Stress: Deadlines

"So keep your head high, keep your chin up, and most importantly, keep smiling, because life's a beautiful thing and there's so much to smile about." - Marilyn Monroe.

As I'm getting closer to finishing the first year of university, deadlines are looming. I do adore this course, but there are always modules that will make one shake their head and release a heavy sigh - this is exactly my reaction to every essay that I have to write containing the word 'analysis'.

It was stupid of me to think that a creative writing course would all be creative... what did I expect? Of course, analysing texts and essays would be present within a creative writing course, but somehow my brain refused to acknowledge this information; I was too blinded by the thought of writing stories...

The work itself isn't at all that difficult and is within my capability, but the fact that the deadlines are so compressed gives me stress. I had an upcoming deadline on March 13th, which wasn't so bad, and now I have another one on April 24th, but what I can't handle is the fact that I have six pieces of work all due on the 27th of April. I remember sitting with my head in my hands while staring at my laptop screen, thinking: how am I supposed to meet these deadlines?

*rants*

I have to write a short story (which I'm trying to do right now), a short play (which I've finished), 30 lines of poetry (comprised of just one or more poems) and a critical reflection. All 1000 words. And then a brand story for Commercial Forms and a piece of creative non-fiction. All 2000 words.

How am I going to balance my time for each one? I'm struggling to breathe just thinking about the amount of work I have to do and the amount of all-nighters I may have to pull. And since I'm easily stressed out, I panic on how to handle this stress.

To be honest, I even had the single thought of wanting to disappear. This is something I've never felt before... I even took a day off from uni today in order to do more work.

So, I've decided to take little breaks in between each, and maybe even have a day where I just relax my mind and undergo some 'me-time'. Right now, I'm working on my short story as I've said before, although I'm procrastinating since I'm writing this blog entry *laughs nervously*.

Social media also acts as a distraction away from this stress. Sometimes, I'll come across pictures of cats, dogs and other animals on Twitter... there's something about seeing pictures of cute animals that just cleanses my soul (in a metaphorical sense, of course). However, I still have worried thoughts that haunt me whenever I'm left to face my mind during moments of self-doubt, which will probably never leave me until I finish first year.

Wish me luck.

{#stress #deadlines #university #student #havehope}