Self-care for students means maintaining the conditions that help you function: sleep, food, medication, hygiene, movement, supportive contact, rest and access to professional care. Enjoyable extras can help, but self-care is not a shopping list and it does not treat a mental health condition. For a structured but non-perfectionist reset, see how to become “that girl” without burning out.
Arianna’s original article contained many personal examples of activities that helped her, from rewatching Bob’s Burgers to reading, walking, tea, journalling and painting. Those are Arianna’s experiences, not universal prescriptions. Use them as prompts to notice what genuinely restores you.
Start with maintenance, not treats
When energy is limited, work through the basics:
- Have you eaten and had water?
- Do you need medication or medical care?
- Can you protect enough time for sleep?
- Is there one hygiene task that would make you more comfortable?
- Does someone trustworthy know how you are doing?
- Can one demand be delayed, reduced or shared?
This may look less attractive than a “self-care haul,” but it supports the rest of your life.
Choose care that matches the problem
| What you notice | A practical response |
|---|---|
| Overstimulated | Reduce noise, light, alerts or conversation |
| Lonely | Contact a safe person or attend a familiar group |
| Physically tense | Walk, stretch, change position or take a comfortable shower |
| Decision fatigue | Choose a familiar meal and a minimum plan |
| Emotionally flooded | Pause demands and use a grounding activity |
| Persistently distressed | Contact appropriate professional support |
Ten realistic self-care ideas for students
1. Make the next meal easy
Use a simple meal, leftovers or an affordable ready-made option. Feeding yourself adequately matters more than performing an idealised version of healthy cooking.
2. Rewatch something comforting
Arianna found that familiar episodes of Bob’s Burgers reliably calmed her. A known story can be easier to enjoy when you have little capacity for suspense or decisions.
3. Read without turning it into achievement
Read a chapter, short story, comic or fan fiction because you enjoy it. Arianna once read an entire book in one sitting after years without doing so and remembered how good it felt.
4. Change your physical state
Take a comfortable shower, put on clean clothes, step outside or move to a different room. Arianna often found showering helpful when she felt low or unwell. Keep the water at a safe temperature and adapt the task to your mobility and energy.
5. Go outside briefly
A walk is not compulsory. Sitting outside, going to the letterbox or opening a window may be the accessible version today. Arianna particularly enjoyed walks that involved meeting a dog.
6. Reset one small area
Clear the part of a desk needed for tomorrow or collect dishes into one place. Stop before a five-minute reset becomes an exhausting cleaning project.
7. Contact the easiest safe person
Ask for a short call, send a voice note or say directly that you do not need advice. Arianna valued the few people she could contact without preparing for a formal social event.
8. Make something badly
Draw, paint, garden, sing, cook or write without trying to monetise the activity or become impressive at it. Arianna found drawing and painting meditative and blogging personally meaningful.
9. Reduce one demand
Ask for clarification, move a non-urgent task, decline an optional event or tell a project partner that capacity has changed. Self-care sometimes means changing the conditions causing distress.
10. Prepare one kindness for tomorrow
Charge the laptop, place breakfast where it is easy to reach, write the first study action or set out medication according to its instructions. Tomorrow’s version of you also deserves care.
Self-care is not a substitute for support
The World Health Organization describes mental health as shaped by individual, social and structural factors. A candle or journal cannot fix unsafe housing, discrimination, poverty, excessive workload or illness.
If distress is persistent, serious or interfering with daily life, contact a healthcare professional or your university support service. In the UK, NHS Every Mind Matters provides information and routes to further help. If you may be in immediate danger, use your local emergency or crisis service.
If the immediate problem is study overload, use the guide to feeling overwhelmed at university. Self-care should support your life, not become another list you can fail.