Most college students recognize the pattern: Class starts at 9 a.m., lunch hits at 12:30 p.m., the day’s activities wind down by 9 p.m. After several Facebook and Trivia Crack adventures, it is time to hit the books. Once again, you’ve waited till the last possible second to get your work done.

And the stress hits.

Ed Derr, Drury University’s director of counseling services, is familiar with the routine. While in college, he switched his major to counseling and interned at Drury in 1990. Since that time, he has worked closely with students and knows firsthand the issues students face related to stress and schoolwork.

Much like other problems we have, the first step is admitting that we have one. Students who enter Derr’s office receive information from a pamphlet titled “Stress in College: What Everyone Should Know.” It offers encouraging words and relevant advice for students.

Derr provided two steps to The Scoop to remember in relation to stress: 

Step one: Find your way to manage stress

Says Derr: “Stress is a normal physical, emotional, and mental response to change-regardless of whether the change is for the better or worse.”

Everyone has stress. Yet it can be beneficial. It increases tension and alertness for that last final push to get that paper done. We start experiencing problems when we have too much of it. “Studies suggest that your stress level affects your immune and nervous systems, heart function, metabolism, and hormone levels,” Derr says.

Derr said you should consider ways to manage stress in the short and long term. Experiment with different things to help you manage stress in a healthy way.

Short term

• Breathe
• Take a break
• Remember you have a choice
• Prioritize

Long term

• Recognize your limits
• Maintain a support system
• Be realistic
• Become tolerant and accepting
• Take time for yourself

Find what helps you manage your stress by taking the time to do so. Set long term ways to handle it; it will become a habit, Derr says.

Step two: Don’t procrastinate

Bask in the delight of turning something in early, Derr recommends. That way, you can relax while everyone else is scrambling to finish projects in the wee hours of the morning. Beat procrastination by buying a calendar, keeping a to-do list, and rewarding yourself for finishing each task.