Sleep…Eat…Stress Release?

Hi @CFA_redemption_12713, sounds like some serious studying stress is getting into you.

Glad you found the brain food post useful, you’ll be surprised how much eating clean does for the overall well being and stress levels.

Do you have time to exercise during the day? I find that it helps reduce the exam anxiety and has the extra benefit of promoting sleep later on too.

Also, just to double check, are you taking lots of caffeine during the day?

During stressful times in the past, I’ve found that sitting quietly and just trying to clear your mind has helped a lot. I know “meditating” is seen as kind of cheesy these days but I’d strongly recommend it.

At the last mock (2nd mock, 61%), my upper back and neck were killing me during the PM session; now that i’m back to running outside in the elements 2-3x per week I sleep pretty well. No coffee for me, I quit drinking coffee & soda years ago when I moved off the ship. I agree with @wellstate and use meditation & prayer to lower my blood pressure before the in-laws visit.

find you a lady/guy friend that is nice to talk to… or who likes to talk alot.

i find that listening to people ramble is calming b/c it doesnt require me to think. just nod and agree b/c that’s what they want you to do.

I found not drinking caffeine in the morning or at night let helped my sleeping. When I did this I could tell if I was actually getting enough sleep or not. I instead used caffeine after lunch to get me through the afternoon at work.

Aha, seems like the caffeine intake rise then that’s affecting your sleep. I’d suggest not drinking any caffeine after 2pm to make sure it has enough time to subside. Try to tone it down to a target of 1 cup max a day (taken mid morning or right after lunch before 2pm) to maximise your productivity, yet at the same time doesn’t affect your sleep. The problem is coffee is a double-edged sword – I know this myself as I’ve been reducing it from once a day to once a week – it increases stress levels although it improves focus/productivity (for me at least)… and it only works when you’re not used to caffeine. Hence it’s not surprising you need more lately to maintain the same amount of productivity and that has also led to increased tension and stress which is affecting your sleep @cfa_redemption_12713.

Use coffee selectively for it to be effective. Hope this helps!

I am in a bad circle right now… I stayed awake late to get done what I had planned, than slept longer due to staying up, than having more probs getting done what I want to. I think I will just go to the cinema this evening, get into bed early and than start (hopefully) fresh again tomorrow =)

As per the picture in my icon, I’m a heavy coffee drinker. Thankfully, my stress level is very low and I don’t have problems falling asleep (I do sleep little, though, just about 6 hours/night, a little less during this final stretch). I find my productivity is high when I’m under caffeine but I avoid the RedBulls and other such bombs, just sticking to good bitter coffee. After the exam, I plan to withdrawal smoothly or at least reduce the intake to very low levels.