how do you NOT stress out?

[liv]

this year i did 2 year 12 subjects, and i found myself sick ALL THE TIME- a cold here, a bit of flu there, nausea from anxiety, headaches, migraines....the list goes on.
and i'm pretty sure its all from stress, because i eat healthy and excercise.

so how do you people NOT stress? apart from stress balls.

[EvangelionZeta]

Do lots of co-currics.  Instead of stressing about VCE, you start stressing about who you're going to be in the next play, and so on instead. 

[ReVeL]

I pretty much tried to get some perspective. Yes, VCE is important. But is it going to determine your life? Unlikely.

[minilunchbox]

Dammit, the first thing that came to my mind was stress balls. I have one which is the Earth so when I get stressed I can literally 'take it out on the world'.

I used to be really stressed, and now I'm a bit better. I eventually realised that the courses I want to get into don't require ridiculously high ENTER scores and that the only reason why I would even want a 'high' ENTER is for bragging purposes which I've since found to be really lame. There will be people who will get higher scores than me and my parents will continue to compare me to them. But then I figured that no one is going to even care about your study scores and ENTER after you get into Uni.

Also, as my sister constantly reminds me, 'VCE is not going to be the hardest thing you have to do in life.' I'm not sure if she's trying to motivate or demotivate me with that.

Other possibly unhealthy ways of relieving stress: I yell into my pillow and then if no one is home I play music really loud and sing/yell along. The benefit of playing the music so loud is that I can't hear my own voice which is a bonus for me.

[samuch]

hahahaha stress balls!!!!
they dont work for me i just end up throwing them around
edit: on how to stress less, just dont hype yourself up... do the best you can with pacing your study and you should be fine

[appianway]

I don't know. I was so stressed for English Language because I thought I'd underperform in the exam, but I was so relaxed for physics (I did my cheat sheet the night before!). I remember feeling really annoyed at myself for that, because I was almost taking it for granted, but it gave me a confidence boost and I at least understood that I was decent at the subject, even if that wasn't reflected in my results.; That said, I was also terrified about not doing well! I guess the key is to just have confidence in your own abilities and understand that the VCE doesn't always indicate aptitude in a subject.

[i-am-bored-69]

I know exactly how you feel, i was in the same boat as you.

Umm i dunno, maintain a good relationship with everyone, have good friends, be nice to teachers etc. conversations can make you feel better.

definitely do some sort of physical activity, i found going for a gentle swim to be very relaxing. Or have some sport of a sporting fixture every week.

Dont stress out over SAC marks, because exam is what ultimately matters....

[darkphoenix]

Yeah i reckon its hard NOT to. I think a little is ok, but yeah too much is overwhelming.

Basically getting a bad enter is not the end of the world, if you dont get into your course straight away you can always transfer in the second year.

[slothpomba]

Dammit, the first thing that came to my mind was stress balls. I have one which is the Earth so when I get stressed I can literally 'take it out on the world'.

I have that too.

I'm a pretty laid back guy and i just dont stress over it that much. I think you should just relax and not make the sole purpose of your existence/ the next year the VCE. I don't really see how you could get *so* stressed. You'll probably do worse stressed than relaxed.

Humanity has had much worse periods of stress in their evolution - We're designed to cope with it. I mean sure VCE is stressful but have you ever been chased by a woolly mammoth?

(People get colds, flu's, migraines etc all the time they're common aliments, i wouldnt ascribe them to the VCE or stress )

[kyzoo]

Funny, I don't understand how people get "burned out" because it doesn't happen to me no matter how hard I try =/

[dekoyl]

Realise that there's no need to stress because with nearly (all?) courses, there are alternate pathways. Sure, you may need to spend a whole year doing a course you didn't want, but it's never a waste of a year. You will get something from it. And for that year, just keep and it and work hard and you'll be able to transfer to your dream course.

[QuantumJG]

this year i did 2 year 12 subjects, and i found myself sick ALL THE TIME- a cold here, a bit of flu there, nausea from anxiety, headaches, migraines....the list goes on.
and i'm pretty sure its all from stress, because i eat healthy and excercise.

so how do you people NOT stress? apart from stress balls.

lol, I suffer from anxiety so I get stressed a lot.

Anyway when I did year 12 the only things that stressed me was english and specialist maths. Then again I did zero year 12 subjects in year 11.

Since you have done 2 year 12 subjects, you will probably find that you wont be as stressed next year because you will have already experienced year 12 pressure.

Anyway what I think is the BEST way to get rid of stress is to firstly STOP studying and just talk to someone (a non-competitive friend or family - if they aren't on your back about VCE) about casual stuff, don't discuss VCE at all! My parents are always proud of how I do (I'm the first in my family to go to uni), so just spending some time to talk to them was great. If you do this you will be able to go back to study with a fresh mind and be able to study much better.

[dmx_gmp]

Having now completed VCE, I know how important stress management academic success. It's important to understand that almost every other student has their own anxieties and that you aren't the only person "struggling" through VCE. Here are a few tips for next year:

-> A relaxed state of state of mind prior to any SAC or exam is more important than any last minute study or discussion over the exam. Resist the urge to talk to your friends about possible exam questions, maybe even try to distance yourself away from them and get some quiet time.

-> Outcome independence. The more outcome independent you are the better you'll achieve, however this is not to say that you shouldn't have aspirations which i know you guys surely have. Don't spend too much time contemplating possible exam questions or (if you've already finished an exam) spend too much time thinking over the mistakes you made in a bio exam the day before chem. It's important to set out your goals as direction helps to overcome obstacles such as procrastination, but worrying at all hours of the day about how well you do in VCE gets you nowhere. I know too many guys who got less than desirable ENTERs because they tripped balls too much over SACs and exams. My advice is to allocate time for hobbies and social commitments. Some may criticise this, but trust me, near the end of the year you start to burn out baad if all you do is study (or worry about studying).

For those of us who are prone to panicking i understand it's retarded of me to say 'just stop panicking' and so I'll offer advice for this aswell.

->I really recommend meditation as, from my personal experience this has been the key to my success in VCE. It helps to alleviate stress by helping you to overcome limiting thoughts such as being too strung over how you did in a SAC  or how "impossible" it is to get the score you need to get. A quick google search for "guided meditations" or "how to meditate" will start you on your journey.However, the simplest meditation is sometimes the best. Often when i need to relax i simply close my eyes and take a few deep breaths (at least three), inhaling from the nose, exhaling from the mouth and focus on nothing but breathing. I recommend doing this during the reading time of an exam.

[TrueLight]

ur last point is good

also you might want to google deep muscle relaxation... it helps i think... ive tried it but i could never be bothered doing it...lol
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_muscle_relaxation

[Ilovemathsmeth]

I'm terrible with this. A SAC arrives, I'm stressed.

Stress is also subjective. It depends on a wide factor of things - the standards you set yourself can also play a role. For instance, I always stressed out for Methods SACs because I wanted to get close to or perfect marks on my SACs.

It is a good idea to have standards of performance, but do not make them really really high - often then you will find you under perform due to the stress (I was always worried about this, happened a few times in SACs). Don't beat yourself up if you make mistakes (I'm still learning how to do this). Make time to read books or watch a movie - keep one day week for this. Usually I'd do nothing on Friday nights throughout year 12. I'd spend time watching a movie or even reading fan fiction. This helps motivate you and relaxes you after a stressful week.

Also prepare for SACs at least a week in advance and for exams, begin at least 1.5 months earlier. This helps the stress too.