Working under strict deadlines can be hard — especially if you’re an Honors student. Looming due dates and past mistakes can be a burden for anyone pursuing a healthy career. But there are ways to counter the stress by keeping a steady mind.

Honors psychology senior Josimar Hernandez recently published a column in The Shorthorn about practicing mindfulness. As ambassador for Counseling and Psychological Services, he works to encourage students to consider mental health while they study.

Be in the present

“We’re always thinking ahead or we’re ruminating about something in the past. Really, the key to mindfulness is to stop all of that and to pay attention to your surroundings,” he said.

Josimar said practicing mindfulness is easy. It’s all about being able to absorb your surroundings and paying attention to those small details that you miss.

“Whenever you eat an orange instead of thinking about whatever when you’re eating it, try to like really feel the texture of the peel,” he said. “Really smell that citrus in the fruit. Take a moment to just enjoy your five senses.”

Stay positive

Stress over upcoming work can be detrimental for a student looking to succeed. Josimar said it’s important to be an optimist.

Last semester Josimar helped organize an event for positive attitude month. His group gave out free cookies to students in exchange for a positive message sticky note.

In other words, thinking about the good can be rewarding, even if the rewards are small.

Take breaks

To get good grades, stepping away from your notebooks and books is essential. It’s easier to study when you’re comfortable.

Josimar reiterates the need to take breaths while studying.

“Really what you can do is you can close your eyes and just focus on how you’re breathing and really sensing the air go in and out of your lungs,” he said. “If you do that long enough you notice that your breath slows down and you may even notice that you have some tension that does get released in that process.”

Taking breaks can be a simple way to do mindfulness in a high-pressure situation like studying for finals.

Get sleep

It might not always be possible to get a healthy amount of sleep in high-stress situations — but making time to get enough z’s might just be the key to passing that final exam.

“I think there’s this misconception that in order to get really great grades you have to sacrifice sleep,” he said. “You have to study so intensely that you don’t have time.”

However, getting enough sleep is proven to maximize academic performance.

“I used to pull a lot of all-nighters but then I decided to take the chance,” he said. “I noticed that not only was my mood more stable but my ability to retrieve information was also improved significantly, so it’s really about the quality of your studying.”