Self-care is one of the most important practices you can get in the habit of. It is something that I find a lot of people forget about when they start getting stressed. Stress can make us forget a lot of different things!
So how do we practice self-care when we barely have time to finish all of our homework? Self-care is something that can be practiced even when you have a tight schedule you’re trying to manage.
I pride myself on having one of the busiest schedules known to [wo]man, but self-care is something that you can’t skimp on, especially during finals week. When you’re feeling stressed, you tend to get frazzled, and when we get frazzled we get less work done. That means all of those assignments you swore would only take you an hour are actually taking you two or three hours to complete because you are worrying about all of the things you have to do.
Take a few minutes out of your stress to sit back and do something that makes you happy. Whether it is meditation (my personal favorite), a face mask, or watching an episode or two of a show you like, taking a break from the stress to do something you enjoy will help decrease your stress levels enough to be productive when you are done. Be sure not to fall into the habit of taking too much time off, but planning some you-time into your day is a great way to proactive self-care as you like to.
By taking a break, you will be able to increase your productivity, which will turn those two or three hour time frames back into their original one hour times! Not only that, but scheduling time to work on assignments can actually help you focus on the assignment you are working on at any given time. You won’t have to jump from one thing to another, because you will know that you have time to work on that other paper in 2 hours, and thus means that you can focus on the one you are currently working on and only that one for the next time period.
Remember to take a minute to take a step back as you head full force into finals, sometimes taking a minute to practice self care can decrease your stress and help you be more productive!