Ria’s Ramblings

Stressed student

In my role as a senior lecturer at The Birmingham Theatre School, I often encounter stressed-out students. The full-time theatre acting course on which I teach is very intense, with students being in college Monday – Friday from 10am – 6pm, plus some evenings and weekends, as well as being expected to complete a wide range of written and research projects.

When you factor in traveling, plus basic things like needing to eat and sleep(!), students often find themselves woefully short of time. How does one learn lines for two productions running simultaneously, research 3 or 4 different projects, learn a 40-minute programme of songs for the singing class, poems and monologues for the voice and speech class, and fulfil random other requirements, as well as hold down a part time job in addition to being at college for 40 hours per week? It’s like doing at least two full time jobs, but without the pay, and doesn’t account for having any kind of a social life.

Part of me says ‘well, this is the life that they chose. The industry is supremely tough and this course teaches them to be tough or get out of the running’……..

And I realize that now I sound like the woman from Fame……….

Debbie Allen (Fame)

‘You want fame? Well fame costs, and right here’s where you start paying’.

It’s true, of course. It’s also true that the students get to spend every minute of every day doing something that they purport to love. So there’s a certain amount of ‘get over it’ involved here.

However, it doesn’t stop the stress being very real to them. They thought they were going to be enjoying endless feelgood rehearsals and having a fun time playing theatre games, whereas they ended up spending every day at something akin to bootcamp. There are many, many fun times offsetting the nightmares, of course, but they tend to forget this when the going gets tough.

It is extremely important that stressed-out students everywhere learn some simple concepts associated with time management and relaxation. Often, it feels as though there is so much to do that it is impossible to make a start on any of it. It is easy to feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of work.

If this is happening to you, first, you need to make the decision to spend ten short minutes a day actively relaxing. Many people will try to ‘relax’ and revitalize by slumping in front of the TV with a glass of wine. This doesn’t help – especially if you have come home from a long day and are facing a long evening of research or essay-writing. Slumping just makes you feel more tired.

Actively relaxing means doing nothing except focusing on clearing the mind and lowering the heart rate. Here’s a simple exercise that anyone can do:

Relax on purpose, not by accident!

Sit or lie down somewhere quiet, and ensure that the ‘phones are switched off and that you won’t be disturbed for ten minutes or so. Now close your eyes and concentrate on your breathing – breathe slowly in through the nose and blow the breath out through the mouth, and with each exhalation, silently say the word ‘calm’ to yourself.

Do this for 2 or 3 minutes, until you feel that your heart rate has lowered and your breathing has slowed.

At this point, bring into your mind a picture of a whiteboard, or a cinema screen or something similar. Now in your mind, throw onto the screen all of the clutter, issues and ‘things to do’ from your day. It may well look very chaotic and disordered and if that’s the case then that’s fine – let it be whatever it is.

Now you are going to visualize clearing that jumble of information off your screen or board – do this by whatever means comes into your mind. Keep going until the screen or board is completely clear.

Now visualize your board or screen again, but this time see a series of bullet points or thumbnail pictures, representing the things which most need doing and the order in which they need to be done. Don’t think about this, just ’see’ the screen all in one go. Your mind will order your ‘to do’ list in the best way for you.

Now look at the board or screen, and observe the first THREE things on the list. What are they? Remember them, and remember the order in which they appear.

Now, slowly count up from 1 to 5, knowing that when you reach 5, you will open your eyes feeling refreshed and relaxed, and ready to take action on those top three items on your list. Then go and do them!

In this way, you will start to eat into that seemingly overwhelming pile of ‘things to do’, and not only that but you will achieve these things more quickly and more efficiently because you will be doing them in a more calm, actively relaxed way.

Give it a try – you have nothing to lose but unnecessary tension!