As summer comes to a close, many people are trading in their vacations for school supply shopping trips and “Meet the Teacher” nights. Whether you’re trying to coordinate kids carpool times or pulling up a syllabus for a class of your own, the fall can be a stressful time as you transition back to full time school. The schedule and free time you’ve had for the past few months is changing and suddenly you have new stressors entering your life each week. If you’re trying to balance this with your career or athletic training, your day-to-day routine can quickly become a whole new level of busy. Luckily there’s a few ways to adjust to any new changes and minimize anxiety over the new school year.
Tip #1: Plan your Schedule
You’ve probably heard it countless times, but it works! Taking time to plan your day or your week can help you find the most efficient way to tackle your new back to school checklist. Already know the date of that PTA meeting or football game? Write it down now so you can plan around it! Know your university has midterms coming up soon? Mark the date and plan out a study schedule. Taking the time to quickly note these items can help in countless ways. You’ll feel much less stressed knowing you haven’t forgotten anything important. You can look at it in advance and find the best way to tackle the things you have to do that week. This also helps avoid procrastination, which may temporarily ease some nerves by taking it off your mind but actually adds stress! By identifying a potential stressor ahead of time, you can work on it in small chunks or get it done early and not worry about it.
Maybe a fancy planner and bullet pointed lists never really worked for you. Luckily there’s plenty of easy and quick ways to plan out your time. Maybe a digital calendar where you can quickly see everything you have on tap for a week. Maybe the notes app of your phone keeps all of your to do lists right in you pocket, easy to access. Or maybe you prefer that your to do list stays in your head, but just need to take a few minutes at the start of the week to sit and decide how you want to best approach it. Regardless of what method works best for you, knowing you have everything taken care of and having a plan for the things still left to complete takes a massive weight off your shoulders.
Tip #2: Prioritize Physical Exercise
At times like this physical exercise is massively important. You’re likely balancing a demanding work schedule while all this back-to-school craze is hitting. It can seem like there’s just not enough time in the day, and suddenly other things can fall by the wayside. If you’re heading straight from a work desk to the car to grab kids from school, it can be hard on your body. If you’re an athlete trying to maintain a training schedule, you likely feel a lot of stress in this department. How do you make sure you still reach your training goals while accomplishing the rest of your to-do list? Well like we talked about above, making a schedule that works for you can really help! Maybe your training needs to be moved to a different part of your day. Maybe it means getting up and running in the morning before you head out the door, or finding an empty time in the middle of your day to squeeze a workout in. Or you might pick specific parts of your week and dedicate them ahead of time to training, planning your more flexible items around it.
Prioritizing physical exercise like this will do wonders for your week. You’ll feel better physically and avoid a lot of the physical side effects that can come from being at a desk or behind the wheel 24/7. It can also provide mental clarity, knowing you’re still working towards your goals and taking time for yourself. Despite having a busy schedule it’s important to prioritize time where you can escape any stress you’re balancing in the day. And we can’t forget about the incredible anxiety reducing endorphins our brains pump out when we exercise! Overall, taking the time to be active will help us feel happier, healthier, and less stressed.
Tip #3: Don’t Neglect Recovery and Good Sleep
When we talked about things falling by the wayside, another major victim in this area is sleep. It’s seems to be the first thing to go when things get busy. It’s unfortunate that this is the case, because sleep loss is detrimental if your goal is feeling good and avoiding stress. When we sleep more our bodies get a chance to recoup from the day and prepare for the next. Functioning on little sleep can be rough on our mood and mental health, making even small stressor feels massive. If you add in your goals of prioritizing physical fitness in your schedule, you have a whole new level of recovery that your body needs. Sleep is an important proponent in that recovery. Good nutrition and adequate rest time will be a game changer in your new weekly routine.
CBD products can also be monumentally helpful in this area. If you’re trying to help your body physically recover from squeezing workouts into a busy schedule, a tincture can help your body into recovery mode. A topical product can also help spot treat any sore areas and help them heal as you continue your day. A CBD sleep product can be especially helpful in making sure you maintain full and restful nights of sleep. Not only does CBD help the body rebuild and recover, but it can help ease the mental stress that comes from balancing the back to school stress.
Until Next Time.
Stay healthy, my friends!