As you may have noticed from this winter storm, the broader environment – the weather, news, world around us – clearly impacts our behavior. And since all behavior is health behavior, what’s around us influences our health too.
For example, if a space feels chaotic, cramped, or uncomfortable, your nervous system notices—even if you don’t consciously realize it. On the flip side, if a place feels calm, tidy, and organized, that influences you too.
Remember, Friend, you have control over some of the environments in your life.
Consider how to shift your spaces to make the healthy choice easier using the strategies below.
Setting your Space Up for Success
Sleep Support:
- Keep your bed mostly for sleeping.
- Dim lights at night; open blinds in the morning.
- Use earplugs, a fan, or white noise if your space can be loud.
Better sleep supports mood, memory, and stress management.
Study Support:
- Designate one spot for studying at home.
- Keep essentials nearby like chargers, water, and notecards, but aim for an uncluttered space.
- Reduce distractions by silencing notifications or putting your phone out of reach.
- Use planners or visual schedules that are easily seen.
Your brain associates spaces with behaviors—use that to your advantage.
Nourishment Support:
- Keep quick, nutrient-dense snacks on hand like fruit, nuts, hummus, and yogurt.
- Store a reusable water bottle where you’ll see it.
- Eat regularly.
Fueling your body consistently helps energy, focus, and emotional regulation.
Movement Support:
- Walk while listening to lectures or podcasts.
- Create study breaks that include movement like a quick walk or stretch.
- Consider how to reduce friction to move, such as:
- Sleep in your workout clothes so you’re ready in the morning.
- Store your yoga mat or a few weights next to your bed so you often see and use them.
- Park your car further out in the lot.
Frequent, low-intensity movement improves mood, concentration, and metabolic health.
Social Support:
- Spend time with people who respect boundaries around sleep, substances, and academics.
- Normalize checking in with friends – “How are you doing, really?”
- Choose social activities that aren’t centered on alcohol or substances.
- Curate your social feed to include supportive, realistic, and health-promoting content (ahem, such as @UNCHealthyHeels)
Belonging and social support are protective factors for mental health and academic persistence.
Help Seeking:
- Save Campus Health, CAPS, and crisis resources in your phone
- Post resource information visibly in living spaces or planners.
- Talk openly about using support services as a strength.
Accessing supports early means fewer crises and improved long-term wellbeing. Make reaching out easy for you and the people around you.
When You Share a Space
Living with roommates or your family can add stress (and noise!). Consider your needs, set boundaries, and help yourself out.
- Communicate expectations early and clearly.
- Use headphones or separate spaces when needed.
- Give yourself permission to step outside or take breaks.
Protecting your environment also means protecting your peace.
Advocating for Health-Supportive Environments
You can advocate for health and wellbeing by pushing for changes in the environments around you.
- Think about the spaces where you spend time but don’t have much control and ask yourself – what makes it harder for people to feel healthy or supported here?
- Once you notice those barriers, look for ways to speak up. That could mean joining an advocacy group, sharing feedback through surveys or forums, or communicating directly with decision-makers.
Raising concerns, asking questions, or supporting collective efforts can help create systems that make wellbeing easier and more accessible for everyone.
Bottom Line
Set up your space to work for you, not against you. Small shifts can make college life more manageable and your health more sustainable.
Healthy Heels is here to help you survive—and thrive—this semester.