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The Information Influx and Notification Nuisance

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The accessibility in communication has blurred the lines between formal and informal forms of communication. With information available to us at our fingertips, there’s an expectation to be constantly online and updated. There’s no excuse to not do so since notifications buzzing around us. However, what is the cost of information influx?

Ping. You just put your phone down and were about to take a moment to yourself to break away from the constant influx of messages and notifications. However, you just heard the high-pitched sound that itches you increasingly until you can’t control yourself and finally give in to your urges. Before you know it, the muscle memory of your fingers swiftly types your passcode, and you have finally accessed WhatsApp. No worries, though, since it was just your friend reacting to your previous text. Since you have already made an effort to open WhatsApp, you might as well casually scroll through a few unread messages. There is, however, no such thing as casual on WhatsApp, and you are now obligated to reply to those messages because you might as well do it now.

Many of us are chronically online due to the demands of accessible communication. Even subconsciously, we constantly crave stimulation because we are accustomed to how conveniently we can access information. Getting updated is considered the bare minimum in keeping up with today’s globalised world. Notifications play an important role in ensuring you are on top of all your commitments and updates. In some ways, notifications ease communication for us because we don’t have to go the extra mile to get updated. WhatsApp groups are synonymous with a college notification board as they are the only way to get crucial updates on any developments in regard to your classes and societies. Notifications are a necessity to survive the fast-paced nature of college. However, just as easily, they can become an overwhelming source of anxiety.

There are several mechanisms to reduce the impact of notifications. For most of us, it is keeping our phones on silent mode and returning to our phones at our convenience. However, since our phones are perpetually glued to us, the silent mode feature is almost redundant in shielding us from our notifications. However, you may mute your notifications which prevents notifications from even appearing on your home screen. As most of us are acquainted with, blindly muting our notifications often has repercussions on our professional and personal lives.

Turning off all my notifications hardly ever works for me. I just feel like as college students we don’t really have the luxury of just muting all our notifications because the messages that we receive from college often require our immediate attention. Even when I choose to get back to messages at a convenient to me, I’m bombarded with over 50 messages from different groups and it creates even more stress because I have to go through all those messages to make sure I didn’t miss out on anything important,” a first-year student discussed.

The first come, first serve basis is how opportunities are grasped in WhatsApp groups. Even a 30-second delay in response can lead you to lose an opportunity. This is exactly where the pressure starts to arise with notifications. There’s an inherent need to constantly be available and be the first person to take hold of such opportunities. Although showing initiation may appear to be the bare minimum form of showing commitment, over time the constant influx of messages and notifications takes a toll on your ability to respond. The continuous notifications eventually cause lethargy and you lose track of keeping up with important developments.

“I remember the first day of college when all of a sudden I was added to so many groups and in those groups there were links to other groups. Official groups, unofficial groups, opportunity groups, and students of 2025/26 groups. It was so overwhelming trying to keep up with all of it because you are new to college and you are already stressed enough and you don’t want to miss out on important updates. I remember I joined a group a few hours later, and the entire CR elections had already been conducted and I had absolutely no clue about it,” a first-year student observed.

In the interest of professional commitments, somehow personal commitments take a back seat. In the wake of keeping up with emails and WhatsApp messages, answering texts from your friends and family may seem trivial. Due to this, your personal relationships suffer as you may not actively contribute towards staying in touch due to the lethargy that accompanies meeting your professional updates.

I have all my groups from college pinned. Since there are over 25 of them, I hardly even see messages from my friends because there is always something going on in my college groups. And they are very important and if I don’t get back to them in a few hours, I’m usually tagged. It becomes so draining trying to keep up with all this that I just completely forget that I haven’t even replied to my friend who texted me 2 days ago” lamented a student.

The urgency that accompanies notifications often is fueled by an intrinsic need to be available and immediately deal with the issue. Over time, just the mere sound of a notification can cause a wave of anxiety due to the urgency it creates. They can also be very overwhelming especially when the group chats are spammed with messages that compel you to answer them immediately. In the process, you start disassociating yourself from your surroundings and remain stuck with the updates and commitments. Due to the accessibility of your presence, answering texts carve away your relaxation time and blur the boundaries between your priorities.

