WhÅssup?

Journalist: Synne Louise Stromme

Hello again! We are well into the semester, and the plate is already starting to fill up. The committees and associations are blooming with new members, ready to give everything for a fantastic time here in our beloved university town. The studies are not hesitant on handing out assignments, and the due dates are already knocking on our doors. We are living on our student budgets with all the world’s possibilities on the edge of our fingertips, and FOMO is the most frequently used term in the vocabulary.

We are all sitting in the same boat that’s moving a bit too fast. The boat that fills up with positions and activities, that eventually gets so full that it becomes too difficult to maintain balance. All off a sudden everyone is overboard, and you’re floating around in the sea, with your head just above water.

The great sea of subjects, work, spare time, social activities, and an abundance of possibilities keeps you heaving for air between the crashing waves, and you feel like you’re losing control. Does this sound familiar? It sure does to me. So, what do you do then when you’re floating in this endless ocean of commitments? You push through and find safe ground. Your safe ground. Safety can take the shape of many things, and safe ground to me might not necessarily be safe ground to you. Regardless, I have some tips for you.

If you feel like you are losing control, I recommend taking a step to the side. Get an overview of you situation. Then, take a seat and write a to-do list by prioritizing your tasks. If you can physically see everything you are up against, it’s often much easier to tackle it. While you are writing the list, you might get the time to reflect which gives you a benefit for your course of action. A quote that I was told recently that can be useful in this situation: “Do the important before the urgent.”

My next tip, that I recently have tried making into a standard practice: set boundaries. This especially revolves around availability. Decide on a time during the day that is your “you-time”: put away everything that involves work or studies and consider putting your phone away completely. Another tip: Schedule a time to turn off all notifications. I would recommend doing something that really makes you feel good during this period: draw, listen to music, dance, sing, think or sleep; do it!

Even if the sea feels infinite, and help seems out of sight, know that safe ground is not far away. Take a breath and observe your everyday life from a distance. If your head is just above the water, it means that you are still floating – and the only thing that remains is to find peace and keep swimming with fresh strokes.

I wish you best of luck, you got this;)