any overwhelming work and doing something as simple as making a list will improve your overall mindset. If you feel like you are drowning in work, making a list where they can check off their assignments one at a time will take some weight off of their shoulders.

Take the moment to go on a walk, and enjoy nature. Being mindful of all of your surroundings can be very helpful in bolstering your mental health. According to the National Institutes of Health, being mindful can have an extremely beneficial impact on your life, including decreasing symptoms and anxiety and depression, and lowering blood pressure. Additionally, being in nature can help this even further, as connecting to nature is “important in supporting. . . [your] wellbeing,” according to the Mental Health Foundation.

Take the moment for your mental health by taking a couple minutes to an hour out of your day to have some time to yourself. This could be expressed in many different ways such as a walk or hike, taking a nap, or another form of exercise. According to SAMHSA, all of these factors have been shown to improve one’s mental health. One super simple way is to just unplug for 10-15 minutes a day. Harvard Health says to find some time to escape the stress and pressures of the world. 

Take the moment by cleaning your room or the space you spend the most time in. It’s good to have a clean room because then you have a clear mind. Also, put on your favorite music and let loose while doing it – according to Mental Health America, dancing releases “feel good” hormones into your body. 

Take the moment to ‘check in with yourself.’ Checking in with yourself can help to improve how you feel. You are able to think about yourself for a moment instead of worrying about others and things going on around you; plus, it’s always nice to be able to check in with yourself to explore your emotions and how you feel overall. Making sure YOU are 100% should always come before your peers and everything around you.

Take the moment to ask yourself if the stress you’re feeling is worth YOUR time. According to Harvard Health Publishing, one way to reduce stress is to ask if it’s really worth it. Try looking at the source of your stress from a wider standpoint and ask yourself if it will matter a year from now. Once you realize that the stress is not as important as you thought, then the stress tends to diminish.

Take the moment to focus on your mental health by writing down everything that causes you stress in a journal. Especially with finals approaching, students in Lakeland may feel the pressure of work piling up too fast. To combat these pressures, students can write all their feelings of stress in a journal, to rid their body of the weight of their feelings. According to an article published by Binghamton University, “if we never take the time to validate those feelings and investigate their causes, they become difficult to manage and improve.”