Especially with utilizing multiple devices, we are even more charged with notifications. Our laptops, phones, iPads and Tablets are constantly buzzing with notifications from all sorts of social media applications. Although disconnecting from the chaos of our devices is intimidating, protecting our mental peace is much more crucial. Sometimes we may miss catching up on our emails and texts but instead of feeling guilty about it, we need to assert boundaries and compartmentalize our priorities to preserve our sanity and peace.

Image Credits: Macworld

Read Also: https://dubeat.com/2017/09/30/in-the-age-of-phone-fare/

Sri Sidhvi Dindi

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Uncategorized

To-Be Third Years, Your Sanity is Significant

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Read to know about the third year’s mental and physical pressures, and what you should do to prioritise your mental sanity over every aspiration for perfection.

If someone asks me about my experience in the last year of college, my usual reply starts with “traumatic,” “stressful,” and ends with a “Thank god! It’s ending.” As much as I talk about my course being an absolute mismatch with what I had expected, it would be grossly unfair to make these incorrect statements. Rephrasing my earlier assertion – the University of Delhi (DU) has taught me everything I need to know, but my course contents. In this “everything” I found umpteenth life lessons that no school or professor could have taught me. The biggest, and possibly the most crucial, piece of information here is a simple remark – ‘nothing is more important than your mental sanity.’ A kind senior of mine reiterated this sentence enough times for me to remember for a lifetime, and I thank her for this.
This statement held the most importance for me when I was about to begin my third year in college. Right now, with college society elections around the corner, most second-years are filled with the same crippling anxiety and fear. Many have already started prepping for entrances, while others have begun campaigning for the respective position they wish to take up in the next year. For those who emerge lucky, the moment when they are elected to take up the position of responsibility of their choice becomes one of the most fulfilling memories of their college life. A fresh hope of leading the society to newer heights is ignited, and they embark on a journey of success and failure in equal measures.
In this quest to fulfill the supremely high expectations of seniors, we imbibe from them a culture which embraces perfectionism, and we develop a work thic which strives to follow procedure in a similar fashion as they did. Oftentimes, we become so invested in an association that we give priority to it over everything else – friends, family, and sometimes even our career. This blind faith in the mechanical workaholic culture and putting precedence of the society over everything is, sadly, toxic.
In this system, where graduating seniors urge their juniors to work harder and take the society to newer heights, no one utters the words “take care” with equal emphasis, or usually leave this bit in the post – script. No one says it often enough, that we need to prioritise our career and health over everything else, and that an all – consuming behaviour by virtue of heading a society or an institution is problematic at the behest. Many end up micromanaging most of the work, which leads to a toxic work environment, not only for them but also for those peers who wish to learn.
While it is important to do justice to the position one has been elected to, it is a different ball game when that individual has to juggle society with marks and all the other baggage that the third year comes with. Third year is not easy for most, and acceptance of this is the only way forward. Anyone who says otherwise is either blessed with god – gifted abilities or is simply bluffing their way out of everything. Third – year is an important juncture, which has many minute yet important decisions, and a lot of us do not possess the luxury to fail academically and rely on our parents as a back – up.
Despite all this, it comes to an end, which is when the realisation of taking unnecessary stress because of “that one error I missed out from editing” or “that one prop that I forgot to place” comes into the forefront. I am glad I had a senior who reminded me to not take extreme pressures and enjoy my last year in college alongside the work. Hopefully, more seniors can be the same guiding light for a junior who is about to take up the same, seemingly intimidating role they once held.

 

Feature Image Credits: NDTV

 

Vijeata Balani

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Mapping Mental Health: Eating Disorders in Women

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College-going women’s struggles with eating disorders have intensified with increasing pressure from all the spheres. Look at the dilemmas and reasons pushing EDs forth in women, and what it ultimately means for us.

The transition process from high school to college can be intimidating and the constant need to fit in, while handling studies, work, future woes, and the everyday struggle that comes with an independent lifestyle might result in a lot of stress that can translate into eating disorders. An eating disorder is not a lifestyle choice but it shapes out of stress, depression, or anxiety, which requires immediate attention. It can cause severe health issues in the future ranging from suicide to death from starvation, etc.

Eating disorders are much more common in young women and especially in those women who already have some history of depression, anxiety, or self-image issues stemming from insecurities and paranoia. This feeling of being insufficient and the need for acceptance and love can lead to the amplification of their desire to have a certain body shape. Hence, they start either starving themselves or binge-eating which is followed by heavy purging.

