Everyone’s body reacts negatively to stress, but students with additional health conditions know their existing symptoms tend to worsen during the final exam period. Managing school while your body fights you for rest can feel impossible, but there are ways to balance your time and routine that allow for an easier balance between your body, mind, and your upcoming deadlines.
- Prioritize Your Health
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Even though we hear that school should come first, itâs rarely mentioned that your health should take priority over everything. People living without health conditions may be able to put school first, or tell you to, but for those of us who live with health problems, thatâs a luxury we canât always afford.
Itâs important to remind yourself that your health matters above all else. Make sure youâre prioritizing your scheduled doctor’s appointments, listening to your body when something feels off, and building your study routine around how you actually feel, not how you think you âshouldâ feel.
- Let Yourself Rest; It’s Productive!
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One of my professors starts each lecture with a wellness check-in. While doing so, one of my classmates said that he feels guilty when he takes breaks, and my professor’s response really stuck out to me. She reminded him that in order to work, your body needs rest. If you donât take that rest, you wonât be able to work efficiently, or sometimes work at all, so resting is sometimes the most productive thing you can do.
This is especially true for those of us with health conditions that may flare up under stress. Pushing back your times for a break can create a sort of ârest-debtâ that youâll end up endlessly catching up on, so make sure you take it as often as you can. Taking your breaks now will let you do the work you need to do later!
- Get It Done, Then Done Well
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At the beginning of every semester, I always feel the most motivated. I tell myself that this term, Iâll do every reading on time, work as hard as possible, and make sure my grades come before my life outside of class. Around midterms, though, many students, myself included, start feeling a drop-off in motivation. Managing this lack of motivation with health problems is another battle in itself, so the way I try to balance this out is to arrange my current academic needs before my long-term goals.
When I need to, I scrap what I âshouldâ be doing, like weekly readings, to instead get done whatâs absolutely necessary first, like an assignment with an approaching deadline. Once I finish what I need to do, I can go from there. I may have an assignment that isnât my best work, but it is better than nothing. When thatâs done, I may find I have the time to make it a piece of work Iâm proud of, but that comes second.
University is often thought of as having a specific structure, and if you fall outside that, you fail, but that doesnât have to be the case. When you find yourself struggling, think of your work like itâs your own academic hierarchy of needs, and work your way up from the most necessary tasks.
The structure of a university is often unkind to students with extenuating circumstances, such as health problems, but building your own structure that works for you is possible. I hope these tips can help you in your personal life and your academic journey.