Student Wellbeing: How to Live a Balanced Life

“Wellbeing” comprises of your physical health, mental health, social health and emotional health. For students, this is finding a way to balance your academic life, with your personal relationships and your self-care practices. While it might not feel like it, all these practices are of equal importance, and you need to pay attention to each one of them. 

Being a student is a lot of pressure. Between your academic commitments, having to adjust to a new environment and trying to balance all your new responsibilities it can all take a toll on your mental health. Therefore, it is important to take care of your mental, emotional, and social health.   

Tips on taking care of your wellbeing 

 Balancing university life isn’t about chasing perfection—it’s about building habits that support your physical and mental stamina over time. Here are a few practical steps to help you manage stress, stay healthy, and maintain perspective when things feel overwhelming: 

Develop a routine

One of the best ways to maintain balance is to have a solid routine in place. Having a structured day can help you manage your time effectively and reduce feelings of stress and anxiety. You will find that you won’t often find yourself in a position of being overwhelmed with tasks and feeling like you do not have enough time to complete them all. 

A well-structured routine allows you to break your day down and allocate time to studying, exercising, resting and being social, all of which are key to living a balanced life. 

Catch enough Zs

 The importance of getting enough sleep is often talked about but seldom put as a priority in our day to day lives. The reality is that a lack of sleep will negatively impact your cognitive capabilities. It will be difficult to focus and digest information, stress levels will increase, and it will have an overall negative impact on your mood as well.

The goal should be 7-8 hours of sleep per night. The occasional all0nighter will do no harm, but do not make that the norm. 

If you are struggling to sleep, try to create a wind down routine before bed that will calm your mind and body. Decrease your screen time, make yourself a cup of chamomile or jasmine tea or have a glass of warm milk and honey. Try to create an environment that is conducive to sleep.  

Tip: There is a podcast called “Sleep with Me”  it is available on all major podcast platforms, and I’ve personally found it helpful when I’m struggling to sleep. If you’re interested, you can find out more on their website. 

Read More: Affordable Student Accommodation Near IIE MSA

Eat a balanced diet

What we eat has a direct impact on our energy levels and mood. It is important to have a balanced diet of fruits, veggies, proteins and whole grains. Having a balanced diet will help you maintain stable blood sugar levels and avoid sudden crashes and random bouts of fatigue. It will also improve one’s cognitive abilities. 

While caffeine and sugar are effective ways of getting a quick boost of energy when needed, they are not a reliable source of energy and will often lead to sudden crashes in energy, mood swings and difficulty concentrating. It is also relatively common that energy drinks with high caffeine content can lead to anxiety. 

Instead of relying on caffeine and sugar, try to incorporate healthy snacks into your diet to keep you going through the day. This could be some fruit, some a yogurt or a handful of nuts, there is a plethora of choices. Finally, and most importantly, remember to stay hydrated, make sure that you are drinking enough water every day. 

Exercise as part of your wellbeing

Staying active is an essential part of your wellbeing. Physical activity releases endorphins (feel-good hormones) that uplift your mood, reduce feelings of stress and anxiety, and improve your sleep quality.  

Exercising is not limited to going to the gym or joining a campus sport (although that can help). Exercise can be taking a walk around the block or walking from one side of res to the other. If you do have a gym membership, find yourself a gym buddy who can help you stay consistent and hold you accountable when your exercise routine starts slipping. It doesn’t have to be every day for hours on end either. Exercising 3 times a week for 30 minutes is enough. 

Take a break

Much of your stress as a student will come from the pressure of academic performance. It is good to be ambitious and to want to do well but it is also just as important to give yourself time to decompress from all the stress and anxiety.  

You can’t be expected to work hard all the time. Take some time to do something that brings your joy. Read your favourite book, go to the cinema, take a weekend to binge your favourite anime, go out with friends, go home to catch up with family. Whatever it is that makes you happy, make sure to make some time to do exactly that. You should not feel guilty about taking time to take care of yourself.  

Ask for help

When all is said and done you might find that you are still struggling. Remember that there is no shame in asking for help. If you are constantly feeling down and it seems like nothing you do is helping to remedy these persistent feelings, then you should turn to someone for help. Talk to friends and family to as for some advice. 

If you are in a KCI unit, you will find a list of emergency contacts on your door. Listed there are the contact details for lifeline,  the IIE MSA counselling services, an ambulance, suicide crisis line, and a depression and anxiety group. 

Sometimes, the best way to deal with things is to talk to a professional which is good for your wellbeing. It could be a counsellor, a GP or a psychologist. And sometimes it is necessary to have medication to help you manage things. There is no shame in any of it, so if you need the help make sure to seek it out. 

We understand that asking for help can be hard. We in the office can’t help you in a professional sense, but if you are comfortable, come and chat to us in the office and we will do our best to point in the right direction of where to get help. If you are not comfortable with that then make sure to take full advantage of the counselling services offered by IIE MSA. 

Final Thoughts

Maintaining your well-being is all about making intentional choices around diet, exercise, sleep and routine. Making these choices will positively impact your mental, physical and emotion wellbeing. This will in turn, allow you to be able to perform academically, lead to happy, healthy lifestyle and you will be better prepared to face the challenges that student life will throw your way.