How to focus on your wellbeing as Leaving Certificate nears

ALTHOUGH it might seem like there isn’t much time over the coming weeks, when preparing for the upcoming exams and the associated stress, it’s important that students take the time to take care of their physical and mental health.

Many students feel like all their time should be spent studying, thinking about, or talking about the exams. This can quickly create a sense of being overwhelmed and anxious, making it even more difficult to focus on tasks.

Our overall sense of wellbeing determines our ability to perform under pressure. If we listen only to our internal voice, that keeps telling us that we are not doing enough, not working hard enough, not spending enough time studying, and that we are not as good as our friends and classmates.

It quickly becomes a daunting prospect to focus on and complete the tasks we need to do.

 By deciding that balance is important, even during this stressful time, students will give themselves a much better chance of overcoming the challenges ahead.

There are many things we can do to improve our sense of wellbeing during challenging times, there is no one formula that works for everyone as we all have different needs and interests but focusing on the things that work for you will help maintain motivation and energy levels needed. Some things that might work are.

Exercise / Relaxation.

Our stress response is a call to physical action. However more often than not when we feel stress, we persist in continuing trying to study. When stress becomes too much, and focus becomes difficult exercise is an excellent way to get moving and get rid of the negative energy we are feeling.

Exercise can be anything that works, a walk, a run, yoga are some great ways to get some gentle exercise when we are feeling stressed. It doesn’t matter what it is once its something that allows you to get moving and take a mental break from schoolwork.

Its also important to make time for relaxation, this can be difficult when preparing for important exams. However, when it’s hard to relax distraction can also work well. We all need mental breaks during times of stress and whether its watching TV, playing games or even spending time on the phone, it’s important to give our minds a break from intense work.

Sleep and Diet

Getting enough rest is key to our wellbeing and our ability to perform at our best. When we are anxious it can be difficult to get to sleep and we tend to procrastinate, go to bed later than usual and often spend time scrolling on our phones.

Maintaining a regular bedtime routine without screentime will give students the best chance of a good night’s sleep.

Our diet is also important and in order to have the necessary energy levels to face the challenges of each day students need to eat a healthy balanced diet. When we are stressed, we tend to opt for comfort foods and unhealthy snacks.

Relying on foods with high sugar content or energy drinks can cause sharp rises and falls in our energy levels. Healthy nutritious foods and drinking plenty of water will maintain even energy levels throughout the day.

Connection and Support

With long hours of revision, students often tend to isolate themselves from friends and family and if they become very anxious, they can often shut down completely and find it difficult to talk about the things that are bothering them. This will not only have a negative effect on exam performance but more importantly, will have a negative effect on student’s wellbeing.

Being overwhelmed can be frightening for all of us but even more so for young people who often haven’t yet developed the capacity to identify when they need to take action to help themselves.

Young people facing exams need to feel supported by family and friends. Sometimes this means that parents might need to insist that their child meets up with friends or friends checking I when someone has become silent and withdrawn.

When we are worried, we can convince ourselves that we are the only ones experiencing what we are feeling, but when we share our difficulties, we more often than not find that we are not alone.

Anchors

We all need things in our day that we look forward to. Small things like our favourite meal, watching TV or meeting friends. Over the coming weeks students need to have something in each day to look forward to. These anchors will allow students to focus on what is good in their day when feeling stressed or overwhelmed and give them comfort when they feel like the day will never end.

The Leaving Cert exams are important, but nothing is more important than our wellbeing. In a few weeks’ time when the exams are over students need to feel proud of their effort and not exhausted from stress.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Alan White is a second level teacher, 6th Year Head and wellbeing author at Bishopstown Community School. He also facilitates wellbeing workshops for companies and organisations. For more information visit

www.changeswellbeing.ie linkedin Alan White or facebook Changes Wellbeing