Night after night, hours of schoolwork rid high school students of precious time—time that would otherwise provide these stressed adolescents an adequate amount of sleep. How do students maintain contentedness during such tasking, exhausting times?

The difficulty of relaxing during night after night of school-work only worsens as the years pass, and the workload increases. Junior Kierra Mcintrye says, “I sleep for three hours or I take a bath.”

After-school activities consume time and students end up doing homework at ridiculous hours. Amidst the hecticness, some students take “days off,” or days spent at home catching up on sleep and homework. Meditation offers a simple, stress relieving alternative to skipping out on school. Meditation simply means clearing your mind and focusing on breathing, so it can practically take place anywhere. Some other, sillier techniques work for  junior Andrea Ordonio: “Whenever I’m stressed I just start dancing.” If one owns his or her stress stress, one owns his or her work.

Author Lynette Moore writes “Sometimes I look around my room at the city of schoolwork I have built, skyscrapers of textbooks looming above me, sidewalks of papers littered with thoughts and interpretations, and I think – ‘I am the queen of this city.’” Moore’s mindset helped her, even if only briefly, overcome her stress. Changing one’s mindset might hold a promise of lessening anxiety.

Adult coloring books also may offer a more creative outlet for stress. Elaborate drawings and designs simultaneously provide mindless fun and require attention to detail. If coloring, meditating, or taking a bath fails to soothe stress, never forget to remember that all of this work will hold benefits in the future.