Whenever exam season rolls around, I am swamped with a to-do list that is ten times longer than usual. I spend all my time studying—I have no time to talk to friends, no time to watch an episode of my favourite TV show and barely any time to eat full meals. But even though I put all my time into studying, I can’t seem to remember the material the next day.
I’m sure many students can relate to the stress that comes with exam season. Every time I have exams, I decided that I must be miserable: I need to study, study, study and do nothing else until all my exams are over. While this mindset might work for a few days, it is not sustainable. Constant frantic and forceful studying throughout high school led me to experience severe burnout and it is no joke. It can cause people to lose their jobs and even their careers. I spent a lot of my first year in university struggling to find a genuine interest in learning. Even though I spent all my time studying, I wasn’t getting the grades I wanted.
Ultimately, people can only concentrate for so long. We can’t study for ten hours every single day. It’s just not possible. Our brains get overloaded and our minds start to wander. I’ve sat at my desk and stared at the same two pages in my textbook for hours rather than just taking a break and coming back to it.
There’s no point in punishing yourself by gluing your eyes to a laptop screen and refusing to move until you finish chapters one through five. Firstly, it tells your brain that studying is a chore, which is a habit that many students should break—myself included. When I actually want to learn the material, it makes studying easier. Secondly, there’s no point in studying if that entails skimming your notes for hours and not actually retaining any information. Just an hour of dedicated studying is better than ten hours of mindless skimming.
It’s okay to take breaks while studying if you know your limits. It’s okay to go out for lunch on Friday and it’s okay to take a 30-minute break to FaceTime a friend. As long as there is actual studying being done, taking small breaks is perfectly alright. These breaks can help motivate you and act as a reward system or clear the brain fog that comes with trying to focus for long periods.
I’m still figuring out how to balance studying and taking me-time. If I start feeling stressed, I call my friend for about 30 minutes. As long as I don’t get carried away, the break is a great way to refresh in-between study sessions. It helps motivate me to keep going because I’m giving my brain time to rest before I pile on new information. I’ve figured out that it is practically essential to be taking breaks.
So, check in with your brain and decide if you should keep studying or if you need a little break. If you pick the latter, it is perfectly alright. Just remember to keep track of time so you can get back to studying!