Stressed? Since we are in midst of second round of prelims and nearing finals season, the stress level of students have been increasing constantly. Cornell students often feel like they are competing in the Stress Olympics. In a conversation between friends, a common phrase that we hear is “Oh, I’m so tired. I only slept for x hours last night.” Then the friend usually agrees about being tired and gives another reason why they are also equally or more tired, and so on. For this week’s Rose Café, we invited Sarah Rubenstein-Gillis and Andrea Gerding to talk about how to manage stress.

I thought the suggestion of making a pre-work routine was a great idea to help condition the brain for working more effectively. I will try making a pre-work routine of making tea, and doing a couple of stretches. Also, chunking work sounds like a good idea to feel a daily sense of accomplishment. I have used a planner ever since middle school and I continue to use it to keep track of due dates, meetings, and events. Something new that they suggested during the café was putting non-work things in the planner, such as “having lunch with friend.” I’m not sure if my planner would get too full if I start putting non-work related things in my planner, but I’ll keep it in mind in the future.

Thinking of sleep as if it is work seems like a great strategy to make sure that you can an adequate amount of sleep every night. If we have work, we make sure that we get to our job by that time and work until the shift is over. Similarly, we should go to sleep for 8 hours at a designated time. Overall, the talk was interesting and gave some great tips on time management and sleep. Near the end of the discussion, the meditation session was very relaxing and I might consider taking a meditation class next semester.