Self Care Activities for Students: Because Running on Caffeine and Tears Isn’t Sustainable

Students life can be categorised in two forms –

🐦 Early Bird

🦉 Night Owl

And ofcourse, some who have their own unique routine.

But I believe, it is a phase in every student’s preparation that makes them fall in a category. With own ways of having the self care activities for students and following what suits them the best!

There’s someone who would love to study and prepare throughout the morning and day, but time and situations do not permit so they study hard all through the night.

There might be some who wish to study all night but have to settle with a morning routine.

So we do not get into it.

This is not going to be a routine that students should set up or a criteria, rules, or standards, that every student should adapt too.

Because no matter the type of student you are, the struggle still seems real.

There’s deadlines, distant sleep, and a disturbed diet.

And a constant pressure of ‘do something with your life.’

In all this, taking out time for yourself and creating the self care activities for students can be very difficult.

Though there are a majority of them who somehow maintain a good routine,

with timely waking up, exercising, and doing all the important things that add to their ability to study better,

There’s something that always feel can be better.

This guide is of new and easy self care activities for students, that you can adapt to here and there in your routine to make your student life interesting while adding to your success – successfully😉

Build The Magical Self care activities for students of Going to Bed on Time

There’s no doubt that sleep feels optional when you have a 2,000-word essay due at 8 AM and you’re only on word 12.

But sleep isn’t just something that saves you from getting dark circles or looking like a zombie.

It can affect your overall memory, concentration, and mood.

So here are some practical tips that you can use to have timely sleep:

• Do not fall into the sleep procrastination trap. That I will sleep in 10 minutes and 2 hours later you are either completing the assignment, or got into your phone and do not realise it.
• Instead set a fake deadline. ‘Sleep by 10pm’. This way even if you are not able to meet it, you’ll somehow be able to sleep atleast before midnight.
• You can also try reverse alarm trick. When the whole world sets a morning alarm and keep it on snooze, you can keep a night or bedtime alarm.
• Name it something aggressive like: “SLEEP OR SUFFER TOMORROW.”, “YOU’RE RUINING YOUR LIFE.”, “DO YOU REALLY WANT TO LOOK LIKE A ZOMBIE?”.
• If you love listening to songs, then you can create a playlist of the most unexciting, slowest songs possible.
• And if it doesn’t make you yawn by track 3, you need to make it even duller.
• Set an automatic “app limit” on social media at night (because let’s be honest, TikTok and Instagram are black holes).
• Though it is common but quite difficult to execute. You can also switch to ‘Grayscale Mode’ or ‘Bedtime Mode’ as everything will look boring and you won’t feel like scrolling anymore.

We tend to think that now is the time to study, we can always sleep later. But as per NIH, “Your brain only retains 40% of what you study when sleep-deprived.” So it is better to sleep timely and then wake up early to revise,

However, if you only have time for a nap and still want to feel fresh, you drink a coffee, set a 20 minute timer, and sleep. By the time you would wake up, coffee would have done the work and you’ll feel refreshed and energized, ready to run the marathon again! Isn’t it one of the practical self care activities for students that you can incorporate?

Eat healthy because Instant Noodles Are Not a Food Group

The most compromised self care activities for students life is good food. While it may not seem important while you are processing your learning phase, the aftermath might get troublesome. To avoid this, by hook or by crook, try eating something that helps your body, not just fills your stomach. Here are a few things you can try –

• Follow a one hand snack rule. It is going to be practical and easy to eat while you repeat what you studied.
• If you have messy chips or sandwiches by your side, you might need two hands to munch on it, and you might end up skipping food altogether while studying.
• So stock up on bananas, nuts, or protein bars. This way you can eat without taking a break and adding to your health while you use your time efficiently while studying.
• Cook meals that take lesser time but add more health. This way you do not just fill in your stomach but also add good things to your body. You can try one of the three recipes shared.
• Microwave an egg in a cup → Add salt & pepper → Instant protein boost.
• Tortilla + cheese + any leftover veggie → Microwave for 30 sec → Instant quesadilla.
• Yogurt + granola + fruit → Mix in a bowl → Breakfast that doesn’t suck.
• And if you still crave junk food, I would suggest instead of controlling your craving swap them with something that also adds value.
• Chips → Roasted chickpeas or popcorn (just as crunchy, way healthier).
• Chocolate → Dark chocolate + almonds (still satisfies sweet cravings).
• Instant noodles → Instant oats with peanut butter (faster, actually fills you up).

And if you are a person who feels that you need coffee to wake up from sleep, try drinking water before you plan on making your coffee.

Most of the time your brain mistakes dehydration for hunger and fatigue and maybe after your water intake, you might not even need that extra cup of caffeine.

Self care activities for students can be a luxury that makes you instantly feel guilty of using your time in some other way than just studying.

So, if you’ve been running on coffee and chaos, consider this your sign to take a break, drink some water, and actually sleep tonight.

You got this. 💪✨