This post is all about how to stress less when blogging as a college student.
If you missed my last blog post, you might want to read that before you read this one. So, check out 11 Things You Need To Know About Blogging As A College Student.
I was originally going to write this post and the other post together into one super long post but I didn’t want you guys to suffer from so many words at once.
Now that you’ve read my stressors of blogging as a college student, I want to share tips and tricks of how I manage to handle everything and not go entirely insane.
Even if you aren’t stressed about anything blog-related or school-related, the tips that are listed below can be applied to any kind of stress you have.
Maybe you’re stressed and busy with a full-time job, being a parent, or being a spouse. Everyone has different ways of living and where they are stressed. Having a blog and being a full-time student is mine.
Here are some ideas for what you can do to help yourself if you find yourself in the same boat as me.
This post is all about how to stress less when blogging as a college student.
Disclaimer
You, the reader, will read this post at your own risk. I am not an expert or professional on this topic in any way and only speak from my personal experiences. My tips are not guaranteed to help you stress less in your troubles but trying never hurts. If you need help, please consult with a professional to help you figure out what your issues are and to accurately determine what solution would be best for you. My tips were what worked for me but they may not work for you. WARNING: This post is mostly revolved around being a college student while having a blog on the side.
–
Let’s begin.
–
How To Stress Less When Blogging As A College Student
Slow Down and Breathe
Can you feel your face tensing up?
Can you feel your heartbeat pounding in your chest?
Are you scarfing down your food for no reason other than the fact that you know you’re supposed to eat but also need time to do more school work?
I want you to know that you’re okay. Slow down. Take deep breaths. Enjoy your food. Relax.
You can spare 30 minutes to calm down.
When you let your school work and blog stuff take over your actions, body, and mindset, you’re gonna forget to live in the moment.
I didn’t start slowing down in almost everything that I do until a couple of weeks ago.
I realized how anxious I felt all the time and how cloudy my thinking was.
My school and blog work efficiency significantly declined because I couldn’t focus.
My anxiousness caused me to think about multiple things at once and overwork my brain.
If you take 30 minutes to think about how you’re feeling and calm yourself down, it will make it so much easier to get work done later. You need a moment to reset and clear your mind.
Slow down and be intentional.
Everything will be fine.
Learn To Say “No” To Invitations and “Obligations”
Sometimes, you are right and know that you should stay in and get work done.
Don’t worry about experiencing FOMO (fear of missing out). Don’t worry about what your friends think.
First of all, you can always do it again another day. Most events can and will be recurring.
Secondly, your friends should understand and respect your priorities.
Don’t let them pressure you into spending your time where it shouldn’t be. Don’t let your education suffer because of one night.
I always feel better knowing I’m caught up and all of my assignments and blog posts will be completed on time.
I normally try to meet up with my friends the next time they invite me (assuming I am still caught up.)
Notice how the word obligations were put in quotations. This is because I have this sense of obligation to drive home every single week to see my family back in my hometown.
Of course, I love seeing them and visiting them, but now that classes are getting harder and I’m trying to branch out, do new things, and meet new people, it’s just not realistic for me to drive home as often anymore.
I don’t have time to do everything. If anything, having so much of the same thing on my plate will hold me back from growing into the person I am meant to become.
You may also like This Is What Happens When You Say Yes More Often
Do what you know is best. Stay home if it is needed.
You’ll feel so much better knowing you aren’t behind. Reward yourself later when you’re able to catch up (or at least mostly catch up.)
Try Your Best To Stay On Schedule With Minimal Distractions
When I say with little to no distractions, I definitely mean, put the phone down, delete social media apps for however long you need to get work done.
I even had to tell my boyfriend to not talk to me for the next 5 hours while I edited a blog post and did a homework assignment. (I was sad the entire time knowing I won’t get any messages from him.)
The other reason I don’t use social media, in general, is because my boyfriend and the internet are my main distracters. Adding on social media to two other large distractions is setting me up for disaster.
(I mainly look up news about celebrities that randomly pop into my head that lead to researching other celebrities and finding out how other celebrities got married and all that good stuff. You know. It’s just never-ending research.)
