Mitigating stress

[jlpearce]

In the next five months or so I have my last semester of grad school (with three classes that are shaping up to be pretty tough), a comprehensive exam so I can graduate and a move halfway across the country with two cats. This is on top of working full time, and having my boyfriend be 1,000 miles away.

So, stress! I'm already feeling it some, I moved at the beginning of the month and began studying for the comp. I don't think my hair has grown a centimeter in two months! Any way I can try to mitigate the stress and keep my hair growing? I'm going to a wedding in October and was really hoping to have shoulder length by then! I am being very careful to get enough sleep, tired Jess is grumpy Jess and grumpy Jess is someone no one wants to be around! Also, I learn better when I'm well-rested, so that's important.

Thanks for your advice!

[Anje]

Just pull your hair out of your way, oil it up good on a regular basis, and spend your time studying. Get lots of sleep, eat as well as you can, take your vitamins, and take some time out for yourself to do things that you enjoy (and don't feel guilty doing it!). The hair can take care of itself if you leave it alone -- you need to focus on taking care of you.

(Then again, maybe I should take my own advice. I'm facing my own grad school insanity these days!)

[SimplyLonghair]

Drink lots of water. Water is part of all of your processes and your body needs more to get rid of toxins from stress. Good luck, I am looking for ways to get rid of/deal with stress too, so I understand. :D

[Madame J]

When I first started grad school (first-year classes, qualifying exams, and finding a research advisor, oh my!), I found myself crying all the time from the stress. Then I started running regularly, and I found that it gave me time to clear my head and work up some pretty excellent endorphins. When I was studying for the qual, if I got stuck/stressed, I would just head out for 3 miles, and when I got back I felt much better.

Now, not everyone is crazy enough to train for a 5-mile (then 10-mile, then half marathon, then marathon) race to cope with stress, but regular vigorous exercise is a powerful stress reliever. I also really enjoyed hot yoga and belly dancing. You're busy with classes, I know, but you will be able to fit all of that into a day with one half hour set aside for exercise. The important part is you have to enjoy it.

I also tend to forget to eat, or lose my appetite, when I'm really stressed and exercise helped that, as well as made me crave healthier foods to keep my body at peak performance.

Good luck!

[LawyerGirl]

I'm going into my third year of law school being a single mom... I feel your pain! When I'm under a lot of stress I try to get more exercise-- running helps get out the nervous energy and makes it easier to sleep.

ETA: one good, non-school/work related activity per week helps a lot too... i.e. tennis, golf, etc. Sometimes I need to just think about something else.