Amidst the chaos of recent weeks, it’s easy to forget that many of you still have assignments and projects due before the end of this strange semester. For those in final year, you’ve got the added pressure of life after college to take into account, and all of this can leave even the best of us frazzled!

Point Campus has worked and dealt with 1,000s of students over the years, and we’ve learned some great techniques and ways to keep calm along the way. The mental health of our residents is incredibly important to us during these times of uncertainty, so give these ideas a go to minimize stress over the coming weeks.

Colouring Books

Colouring books for adults have been all the rage in the past few years. What was once an activity for kids has now become a practice in mindfulness for grown-ups! The therapeutic nature of colouring has been shown to calm down even the most anxious of minds. You can order one of the many books out there online and don’t forget to grab a set of crayons while you’re at it!

Meditation

Looking after your mind and headspace is so important during stressful times like we’re experiencing now. Meditation can sometimes be brushed aside by those who think it’s a waste of time, but we can’t overstate how useful it can be. When you look at any top performing athlete, musician or leader, meditation is one of the practices that they all share in common.

If you’ve never given it a go, you’re in luck. The internet is a wealth of knowledge and you’ll find plenty of articles and videos giving you more advice on how to begin. If you’d like some help starting out, there are some apps out there that will guide you through your sessions. Calm, Headspace and Waking Up are three of the apps we’d recommend checking out with some of them offering free trials!

Preparation

‘’By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail’’.

Many of our residents’ anxiety and nerves are caused by their college workload and exams. While it’s completely normal to be nervous about these things, being unprepared can completely throw your sense of calm out the window! You can’t control what grade you’ll get, or what question will come up on the exam, but you can control how much preparation you do. When you put everything you can into the task and work that’s in front of you, there’s a very calming feeling that you get, knowing you couldn’t do much more. If you find a lot of your nerves come around the time of important deadlines or exams, maybe this is something you can work on more?

CBT

CBT stands for Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and is a form of therapy often used to combat anxiety. The aim of CBT is to help you explore and examine your thoughts in an unbiased way. It helps to work out unhelpful thoughts and problems which will in turn help keep you calm. The current COVID-19 crisis has no doubt planted many anxious thoughts in our minds, but CBT is a proven way to help resolve them.

Visit this HSE web page for more info on CBT and SpunOut’s article which also includes a free programme that allows you to practice CBT at home.