We all know that getting distracted often will lead to your downfall when it comes to trying to be productive and be on time for anything.
A Youtuber, Nate O’Brien, said that he once had a bad phone addiction and implanted strategies into his life to combat that. You should check it out (and his other very informational videos.)
So just try really hard to prioritize and limit access to distractions as much as you can.
You may also like Why You Need To Delete Social Media Right Now
Stop Looking At Your Stats
I decided to make looking at your stats a separate section from the distractions because I think this is an even bigger distraction that we are all culprits of.
I bet you don’t realize how much time checking your stats takes out of your day.
Obviously, not everyone does this but when you first start out with blogging, you’re checking all the time.
When I was a new blogger, I would find myself checking every 5 minutes of the day hoping that zero would turn into one someday. I would stop working on my assignments while I’m completing them to see if there was any change.
I would check, Instagram, google analytics, and Pinterest. Each of these platforms showed no new views or visitors.
It was about 3 months into blogging that I was finally seeing my stats change and go up. Not by a lot, but something.
Not only is it time-consuming to check your stats but it also makes you feel unmotivated and feel like a failure.
Maybe you’re doing something wrong. Making no one likes your content. It’s so stressful.
That’s not true though. You’re just new and no one knows about you yet. So just keep going, put the work in, and the results will naturally come in.
Also, what good does checking your stats do for you anyway?
If you check once a day or less, you’ll still feel the same as if you were to check multiple times a day.
So, there really is no point in you checking every minute of the day. You’re just heightening your sadness and stress by 20x.
Realize That Nothing Is More Important Than Your Health
Let me remind you that your health should be your #1 priority.
Drink water. Eat. Exercise. Sleep. Body hygiene. Nothing is more important than your overall health.
A few weeks into the new semester led me to stay up till midnight studying, doing homework, or blog stuff when I would normally be done and in bed by 9 pm.
I used to eat 3 meals a day every day and have now gotten into the habit of forgetting to eat.
However, since I am aware of these events happening, I’m choosing to spend my time making my body be and feel healthier.
I’ve noticed that getting more sleep helps me focus better in all activities that I do and helps me to stay alert.
I want you to remember that you literally cannot function if you put your health in jeopardy.
Your body is the reason you’re even able to go to school, work on your blog, go to work, or do whatever else you do.
So take care of your body. You only get one body and you need it to be healthy to reach your life or even daily goals.
Realize That You Are Doing The Best You Can
I feel like we are all hard on ourselves.
We don’t see how much we have already accomplished.
All we are worried about is the future and how there is so much more to do.
If you look at your mental checklist or physical checklist, you see all the things you did and didn’t do. CHeckmarks mean you were productive.
It’s the empty boxes with no checkmarks that make you look down on yourself.
Since I’m juggling three different activities in my life, I have a long to-do list every week.
I never follow through with the original plan. Instead of studying for that one class 3 times that week, I only studied once at the end of the week because I had so many other things to do.
This lack of checkmarks causes me to beat myself up about how I’m wasting my time and not doing what I had planned.
This mindset is a big no-no.
I actually did spend my time wisely. Instead of spending all my time on that one class at three different times that week, I was able to evenly distribute my time on other classes, the blog, and working.
Take this moment to stop and think about what did get done and how you felt about them afterward.
(Hopefully, you felt good.)
Don’t worry about the undone stuff. Just do what you can because you are still doing something.
Someone suggested that I make shorter to-do lists.
Having too long of a checklist will make you feel unproductive and unnecessarily overwhelmed.
So, try to make it as easy for yourself as possible to know that you are doing the best you can while still being productive. Make shorter to-do lists.
Turning In An Assignment That Is Less Than Perfect Is Okay
I see myself as a perfectionist. You probably think you’re a protectionist too.
It’s okay!
But also give yourself a break. At least you’re turning in something in general.
What sounds better, having 3 assignments and spending all your time on one to get it perfect and getting low grades on the other two? Or doing all 3 assignments with the quality that you know will give you a decently desired grade for all 3?
I would say the latter is better.
I have a hard time not doing everything as perfectly as possible, but I figured out a system for myself.
