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The countdown has begun. You have finished almost two months of classes and finals are approaching. Don’t let the stress of classes and juggling everything going on in your lives over take you. Make sure you take some time to relax.

Unplug

Okay. You are probably stressing at just the thought of unplugging for a little while but this is a great way to take away one thing that is occupying your mind. Take a break from your social media right away in the morning or different parts throughout the day. One less stressor. Take a deep breath instead of looking at your phone. Take away the drama, ads and other distractions for just a couple of minutes.

Make time for a break

Make sure you take a little “me” time between all your studying after classes and while attending your classes. Go out and do something fun to get your mind of studying for a couple of hours. Go to a movie, take a walk, paint or draw or go out and grab a snack. Anything for a little break for your mind. Try something new and refocus your attention.

Get up and move

Take advantage of the fitness center or workout facilities on campus. Get up and get your body moving and blood flowing. Take a quick lap around the track or find someone to play a pick-up game of basketball with. Whatever it is, get your body up and moving. Don’t want to leave the house? Check out the newest video workouts online. Or even just take a couple of minutes to get up and walk around your apartment or have an impromptu dance party. Turn up that music!

Plenty of ZZZZs

When you start to get busy and pulled in different directions the first thing to go is sleep. Cutting out sleep to make more time for studying isn’t the answer and will start to take a toll on you and will stress you out even more. Make sure to get enough sleep so that you are ready for the day and take time if you need to slip in a quick nap. If you pulled an all-nighter it’s okay to take some time for yourself to catch up.

Outside the box

There are a lot of different common ways to relieve stress but if you can’t find the one that fits your style there are a lot of different websites you can find for some ideas. Maybe you even have a regular way you release stress but are looking for something new? Just some of the more inventive things to try are search Google images for “cutest baby in the world, listen to the song “Don’t Worry, Be Happy,” or take two minutes to fantasize about all of your summer plans. There are so many more things to try. Just do a search on google for ways to relieve stress before finals. Guarantee there are some you would have never even thought to try.

On your college campus

Another great advantage to being part of your college is that most colleges offer stress relief activities on campus. Make sure to take a couple of minutes to check out the Ellsworth Community College event calendar and the Marshalltown Community College event calendar as finals approach.

Don’t let the stress of finals sneak up on you. Take some time for yourself and try some of these fun stress relief methods or even find something new to try.