Welcome!

First of all, welcome back to the blog! If you are new to this page, Nightline is a free, anonymous, and confidential listening and information service for students, run by trained student volunteers. Our volunteers listen to whatever is on a student’s mind, providing a space to explore their feelings free of judgement at a pace that works for them. Our lines are open again from 6pm-8am during term-time. For details on how to contact us, please see the bottom of the blog.

If you’re a fresher’s student, starting university can be quite a minefield to navigate. When asked how they were feeling during fresher’s week, students’ responses ranged from ‘excited’ and to ‘overwhelmed’, ‘confused’, and ‘need coffee’. With so much going on during freshers, this was not unsurprising!

If you are feeling overwhelmed during freshers, it can be important to remember to take a step back. You don’t have to say yes to absolutely everything- it’s okay to take an evening out for yourself to catch up on some reading or binge-watch a Netflix show. Some may also find meditation exercises a helpful pause to the day- apps such as Headspace provide a few free sessions of mindfulness exercises. Studies have shown that mindfulness can reduce levels of stress, anxiety, and negative affect.

Here is a list of other self-care tips posted a while back on our Instagram page:

• Get plenty of sleep
• Cook
• Write or draw (e.g. journaling)
• Talk to myself
• Cuddle cats (check out London's cat cafes if you like feline friends!)
• Walk or bike (e.g. in a park- enjoy nature and sunlight)
• Tidy
• Read

And of course, if you would like to talk to someone, Nightline is here to listen. Here are our contact details:

Phone: (+44) 207 631 0101

Text: (+44) 7717 989 900

Instant messaging: nightline.org.uk

Email: listening@nightline.org.uk

If you are not able to reach us, please call the Samaritans on 116 123.


Warmly,

Anon

Work-Life Balance

Hello, everyone! This week we've been chatting about work-life balance on our various social media, so here we are on the blog to round the week off.

It is increasingly difficult to find a good work-life balance, especially when you're in uni. There are so many things that need to be done all at once, most especially assignments and studying! This is made doubly stressful due to the fact that we can take our work everywhere with us via our phones and laptops. It is so easy to interrupt self-care time by checking our emails or answering calls.

Having a good work-life balance is extremely important, as it can really have an affect on your mental wellbeing. If you're feeling fatigued, irritable or emotional, these can all be signs that your work-life balance isn't what it needs to be.

How can you get a good work-life balance? We've got a couple of tips for you:

- Set up a schedule. Make sure to take a couple of hours every evening just for your mental wellbeing. Don't let yourself check emails or work-related texts.

- Within this schedule, prioritise what needs to be done. That way, at the end of the day, you will have accomplished the most important tasks, letting you rest easy that night.

- Don't let yourself pull all-nighters! Getting that assignment started just a little bit sooner and doing a little bit every day will let you enjoy your nights leading up to the deadline.

- Do a variety of things that you enjoy - have fun and be social with friends whilst still allowing lots of me time.

We know it is difficult to get a good work-life balance, especially whilst you're at university. That's one of the reasons why Nightline is here to help.

As ever,

-Wendy