Exams and University Applications 2026: How to Get Through the Most Stressful Week of August With Your Head (and Body) Intact

There is a part of August no one mentions in the vacation ads. While half the country is at the beach, the other half is at home with a laptop open, an average grade table by their side and a decision that feels final sitting on the table.

This is that week. The application for the 1st phase of the Portuguese National Higher Education Admission ends on August 6th. The results of the 2nd phase of exams are posted on August 7th. And placement results arrive on the 23rd. In other words: between now and the end of the month, thousands of Portuguese families live in a state of permanent waiting.

And waiting tires more than the effort itself.

Stress is also eaten and slept

Mental wellbeing is the biggest declared priority of 2026, three in five Gen Z and Millennial consumers say they are paying attention to stress, anxiety, focus and energy levels. But in practice, when a week like this arrives, it is precisely the basics that fall apart first.

You skip lunch because “I just need to fill in this option”. You replace a meal with three coffees. You go to bed at one in the morning still calculating averages. And in the morning everything is missing: head, patience, energy.

The problem is that the brain is the most demanding organ in the body. Deciding well, comparing courses, reading regulations, ordering priorities, consumes glucose, requires sustained attention and depends on sleep. None of those three things can be bought in a hurry.

Four habits worth more than a sleepless night

1. Do not decide hungry. Mid-afternoon sugar crashes are the silent enemy of any important decision, they leave you irritable and impatient exactly when you need calm. Eat before you feel you need to.

2. Write, do not ruminate. Putting the options on paper (or into a spreadsheet) takes them out of your head. Anxiety feeds on things that keep spinning without shape.

3. Set a shutdown time. After 10 PM, no one decides better, they just decide more nervously. Averages do not change overnight.

4. Mark August 7th and August 23rd on the calendar, and give the other days back to yourself. There is nothing to be done in the days in between. Use them.

Where Stautt comes in

In a week when meals fall apart, Stautt Nutrition Bars do the quietest and most useful work of all: they sit next to the computer and prevent four hours of application work from happening on an empty stomach. Natural, carefully selected ingredients, steady energy, zero drama.

Stautt Vitamin Gummies take care of the part that always gets neglected in busy weeks, the day-to-day micronutrients, in a simple way and, let us admit it, far more pleasant than a pill.

And then there is the night. Stay Sleep was designed exactly for the days when your body is already lying down but your head is still ranking course options. Because tomorrow’s decision depends on tonight’s sleep.

In short

The grades are already in. What is still in your hands is how you get through the coming weeks, and that comes down to small things: eating on time, closing the laptop and going to sleep.

Good luck to everyone in this final stretch. And extra patience for the parents 💚

Prepare well at stautt.com ✨