Managing Stress As A Computer Science Student

Before you pull your hair, give up and get frustrated with the programming assignment that is currently not running, I have something to share with you …

Being a Computer Science student can be stressful sometimes, with all the projects you have to hand in, exams you have to take and all the extracurricular academic related commitments you need to attend to. Along with these academic commitments you might have, there can be other areas of your life you need to attend to as well, like having a part-time job to pay for college expenses and your personal life.

It can be a lot of things to juggle at one time, thus, leading you to feel that there is not too much time in the day, and sometimes feel stressed with all the things you have going on in your life at the same time.

No worries, I understand you and I was there. When I was an undergraduate Computer Science student in college, I had a lot of things going on as well. With a part-time job, being active in the Computer Science Student Association at my campus, along with the all the deadlines I had with all the assignments I had to hand-in and the exams I had to take.

It was stressful sometimes, but now looking back at it, this was one of the best times of my life. Because it led me to explore methods to organize my time, also I learned to be more efficient with the limited time I had. Which now has helped me to become a better professional software developer, which it has own series of deadlines and commitments you need to fulfill, just like when I was an undergraduate student in Computer Science.

Hence, I am very grateful for the preparation I had through the completion of my bachelor’s degree in Computer Science.

So, today I am going to share some of the things that helped me reduce stress as an undergrad, as well as help me graduate from the Computer Science bachelor’s degree program I attended.

Before we get started, as a quick disclaimer, I am not a health professional or professional guidance counselor, these are things I did that helped me, thus I want to share it with others. If you feel you need professional help managing stress because it is affecting your health, please go out and seek it.

Also, if you would like a video version of this content, check out the video below and feel free to subscribe to my YouTube channel for more content like this.

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Without further ado, let’s get started.

I know you might have heard this one before, but in my personal experience, exercising has helped me reduce stress while being an undergrad. Not only it has helped me reduce stress, but it has helped me feel better, thus, helping be more productive when it came to fulfilling my academic commitments. I noticed that I could concentrate more, I had more mental clarity, thus, producing higher quality work and getting better grades. There was a time when I did not exercise, and I noticed the effects on my grades and levels of productivity.

Some of the things I did was taking long walks or jogs, play sports such as basketball, soccer and even do yoga. These exercise sessions would help me distract myself when I had a lot of things going on in my mind with all the exams I had during the week, hence, feeling better and having more energy to focus during the day to get things done. My suggestion is to find the one that works for you, these are just examples of things I did.

Another thing that helped me to reduce stress, and be productive while being an undergraduate Computer Science student was to organize my time and schedule my time beforehand. I would use tools such as a planner, to write down the deadlines I had during the week, including projects I needed to submit and any exams I would have that particular week. I also wrote down the dates of mid-terms and finals as soon as I knew the dates. This way, I could organize myself and plan out a study schedule to prepare when the day of finals or even mid-term exams came around.

Another tip related to this one is to NOT to leave the concepts you don’t fully understand and dominate to the last minute, this could cause a lot of stress when you only have a day or even a few hours before the exam. So, I recommend to study weeks before the exam and make sure you understand all the concepts with enough time before the exam. At least that’s what happened to me when I did not tackle the concepts I did not fully understand right at that precise moment.

Trust me, you will thank me later for it.

Felix, what does using the syllabus have with managing stress? I know this may seem counterintuitive, but in my experience, the course syllabus had the different concepts that we had to understand for the exam, along with the different deadlines and resources (textbook, references, professor’s office hours and contact information) we could use to be successful on the course.

So, what I did was to have a printed copy of the syllabus in my backpack, and I would use it to structure my study schedule ahead of time. This way, I was prepared ahead of time for the weeks that were the most stressful and had a lot of things going on, thus, feeling a little bit more relaxed that I knew I had everything taken care of for that week.

There you have it, some tips you can use to manage stress as a Computer Science undergrad major in college, you can use these even if you are not a Computer Science major, I mention Computer Science because that was my major as an undergrad.

As always, don’t forget to follow me and click on the applause button, so you don’t miss content that can help you in some way in along your coding journey.

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It might help them too.

Comment down below which was the tip that helped you the most. I would like to know.

I hope this helps!

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Disclaimer: Results may vary. These tips and advice are based on my experience and opinion as a former undergraduate Computer Science student. Also as a tutor, teacher, and professional software developer.

Everyone is different, so, the advice shared in this article may or may not work for you. I am not a health or stress relieving professional, these are things that I have helped me in the past and I share them hoping it can help others. If you feel you need professional help managing your stress and it is affecting your health in some way, please seek help.

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