Living alone for some can be very daunting! For some it might seem like the best idea ever, but when it actually comes to it, living alone can become very stressful. It might be the first time you are required to be independent which is scary all by itself without the added responsibility of living alone. The prospect of boredom and loneliness can also cause stress. So hopefully these tips can help you overcome the stress of living alone at university!
Create a to-do list
Creating a to-do list can help you create and maintain a routine for the day and for the week ahead. It will also help to ensure that you can prioritise your tasks for that day. As a result, this ensures that the things that are causing you the most stress will be completed first.
A further benefit to creating a to do list is that it keeps your mind focused and occupied, this gives you little chance to think about being bored or lonely. Hopefully this aids you when trying to overcome stress.
The final benefit of making a to-do list is that it gives you the satisfaction of finishing the tasks, therefore your mind is not hung up on the tasks and allowing yourself to become overwhelmed.
To-do lists are the most useful thing at university so make sure you get used to using them! They will become your best friend. Use sticky notes. Write them down on your phone. Write them down anywhere!
Learn how to create a plan dedicated to your studies.
Plan your food shop
Planning your food shop doesn’t mean just thinking when your next shop is. It means you actually need to plan what you are going to buy. Make sure to plan to buy healthy foods as stress can be directly affected by an unhealthy diet. Don’t give stress the opportunity to flourish!
Further to this if you have a healthy diet your mind and body are energised enough to go and accomplished all the tasks that are causing you stress.
It can also be a little stressful walking around the shop and trying to figure out what you will be needing to create meals. By planning your ingredients first not only will you be more organised but you will also be saving money as you will be less likely ot pick up all those random bits in the shop.
Meal prep
Once you have your food shop, use food prep as an opportunity to occupy your mind. Not only will it occupy you, it will also free up your time when you would usually be prepping food ready for a meal on the day. Therefore, you have more time to focus on other things that you enjoy.
Further benefits from meal prepping that can help you overcome stress is that you will save money! Living alone can be expensive if it is only you paying rent and bills and this can cause a huge amount of stress. So, any opportunity to reduce your expenditure should be welcomed.
Create your student meal prep plan using this guide!
Start a routine
All of the above will help you create a routine, which is one of the best ways to minimise the stress of living alone at university. You can also try to implement bigger elements into your routine. This can include, the gym, going for walks and going to the library at some point in your day. Although all of this can reduce stress, a big factor that is often overlooked is implementing time into your routine to rest. Rest will definitely help you to overcome stress, especially if you have completed other and more major tasks in your routine.
Regularly see friends
Living alone can be lonely, this can intensify your stress. Therefore, you need to spend time with other people in order to make your alone time enjoyable. When seeing friends as well you should try to organise to do an actual activity, this can help to further remove yourself from the things that are causing you stress.
If you have friends that live alone too, make effort to spend some nights together! Have a pizza night or a cocktail night as someone’s place. Or go out for a few drinks, try bowling or min golf. There is plenty to do!
Take time off from chores and university work
As mentioned before enjoy your downtime and give yourself time to rest. This might be watching Netflix, playing video games or simply doing nothing. Anything that you classify as taking time off. If you are constantly working you will become more stressed because I guarantee that you will start working against yourself. Your mind will be tired and you will make silly mistakes, which means you will have to spend more time working to correct those mistakes. Therefore, it is critical that you allow yourself time away from chores and university work.
Final Thoughts
Living alone should be seen as an achievement, you have got to the stage where you are able to live alone competently. So, don’t see living alone as a stressful moment in your life, it is most definitely a stage in your life that you can use to develop yourself and progress yourself in the world. However, remember that the above pieces of advice can really help if you are feeling stressed. More importantly than any of that though is make your day work for you in any way that helps you overcome the stress of living alone at university.