College life comes with all the glitz and glamour of societies, sports, innumerable opportunities, socialising, and promises of the great, but college also exposes women to the negative aspect of fitting in, to the idea of certain “perfect” body shape, and it can also feed into the conditioning of your body defining your self-worth.

College with studies, figuring out your future, building yourself and also staying afloat in the mayhem of parties and finding love is a very hectic place to be. For women suffering from body dysmorphia, it can be quite overbearing given the patriarchal set-up of even metropolitans like Delhi that subtly, or sometimes not so subtly, brands certain kinds of lifestyles as desirable and aspirational, while negating certain others. Beauty as a social construct is not just conditioned in such set-ups, but it is made to feel natural.

Societies and various sport teams are there for nurturing your talent, providing a means to bring out your abilities but the level of competition and added stress these societies and teams bring can also manifest into eating disorders.

In a candid conversation with an ex-member of Glitz, the fashion society of Kamla Nehru College, she reveals, “Girls who join societies undergo added pressure from crowd along with their performance. It is not easy to perform in front of large crowds and many girls cave into that pressure. Relentless practices and the huge crowd makes me conscious about my looks and there are occasions when I go on diets for a long period of time out of fear of gaining weight. It did affect my health and brought lot of weakness and inability to cope with my studies.”

My own experience when I joined the college basketball team wasn’t full of roses and sunshine. In the first year itself, I developed a severe eating disorder which was mainly due to the hectic schedule. Being an outstation student living independently, I started taking food and my health for granted. It took a negative toll on my health resulting in constant weakness, lack of concentration, long bouts of lethargy, which further spiralled dangerously into low white blood cells’ count. With a strict diet and work regimen, I was able to bounce back but it is not that easy for everyone. Severe eating disorder demands immediate medical help that only a physician can provide.

Having an eating disorder requires immediate attention and introspection. You need to understand that it is connected to your mental well-being and is getting translated in a very harmful way. If not handled immediately it can have a long-term negative impact on your body. Hence, we need to talk more about this and not subject the women suffering from this with severe criticism and judgement.

Feature Image Source: Odyssey

Antriksha Pathania
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Campus Central

Tips for Successful Exam Preparation

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With the ongoing examinations, stress and anxiety increase tremendously. Here are a few tips and tricks to help you prepare well for your exams.

It’s that time of the year when the third-year students will bid adieu to their colleges to embark upon a new journey. This is also the time when anxiety regarding the future will be at its peak with the entrance exams approaching. Semester examinations and assignments have only added to the misery. Thus, preparing for entrance examinations is one herculean task.

Here are a few tips and tricks to ease this pressure and help you prepare for your entrance examinations.

Image Credits: Etoos Blog
Image Credits: Etoos Blog
  • Make a plan-Write down how many exams you have and the amount of time left for each of them. Allocate more time to subjects which you think are difficult. Do not leave anything for the last minute. We often end up making a plan which is unrealistic. Keep in mind your strengths and weaknesses while making a plan. This will help you develop better study habits.
  • Be strict with yourself- Execution of your plan is the most difficult thing. You are bound to get distracted while studying. But it is important to be strict with yourself and follow your plan rigorously.  Studies have shown for long-term retention of knowledge, short study breaks are vital.
Image Credits: Asana Academy
Image Credits: Asana Academy
  •  Prioritize  well- With a number of things going on- assignments, semester exams, internal assessments, party plans with friends, make sure you learn the art of prioritizing and decide what is more important for you. This will eliminate the waste of time.
  • Practice previous year question papers- The best way to know the status of your exam preparation is by solving previous year question papers. A mock test will help you understand the format of the questions. It is also a worthy practice for measuring the time you need for the actual test.
Image Credits: Pinterest
Image Credits: Pinterest
  • Keep calm and believe in yourself- Anxiety and stress tag along with any exam preparation and hamper your productivity. Thus, it is important to not lose your calm. Practice meditation to release stress.  Eat healthy food and stay hydrated. Most importantly, believe in yourself.

All the best!

Feature Image Credits: Institute Skill

Shreya Agrawal

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DUB Speak

The Reality Of College Exams

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In school, we are often provided with this rosy picture of college where the academic environment seems to be pretty chill. Except, when you actually step into the college doors, you do realise that it is a far cry from it.

