Student life is already stressful as it is, with tons of workload, high expectations, and extracurricular activities to boot. But now, teens are finding their high school experience taken away from them with remote learning. Add that to the already stressful situation everyone is experiencing, and you can see how students’ mental health could be affected by distance learning.
Understandably, one’s grades could see a decline with all that is going on. And what students need now more than ever are ways to help them cope with the situation and perform better at school. If you’re a student feeling overwhelmed with schoolwork, here are some steps you can take to hopefully take back some control over your school life.
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Talk About Your Feelings in a Safe Environment
We, as a society, need to talk more about mental health. And that begins with simple conversations about our feelings.
When things get stressful and overwhelming, it’s good to find a release for all that pent-up energy. It can take some weight off your chest when you get to dump out all your thoughts and feelings in a safe and judgment-free environment.
While it is good to have friends and family to talk to and ask for support, it can also be helpful to speak to a professional since they are better equipped to handle these kinds of matters. This is because parents, while meaning well, can have biased expectations regarding their child’s performance at school. A guidance counselor or life coach without any personal stake on the matter can be better equipped to listen and offer advice to the student.
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Create a Vision for What You Want Your School Life to Be
When you’re feeling overwhelmed, it can really help to visualize your desired outcome. This is because students often feel lost when there’s so much going on. It can be difficult to move forward when you don’t exactly know where to go. But when you have a vision of what you want your school life to be, you can slowly piece together an action plan.
With a destination in mind, you’ll have a better idea of what you need to do to get there. However, it is important to emphasize that this vision must be what the students truly want. Often, we think we want something because that’s what our parents want for us. But this isn’t necessarily what is best for us.
It’s important to really think about what you want outside of the context of other people’s expectations. When you’re doing things because that’s what you want and not because of anything else, you free yourself from the pressures of meeting other people’s expectations. And this can motivate you even more to succeed.
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List Down All the Things You Need to Do
Now that you have a vision in mind, you need to work your way towards it. Break down your goals into actionable steps.
One way to do this is by listing down all the things you need to do for school. When you have a visual representation of what you need to do broken down into smaller tasks, it somewhat seems less daunting than you thought. Having a schedule to follow can really help you organize and keep on top of your schoolwork.
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Develop an Effective Approach to Schoolwork
For the last step, you’ll need to determine the best approach to accomplishing these tasks. Sometimes, you don’t get it on the first try. But you can always try a new method and see what sticks.
Consider what you can do to help lighten your load. Perhaps you can talk to your teachers when you’re struggling with a particular assignment. Or maybe you can test out different time management techniques to help you out. What matters is that you create a system that works best for you.
Final Thoughts
Life as a student can get overwhelming at times. And that’s okay. You can always pick yourself up and try your best to catch up. Try not to put too much pressure on yourself, and approach it one day at a time. To help you take back control of your life, you can always talk to a life coach.
At Eightlimfit, we have the best life coaches that educate and train people to bring greater health, happiness, and well-being into the lives of those in our community. We strive to encourage and help individuals develop their potential by believing they can reach their goals. Door-to-door service is available in Scottsdale and Phoenix, while virtual sessions are available nationwide! Contact us today to get started!