How to deal with school stress

Whether you’re in your first school year or you’re a seasoned student, we’re on a mission to empower teens to manage school stress.

We spoke to our teen psychologist Bettina Hohnen, who has shared her top tips for dealing with stress and creating a school routine:

1. Think about stress differently

Some stress is inevitable in life – it's how we grow and learn. When you feel stressed, tell yourself it means your brain is in the right place to do great things. This makes a big difference to how your brain and body cope.

2. Establish a good routine, AM & PM

Once a habit is in place, it feels weird when we don’t do it, so the smart thing to do is to set up habits that will support us to feel our best. You know what’s good for you (cleaning your face at nighttime and regular sleep) and what’s bad for you (doom scrolling before bed), so start as you mean to go on and train your brain to do it every time.

3. Get organised to feel in control

Calm brains work best, so get ahead of the game with good organisation – pack your bag the night before, charge your phone downstairs. There are great apps that can help – phone reminders, to-do lists and digital calendars are great to manage and delegate your time.

4. Prioritise health and sleep

Recent research in the USA estimated 90% of teens are getting less sleep than recommended, so make sure you go to sleep at a reasonable time, to get those 8-10 hours. Sleep is like a super drug for how you feel inside, how your brain copes with stress and how well you can focus on what you care about.

5. Connect with those you love

Connecting with friends and family is so important for us human beings, so spend time together every day. Research shows that eating together as a family is highly protective of mental health for young people.