One often gets to hear how getting marks in the 12th standard should be our primary concern in life, almost offering a silent implication that it all going to be smooth sailing from there onwards. As much as I and the rest of the student community would have liked to believe so, here is a warning for all the freshers reading this, if that is you’re still not aware, that it is not to be so.

College, as an environment has become synonymous with freedom, independence, and low-key academic tension, going by what pop culture has very conveniently fed us, resulting in this popular notion.  You are almost entertained with the whole idea of what walking into the college doors would be like, of course, only to be slammed on the face with this door, namely, reality.

College marks and exams almost seem insignificant in school, what with all the pressure to clear all those engineering exams and scoring above 95% in boards. Clearing these, make it seem like the battle won, except it is not even half of it. College placements, cracking entrance exams for masters, filling up applications for higher studies; all have a pre-requisite of a decent GPA in college. I hate to break it you, but it is an endless, vicious cycle. One which you unintentionally signed up for, the moment your existence came to be. There isn’t really an escape route.

For starters, acceptance might just help you deal with this a lot better because life is such. Secondly, it would be advisable that you probably stop reading this article and start scramming, because other things can wait but you probably really need those marks right now. Thirdly, if you feel demotivated

at any point, I take the last point back. Marks are just a number and numbers shouldn’t really define you. Your success wouldn’t be determined by one bad external. However having said that, even though your success isn’t really hinged on how well you do in college, I do believe that it is important to work hard in whatever capacity you can towards your goal and making your dreams a reality.

College might just be some of the best years of your life, however, they are also the years that truly define you as a person and help form a foundation. It is important to live and enjoy your college life to the fullest, but it is almost important to utilize this time to figure things out. The next time you hear an adult telling a kid how college is going to be all fun and games, stop them right there, or on second thoughts, don’t.

Feature Image Credits: GK India

Anoushka Singh
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Exams

How to Have More Faith in Your Preparation: A Guide to Not Freak Out!

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The exam season leaves us in an air of uncertainty and anxiety related to the syllabus! These are a few tips to keep you positive throughout the exams.

“We live in a test-conscious, test-giving culture in which the lives of people are in part determined by their test performance. (Seymour Sarason et al., 1960, p.26, Yale University).”

Having faith in oneself is vital to performing well. This is something every exam goer should keep in mind. The exams are a testing time for you, mentally, but here are a few tips to be confident about your preparation for the exams.

  • You have given your best

If you know you have delivered your one hundred percent into the preparation, keep reminding yourself about it. The syllabus is ever so vast, but if you are confident that the topics you’ve done are in perfection, you can climb Everest with that confidence!

  • Do not let others cause anxiety to you

The night before the exam is filled with a lot of distractions. Friends and classmates calling you up to clear the doubts or to share the notes, Whatsapp groups will be filled with multiple discussions. Above all, there will always be that one friend, who will hype things up so much and freak everyone out. Do not let all of this scare you. Believe in yourself and be confident you will be able to pull off a good examination.

  • Be confident and positive

Do not let the negative thoughts brim past you! Believe in your preparation and be confident and happy you were able to pull off all that you decided to work on. Stressing unnecessarily will affect your performance in the paper as well!

  • It is not the end of the world

Being dedicated to your studies is an important activity but stressing too much on an exam might not be an ideal situation. Believe in the preparation, and even if you feel you are lacking in something, there is always a better time. Invest more in the preparation for the next paper. Do not let the blues affect your performance in all of your exams.

  • Strategize your preparation

If you feel a little blue looking at the vast expanse of the syllabus to be covered, take a cue and design a schedule in such a way that you target all the main and the important topics! A study by the Stanford Research scholars revealed that college students who employ a strategic approach to the use of study resources improved their exam scores by an average of one-third of a letter grade. Smart studying is an effective way to cover up all of the important topics of the exam in a shorter time. Focus on efficiency.

The exams are for sure a testing time for everyone, but do not let it affect you in a way which will delineate your performance. Give your best, at all costs, and relax knowing this fact, at the end of the day.

 

Feature Image credits: Very Well Mind

Avnika Chhikara
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All Nighters: Not Always the Best Option

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All-nighters are the quintessential package under the exam season fuss, but are it good for your health? We unravel this mystery.

