1. Stress & Time Management for Student-Athletes
Pamela smith, MD

2. What is Stress?
A state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or very demanding circumstances
Good stress vs bad stress – stress can be an important alarm for the body (signaling some negative influence on the body); stress is “bad” when body/mind can no longer resist or respond adequately to stress and becomes exhausted by it

3. Common Causes of Stress for Student-Athletes
Academic issues – prepping for exams; missing class due to travel; making up missed assignments; test anxiety
Athletics demands - pressure to win; physically/emotionally straining practice sessions; distant travel
*Time – insufficient time to perform well in both academics & athletics
Relationships with others – problems with professors, coaches, fellow athletes, family
Finances (students not on scholarship)

4. Signs of Stress PHYSICAL Changes in sleep Poor energy Headaches
Muscle tension/pain
Abnormal heart rate/blood pressure
Changes in appetite or weight
Chest tightness/pain
Weakened immune system (prone to or poor ability to recover from illness)
Exhaustion/burnout
Prone to physical injury
PSYCHOLOGICAL
Poor concentration or memory
Anxiety
Decreased interest or motivation (for training; for social activity)
Impaired function (academic, athletic, social)
Mood changes (irritability/anger; depression)
Exhaustion/burnout

5. How to Manage Stress
Maintain good health habits – get plenty of sleep (healing of daily wear & tear on body occurs during sleep); naps are great; good nutrition
Maintain positive attitude - positive self-talk; recognize and praise your accomplishments; use the “trash can” to discard and move on from negative experiences; have a balanced perspective on life
Have a “de-stress,” recreational activity as an outlet (video games, other sports)
Create a support system – teammates, classmates w/similar interests, coaches teachers/teacher’s assistants, family, etc…
Relaxation techniques: deep breathing; muscle relaxation
* Time management

6. Time Management
Get a day planner or calendar - allows you to write down and see a big picture of all of the key events in your schedule (e.g. games/meets; key tests/exams/papers; recruiting and social events)
Take one week at a time; plan your week ahead of time – determine which activities and tasks are higher priority than others
Make a daily to-do list – sort tasks in order of importance and tackle each one at a time; also make list realistic and achievable! Over- extending the list leads to demoralization
Time-block your tasks – have a sense about how much time you will use for each task; deliberately schedule time for homework

7. Time Management (cont…)
Be aware of and avoid distractions
Get to know professors early in the quarter and establish a dialogue (expressing your concerns about balancing demands of the coursework with demands of athletics schedule)
Seek encouragement and support from others dealing with the same time constraints – they can motivate & provide additional ways to manage time & stress.

8. resources improveyourmentalgame.com/more resources
For a copy of slide shows or mental skills exercises for specific sports:
improveyourmentalgame.com/more resources
For Free E-book:
improveyourmentalgame.com/free pdf download
For questions or more info: – Go Bruins!
resources