Luckily, because of all this pandemic stuff, all of my assignments are turned in online and I am allowed to submit most of my assignments multiple times before the deadline.
So what I do is I attempt to do all my assignments at a mediocre level and turn it in.
Then, after I know I’ve attempted every assignment to the best of my ability to make it submission-worthy, I’ll go back and fix any minor errors or add in details I may have forgotten.
I turn it in initially so that way if I forget about the assignment later on, I at least have something turned in.
Even if you don’t get the multiple submissions, just get it done first, and check over your work later.
You don’t want to be failing any assignments because of not doing it or turning them in whatsoever. You’re missing out on easy grading points!
Doing those assignments even for a little bit exposes you to the material you need to pass the class.
Trust me. You need to attempt everything.
Get it done. Turn it in. Spend your time wisely.
It’s okay. Just do what needs to be done.
Take Deep Break At Least Once A Week No Matter What
I know, I know. My second point was literally telling you to say no to invitations or “obligations.”
But you definitely need to take some breaks. You will literally crash and burn if you are constantly working your brain.
I don’t mean 15-minute breaks between work sessions (but you still need these too. Don’t neglect the short breaks in between. Definitely don’t do one thing for 4+ hours straight. I do it when working on my blog a lot and it’s not good).
I mean longer breaks such as taking a nap, going out with friends, or even chilling to watch a 30-minute youtube video.
You need downtime to reset your brain.
A couple of weeks ago, I was invited out to dinner with a club.
I almost didn’t go because I felt like I was slammed in assignments and I also had work the next day.
My lab partner convinced me to go out and give my brain a rest. I decided to go with a lot of hesitation.
We were out for about 2 hours and I felt so refreshed.
I went out, had good food, and had interesting conversations.
I wasn’t thinking about school and it made me so happy.
When I got home, I realized that resting and enjoying myself for 2 hours was not the end of the world.
My mind was also naturally cleared and it was easier for me to get back on track and focus on the assignment again.
Plus, I was getting stuff done ahead of time anyway.
My assignment wasn’t due for another 2 days (lol, you may be thinking “then why’d you overreact?” Because I had work the next two days!)
Just take long breaks and short breaks. It’s good for you.
Ending Note
The main premise of this blog post was to show how I helped myself when I am blogging as a college student. The blog pretty much takes away a good chunk of my time that I could be using to study and get homework done.
It took me a while to realize these tips and incorporate them into my life.
If I didn’t stop to think about how to make my situation better, I probably would’ve given up on having a blog weeks ago to have more time for school and social life.
(But I am very persistent and I really want my blog to go through all the way until I leave this earth.)
Moderation in everything is so important and having a blog is no exception.
Yes, your blog needs the effort to go far into your future goals.
But if you do too much at once, you’re going to burn out and you’re going to not want to work on it anymore. This is where your blogging career will end.
Your choice. Choose wisely.
(I choose moderation and prioritize my health if you can’t already tell from the entirety of this blog post lol.)
Ending Note 2.0
Did you decide to start a blog?
How are you doing?
Are you okay? I sure hope so.
If not, I really hope my tips help you in some way and that me talking about my experiences helps you know that you aren’t alone and that stress when blogging as a college student happens to everyone.
There is nothing wrong with you or what you are doing.
You should be proud that you took the plunge and started a blog in general. It takes guts to pour out your heart and soul onto the internet.
You’re doing great. Have a good day and keep going with your passion.
This post was all about how to stress less when blogging as a college student.
Caroline R says
I really like these tips! Realizing you are doing your best is such an important one. I want to try and take off at least one afternoon where I don’t blog or do uni work. It can definitely be hard to balance, but I really like both which is the best thing 🙂 x
Lily-Anne says
I definitely love blogging and school too. It took me a while to realize that taking breaks is important if I want to keep doing both productively. Thanks for reading!
Alexis says
As a fellow student blogger, I totally understand what it’s like to be stressed. I don’t have nearly the amount of time I had during the summer, and most of the writing I need to now drains my creativity. Taking a deep breath and reassess what’s important is a really great tip. Thank you for sharing.
Alexis| http://cafe-beauty.com
Lily-Anne says
I’m glad you liked this post!! Thank you for reading!