All-nighters are something which has been an integral part of each and every college student’s life. The night revolving around cozy blankets or sturdy chairs and rounds of coffee to keep you alive, all in the shivers of the exam. All-nighters are usually something which students pull off before an exam, usually as a result of a vast syllabus which is to be covered. However, research shows that pulling an all-nighter before an exam, may not be the best option.

Pulling an all-nighter has a serious effect on your health. Past studies have shown that all-nighters affect the cognitive abilities majorly. It can cause distortion to your memory. And majorly impair the concentration and problem-solving abilities.  Besides, once the effect of the caffeine wears off, it leaves one very weary. Writing a three-hour examination requires the brain and the body to be susceptible to the pressure. Majority of those who tend to study all night have a probability of scoring lesser GPAs in comparison to their peers. So staying up all night may simply not be the best option!

Recent studies from a Swedish based research term also suggests that even one night of missed ‘snoozing’ or sleep may have a long-lasting effect on your genes. The study was reported back in 2015 by the group. It targeted studying the ‘clock’ genes, an integral part of the circadian rhythm which is found throughout the body. They act like tiny clocks which control and coordinate the internal body clock, in the muscle and adipose tissues. Every cell in your body contains its own circadian clock, and your hypothalamus acts as a master clock that keeps them all running in sync. When you stay up all day and all night, though, your signaling gets completely out of whack . That throws your cells’ circadian clocks out of sync, thereby making you feel a vague sense of nausea, fatigue, lassitude, sleepiness. The study suggests that a missed night of sleep is enough to throw our metabolism in a loop, risking us to prone obesity and diabetes.

Heena Garg, a second-year Literature student of Maitreyi College feels, “all-nighters leave you exhausted very often. But it is the exam blues which keep you awake, unable to sleep. You’re always wondering how much more of the syllabus is left to be covered, as there is just so much of it!”

Many experts also state that all-nighters affect the brain’s efficiency, which keeps reducing, each hour we deprive our body of sleep. One of the biggest tolls an all-nighter has is on our working memory. When we cram, our brain uses only short-term memory. To retain that information for a lengthier tie, we need to utilize our long-term memory. It is as simple as it is ‘information that comes in quick leaves just as quickly’. A heavy dosage of information in a short amount of time doesn’t allow the information to assimilate. Sleeping helps in the assimilation and memory consolidation. Our capacity to learn and memorize anything is the most effective in the morning time. This is when the peak cognitive efficiency is present. As you stay awake for longer hours, the brain’s efficiency reduces. The brain uses molecules called adenosine triphosphate (ATP) which help it in burning fuels. The linger one stays awake, the more ATP is used; hence there is less to help metabolize energy.

Nikki Chaudhary, a second-year Literature student of Maitreyi College says, “Working or studying all night is something which is seen as quite an adventure to most of the young adults these days. Coffee and books go hand in hand for such individuals, who are unaware of the health deteriorating repercussions of this habit causing an imbalance in their routine cycle.”

The long-term dangers of all-nighters include the reduced learning and cognitive ability and increased likelihood of developing anxiety disorders. Other hazards include weight gain, an increased risk of diabetes, and potential brain damage. Despite the hazards attached to it, all-nighters became a choice which many time-crunched people make!

Hersh Dhillon, a second-year Computer Science student at IIT Ropar comments “I mainly pull all-nighters in or around exam time and sometimes on Fridays. Well, in retrospect I feel the exams in which I slept for a decent 5 hours are the ones I scored more at. Quite possibly because the exams I stayed up all night for were tougher. But yeah, this could well be a reason”

According to caffeineinformer.com, “Caffeine is the most widely used psychoactive substance on the planet.” Almost 80% of the world uses caffeine. While being metabolized by the body caffeine has several well-documented positive effects on the body and its processes. Caffeine ensures alertness or wakefulness. This is achieved by blocking adenosine receptors in the brain. Adenosine signals the brain that it’s time for the body to slow down and sleep.

In order to ensure they are well awake, students are prone to abuse energy drinks, or at least regularly consume them, thereby affecting the sleep quality. Caffeine intake should be moderate and works best after a regular sleep routine. Drinks like coffee and energy drinks like Red Bull, Monster, Tzinga etc. may provide instant energy, but have deteriorating effects in the long run. Prolonged or improper use of these energy drinks may lead to headaches, palpitations, dizziness, gastrointestinal upset etc. A continuous streak of staying awake can lead to strokes or even loss of short-term memory.

