“Self-confidence is a superpower. Once you start to believe in yourself, the magic starts happening.”
According to a study conducted by YourDOST during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic wave, 58% of Indian college students experienced a significant increase in their stress. During these times, the lack of social life and the academic pressure was enough to distress anyone. Diya (name changed) was no stranger to this overwhelming feeling.
Diya is an MBA student at XLRI who was struggling to manage her time towards her college work and herself. With the pressure of online classes, she found it difficult to stay on track with her schedule.
MBA life is hard. With the excruciating assignments and surprise tests, I was finding it hard to finish my tasks. As someone who is used to having a concrete plan for each day, the surprises did not help and I could feel my schedule falling apart.
College life was taking a toll on her mental health and Diya felt like she was not keeping up with her goals as her peers in college were. With the COVID lockdown, she had to get accustomed to the online learning world which came with its own set of challenges.
“The online learning atmosphere is quite lonely. I felt like I was the only one going through these issues and had crippling self-doubt because I thought that everybody else was doing better than me. It took a toll on my confidence.”
While she was a meticulous planner, Diya was finding it difficult to cope with the spontaneity of college life. This pushed her into feeling self-critical and she even started thinking if she belonged in a place like XLRI.
“I was just feeling frustrated all the time, and I was putting a lot of pressure on myself. I was not exposed to a rigorous schedule like this before but this was when I decided that I wanted to talk about it to a professional.”
Diya reached out to a YourDOST expert to help her with her time-management skills and learn how she could feel less stressed overall.
Once I spoke to my expert, I felt better. They helped me prioritise my tasks and gave me some techniques that could help me manage my time. I began prioritising my time for the tasks in my day while sparing some extra time for myself and the extra tasks that came my way.
“I was able to adjust to the stress and finished all my tasks on time and still use the SMART technique to manage my time better.”
Diya feels more confident in her abilities and is doing well in her college life as well. She is grateful to her expert and is excited to connect with them soon to work through her other issues.
Are you someone who has gone through a difficult phase and emerged stronger and better, with some professional help? Share your story with us to encourage thousands of others who might be struggling. Click here to submit your story.
Diya’s Warrior Tips:
1. Seeking counselling should not be restricted to severe mental illnesses, we all need that extra support to understand ourselves better.
