World Wellbeing Week is celebrated annually in the last week of June, so it’s the perfect time to improve your well-being at university.
Being at uni isn’t always easy because there’s so much to adjust to. For many, it’s their first time living away from home. Having to meet so many new people and live in an unfamiliar place can be overwhelming. And then, as if that wasn’t enough stress, the semester actually starts and there’s so much work.
It’s no surprise that wellbeing can take a hit during the time spent studying at uni. This article will share what wellbeing actually is, and provide some suggestions on small ways to improve it.
What does ‘wellbeing’ mean?
Wellbeing is the umbrella term for overall health and feeling of content in life. Overall wellbeing is split up into several different types of wellbeing, including mental, emotional, financial, physical and social wellbeing.
Why is it important to look after our wellbeing?
Looking after our wellbeing helps us in many different ways. It can help us to regulate and express our emotions in healthy ways, increases self-esteem and confidence, and reduce feelings of stress and anxiety. In turn, this can help us maintain positive relationships with friends and family and have a more positive outlook on life in general.
Small ways to look after our wellbeing
Talk about your feelings
Although it is easy to do, bottling up your feelings can harm your mental and emotional wellbeing. Talking to someone you trust about your feelings can help you to process them in healthier ways. This doesn’t just mean talking about negative feelings either. Talking about your positive feelings and celebrating good things that happen is important for improving self-esteem and confidence. Never allowing yourself to celebrate achievements can be just as harmful as repressing your negative feelings!
Look after your physical wellbeing
Physical wellbeing refers to looking after your body and brain with the aim of feeling happier overall. Looking after your physical wellbeing includes the four basics: sleep, exercise, healthy eating and staying hydrated! While it is true that exercising and eating healthily doesn’t fix all of life’s problems, it can make them easier to deal with.
For example, getting the correct amount of sleep each night can improve concentration and memory, which will help you for exam season! Also, research suggests poorer sleep is linked to poorer mental health. Exercising, including simply going on a 30-minute walk every day, can help to decrease feelings of stress and anxiety.
The positive aspects of socialisation
Social wellbeing refers to the positive aspects of building and maintaining healthy relationships and interactions with others. Humans are social beings, so we all need some kind of social interaction often. Whether this is a quick chat with a family member, or meeting up with a friend for a drink, social interaction improves our wellbeing.
It is important, however, to create social boundaries for ourselves when we are socially interacting. It can be draining to be social all the time, especially for introverts. Allowing ourselves some downtime from socialisation can help to recharge our batteries, both mentally and socially.
And remember, creating healthy social boundaries for yourself and saying ‘no’ to social interaction when you’re too drained for it is ok.
The powers of mindfulness
Mindfulness is the practice of being aware of your surroundings and the present moment. Research shows that practising mindfulness can have positive effects on stress, anxiety, depression, burnout, health, and overall positive wellbeing.
The best ways to practise mindfulness include mindful meditation and mindful breathing exercises. There are many apps and websites that provide walkthroughs of mindfulness medication and exercises, including Mindful.org and Mind.
Many universities also have yoga and pilates societies, so this could be helpful if you’re struggling to meditate alone.
Organise your finances
Finances can cause a lot of stress at uni, especially since you are largely left you your own devices with budgeting and bills. Organising your finances in a clear and orderly way can help you make sure you don’t overspend. In turn, you will likely gain more trust and confidence in yourself to handle money in the future.
There are many useful apps to help you with budgeting and spending management. If you’d rather do it by hand, there are also many printouts or planners that you could utilise. However you choose to budget, finding a way to plan out your spending will help you to know exactly what you’re spending and where, as well as how much you have left to spend on yourself!
The takeaway message
The transition from living at home to living at uni isn’t an easy one. Our wellbeing can dip if we don’t make sure to look after ourselves while at uni. It is important to remember that all aspects of our health and wellbeing are just as important as each other. The individual aspects of wellbeing largely interplay with each other, so it’s impossible to place more value on any particular aspect. Ultimately, all individual aspects of our wellbeing affect our overall wellbeing, so we should try to look after all aspects of ourselves and our lives!