Make a study schedule on what all you will cover before the exam day. It is always good to keep a mental note of it as well! Second, invest in short naps. If you plan to stay awake for really late, take a nap for at least 30 minutes so as to freshen up and then you can cover up what is left. In this manner, your brain can relax and assimilate the knowledge you just went through and you are ready for learning whatever is left to, without forgetting the previous one. When you sleep, the hippocampus replays what you’ve learned while you were awake.Dr. Charles Czeisler, chairman of the board of the National Sleep Foundation and chief of sleep medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital says, “No sleep, no long-term memory of those lessons.” Invest in eating dry fruits and baked snacks or roasted chana to keep the iron levels up and you energized throughout.

Hence, ensure you sleep nicely in between the exam season and have brain rich foods to ensure you pass with flying colours.

 For more information check out the link to this Youtube Video by Claudia Aguirre: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqONk48l5vY

 

Feature Image credits: Medium

 Avnika Chhikara
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How to Maintain Mental Well Being in the University of Delhi

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“Your present circumstances don’t determine where you can go, they merely determine where you start”

-Nido Qubein

The constant pressure to succeed can cause turmoil in the heads and hearts of even the best. Stepping into the ‘real world’ after school is a stressful, scary experience, leaving most quaking in their boots. For the most part, individuals are certain of their capabilities till they remain sheltered by parents, teachers, friends, and the comfort of a hometown. The insecurity sets in once all this is taken away, and replaced with a completely foreign environment and alien people. Everybody has their own coping mechanisms to deal with various adversities. For many people social settings or situations, or a change in them, are triggers for anxiety, which in turn may lead to serious mental health concerns. Apart from anxiety, the foreign environment and University culture, may give rise to other stress-induced mental health concerns as well.

What follows are examples of stress-inducing scenarios that many encounters over the three years of college, and how to actively cope with them.

Year one is stressful mainly due to the new environment, foreign people, different methods of teaching, and (for outstation students) the alien city. You may feel overwhelmed by the fast moving busy life of a metropolitan if you’re from a small town. People may not be as kind, and the diversity in people may scare you. The pressure to get into college societies, at the same time, coming to terms with the fact that there are people smarter or more talented than you, can be hard. The best way to maintain some peace of mind in between all this chaos would be to have no expectations. Expectations most often if not always, lead to disappointment. Having a clear head and ‘going with the flow’ can really help in terms of relieving stress-inducing thoughts to ‘be the best’. Understanding that there will always be someone better, and that you have to learn to accept yourself for who you are, are key to staying sane.

Year two is known for one of the most important stressors, namely internships. For most people this is the first time they are interning, inducing anxiety about the work environment, bosses, and mainly, securing an internship. Understanding a work environment and how things are done can take years if not months. Not worrying about ‘fitting in’ or impressing your boss, are solid steps one can take to relieve anxiety. People may even experience disappointment upon not getting substantial work whilst interning. Instead of focusing one’s energy on what is not happening, looking at the job as a learning experience is a step in the right direction.

Year three could easily be deemed as the most stressful of all three years. Important decisions regarding working, studying, or taking a gap year, are inevitable. Watching your peers get their desired jobs/Universities may add to the already mounting pressure. Taking things at one’s own pace and understanding your own capabilities come first and foremost. Instead of comparing yourself to others, focus on what interests you and match that with your aptitude for best results.

College is a rollercoaster ride, with many ups and downs. Going with the twists and turns, and learning from every up and down, will make you more self-aware as a person and help you cope better with the pressures of life.

 

 Feature Image Credits: Hindustan Times

Meher Gill

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How to Keep Pace with Yourselves Under the College Workload?

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It is very easy to forget yourself under the college workload but in order to be as efficient as required one needs to reconnect with themselves every once in a while. Here are some of the ways to do that.

1. Begin early
It is very important to begin your course a little early. It may sound ironic since studying should not be a piece of advise when one wants to just focus on reconnecting with oneself under the college workload. However, one of the ways to reconnect with oneself is not having too much of work at once. If one begins early then, the workload gets divided into the several days and you will end up having time for yourself every day!

