Reading Week is here! Let’s face it: as many plans as you may have made by now, chances are you know – through experience – that it just might not happen. In my own reflection back to reading weeks gone past, I have found that poorly thought-out resting patterns are the largest culprits in reducing my productivity. In response, I’ve created a list of recommendations for you to build better breaks into your study regiments so that you can hopefully get all that you need to do done!
How to Start:
Whatever you do, don’t start off your break by giving yourself the type of do-nothing, think about nothing, watch one-that-really-turns-into-ten-episodes of The Big Bang Theory rest periods. You may leave Dr. Sheldon Cooper’s side feeling like a genius after memorizing a few esoteric facts, but as many of us already know, watching television has been associated with its fair share of cognitive stunting, emotional numbing and even possibly, addiction. Ultimately, even though you may deserve a period of rest, the reading break just isn’t long enough to allow you to delve into the dullness of television and rebound in time for exams.
Instead, treat yourself to restful activities that keep you stimulated, and have the added bonuses of time restrictions imposed upon them. So go ahead and get out of your day-time jammies for some physical activity with friends: try snowboarding on the North Shore mountains, biking around the city or indoor rock climbing. Ultimately, I find that physical activity always feels much more fulfilling than staying home and doing little to nothing. It also keeps you sharp and inspires you to get studying when you are done.
How to Study-Break:
I strongly believe that knowing how to take breaks during studying is the most important skill that a student can learn, to maximize their productivity. Many people may tell you to take breaks by taking your mind off your work through activities such as yoga or meditation, but I challenge you to try something a little different, and perhaps more effective. My study break strategy is to literally get moving and changing my scenery for at least twenty minutes every time my attention span reaches its end.
Moving, whether by going for a run or bike ride through the forest alone always serves as a reminder to me of my willpower and strategizing abilities. It might be from constantly teetering on the edge of fear of bears, or the embarrassing amount of sweet and pain I can summon in such a short amount of time, but running or biking in the wilderness always lets me work through any motivational difficulties. Furthermore, inspired by the constant change in scenery, my mind seems to works with the rhythm of my motion, so when I’m stuck with a problem in my course content, I am almost always able to work it out during a run or a ride. Finally, this breaking strategy always gives me a meta-perspective on my study tactics such as in allowing me to figure out how to budget my time better, or what type of study maneuvers I need to tackle different concepts.
There’s nothing like some fresh air to get that blood flowing!
How to Finish Strong:
Scientific research consistently suggests that sleep quantity, quality and sleepiness greatly influence school performance, memorization, and general cognitive abilities. So, to get the best possible sleep the night before midterms, I have found that it helps to not drink coffee for the entire day, and also to eat healthy meals at appropriate times. It might be tempting to use the energy you feel from the stress of midterms to stay up and cram, but I believe that exercising in the night instead can help you do better on exams before it exhausts you into a goodnight’s sleep. Ultimately, not sleeping well is a pattern that students fall into to all too easily, but try to remember that at the time you are making the decision to pull an all-nighter, you might already be sleep deprived, and that research suggests that this impairs your judgment particularly towards planning.
Fun fact: we’d die of sleep deprivation before food deprivation. More cool sleeping facts here!
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