2. Pursue a different hobby
It is important to have a hobby that is different from your course and challenges you. If a student is pursuing English Honours, then in his/ her free, it is better to play guitar than write a poem. In order to keep pace with oneself, one needs to understand and fulfill one’s desires too.

3. Indulge in self-care
It is very easy to forget oneself when loaded with work. You forget to sleep well, eat well, and rest well. But, every once in a while, you should indulge in self-care. Eat healthy and sleep till you wake up naturally. Meditate or go out to play some tough football. Self-care could sometimes also mean taking a day out for yourself, just doing nothing. Go to the fancy cafe you had been planning to go or read that book in the park. Come on, create that blog! Whatever makes you feel eased and relaxed is important for you. Be sure to take out 30 minutes every day to do at least one of these. It is even more beneficial if you do not invite company and just spend time building familiarity with solitude.

4. Party!
Every once in a while take out time to party! If you’re a workaholic, chances are you won’t be able to party peacefully unless you are done with your work. Therefore, set your target, feel accomplished, and then call your buddies home to have a blast! And, when you party, make it wild enough for you to forget about work. A little hangover after the party is great, too. Gather all amazing memories and remember you have to get to work again only to be able to relive another party whenever you make yourself proud.

Feature Image Credits: Viral Tech Blog

Khyati Sanger
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Relationships and Stress: Combat the Bad

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Being in a relationship has its own complications–there are a hundred things that stress us. But, with sheer will and understanding, things can be sorted.

What a beautiful moment it is to reminiscence of the time when the person you liked said “yes”, and you certainly thought “this is the one”. To be together with someone we have always wished, is a blessing. However, it is only with time that we realise that the initial stages of forming a relationship and being in one for a while are two very different scenarios, where the latter is the more difficult one.

Relationship stress is a gradually increasing process. The initial phase is marked by the stress we experience due to being possessive and worrying about not doing anything stupid. It is the most amateur phase when the two people involved start integrating each other into their lives. We fume at the sight of our partner texting another person. We try hard to avoid acting or saying anything silly.

After entering the second stage, our compatibility is put to the test. All of us say that one of the factors for coming into a relationship is that we are compatible with the other person. This is the time we start having arguments. We quarrel over petty things. We have these so called “fights” every day and sit in a corner of the room trying to make ourselves fine. A major reason for the occurrence of such fights is that we start disagreeing with our partners. All this while the relationship seems to be a roller coaster ride. After a point, we start putting our opinions above theirs and start feeling a bit dominated. And, not to mention, neither of the two are ready to accept other’s opinion.

The third stage is when we have been into the relationship for quite a while. But with the aging relationship, the issues amplify as well. This stage puts the mettle of the relationship to the test. Issues such as time, truth, and commitment start cropping up. Not being able to talk every day or giving the other person adequate time puts both the people in a huge state of bother. This is followed by doubt over whether our partner is entirely true or has started keeping secrets. And the most ground-shaking issue is when our commitment is questioned. We start questioning if the relationship is even worth it or if the person we chose is really the right one?

The stress is natural and there are a few ways to combat the issue. They are:
1. Act as if it’s the first day – Counting the number of years we have been in a relationship doesn’t really help during fights. We should take a deep breath and start as if we are in the first day of our relationship. How precise and full of promises we are. Doing so will put our ego beside and make it easier for us to convince our partners.

2. Know that we are in it for a reason – Whenever things aren’t going fine and our relationship woes just don’t seem to end, we need to always remember that we came into the relationship for a reason. We knew that tough times would come. But we chose our very partners to go through all the ups and downs. So why back out?

3. It is okay to accept we are wrong – When there is a conflict of interests, we fight to prove that we are the right ones when there is no need to. It’s okay to tell your partner that you are wrong and that you’re sorry for it. Now we have things like self-respect coming up in our heads, but it absolutely okay to be the wiser one and be more understanding. Maybe we can respect ourselves for that.

4. Listen – This is probably the basic rule to end quarreling and resolve issues. The other person might be fuming upon us for a small reason or even no reason at all. We have questions like “Why should we hear so much from someone?” But we need to understand that there is no harm in remaining quiet. They do that in the first place because we are the only person they can talk that way. And we should responsibly ensure that we make our partners feel better, shouldn’t we?

 

Feature Image Credits: iStock

Karan Singhania
[email protected]

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