Any Ideas For Efficient Breaks Between Study Sessions?

Any ideas for efficient breaks between study sessions?

I’m a pro at this;

For a 5 minutes breaks;

Clean your desk. This is very important because you would want to have a clean space when you want to return to studying. It’ll also help you focus more.

Grab a healthy snack. Carrots and nuts are my favorite snacks tbh. 

refill your bottle of water.

Solve a rubix cube (if you know how to solve it)

Check your email or messages, but make sure you don’t spend more than 5 minutes. Just reply to the important ones.

Make yourself a cup of tea or coffee.

For 10-15 minutes breaks;

Prepare some oatmeal! I love oatmeal and I always have some during my break. It’s very nutritious and it wakes you up frankly.

Have a shower. Sometimes when I’m sleepy, I just take a short shower, usually moderately cold, maybe even warm, and change into fresh clothes. That boosts my level of concentration AND makes me feel amazing.

Tidy your room. This is a nice way to control the mess and it sets you in a better mood, knowing that everything is in place and neat. 

Call a friend! You sometimes need to chat with someone that makes you feel happy.

Watch a youtube video (preferably motivational). This is what I do most of the time. It really gives me a boost of motivation and kind of reminds me why I’m doing what I’m doing. Why I shouldn’t stop.

Exercise; some yoga sequences, crunches, squats, ANYTHING REALLY! Maybe practice your splits or bridge. I don’t know, just MOVE your body. I frankly dance. I just place some music and start to choreograph to it. Or I also practice my kicks for karate (trying to get them higher than usual). Just do any kind of exercise that moves your body.

For 20-40 minutes breaks;

POWER NAP YAASSS. If you feel too tired, just sleep. Tell someone to wake you up in 20 minutes or so. but don’t exceed the 40 minutes or else you would wake up tired rather than energized. Tbh, a 20 minutes power nap is the best option.

Read a chapter from your favorite book. Just one chapter yeah?

Prepare lunch, or dinner. I honestly just go heat up my food and eat it, or maybe actually prepare some (noodles bruh). and then I watch something while I’m eating, like a part of that musical I’ve been wanting to watch (Heathers is what I’m currently watching).

Prepare next week’s spread. I tend to do that during the weekends.

Skincare! Since I have rosacea (it sucks), I use this time to wash my face, apply a face mask, then wash my face AGAIN then put some serum to regenerate the skin. Not only is this good for my skin, but it also makes me more relaxed.

Go outside! go to the library, the coffee shop, the grocery store, the park. ANYTHING. You need fresh air. 

For 1-2 hours break; 

THIS IS THE MOST YOU CAN GET.

Watch a movie. Preferably something that doesn’t have sequels. 

Watch an episode or two from your favorite show. if the episode is for 1 hour or more (Sherlock or GOT) you probably should watch one episode.

Go out. Have lunch with a friend, or by yourself (quality time aye)

Go shopping!

Write. I have a two hours break every Saturday and Sunday to write.

Clean up your closet. You probably have many shirts and pants that don’t fit you anymore, so why not give them to someone that actually needs them?

This is what I can think of at the moment. Hope they’re useful!

And remember to actually be productive for you to take a break yeah?

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How to Handle Having TOO MUCH To Do

So let’s say you’re in the same boat I am (this is a running theme, have you noticed?) and you’ve just got, like, SO MUCH STUFF that HAS to get done YESTERDAY or you will DIE (or fail/get fired/mope). Everything needs to be done yesterday, you’re sick, and for whatever reason you are focusing on the least important stuff first. What to do!

Take a deep breath, because this is a boot camp in prioritization.

Make a 3 by 4 grid. Make it pretty big. The line above your top row goes like this: Due YESTERDAY - due TOMORROW - due LATER. Along the side, write: Takes 5 min - Takes 30 min - Takes hours - Takes DAYS.

Divide ALL your tasks into one of these squares, based on how much work you still have to do. A thank you note for a present you received two weeks ago? That takes 5 minutes and was due YESTERDAY. Put it in that square. A five page paper that’s due tomorrow? That takes an hour/hours, place it appropriately. Tomorrow’s speech you just need to rehearse? Half an hour, due TOMORROW. Do the same for ALL of your tasks

Your priority goes like this:

5 minutes due YESTERDAY

5 minutes due TOMORROW

Half-hour due YESTERDAY

Half-hour due TOMORROW

Hours due YESTERDAY

Hours due TOMORROW

5 minutes due LATER

Half-hour due LATER

Hours due LATER

DAYS due YESTERDAY

DAYS due TOMORROW

DAYS due LATER

At this point you just go down the list in each section. If something feels especially urgent, for whatever reason - a certain professor is hounding you, you’re especially worried about that speech, whatever - you can bump that up to the top of the entire list. However, going through the list like this is what I find most efficient.

Some people do like to save the 5 minute tasks for kind of a break between longer-running tasks. If that’s what you want to try, go for it! You’re the one studying here.

So that’s how to prioritize. Now, how to actually do shit? That’s where the 20/10 method comes in. It’s simple: do stuff like a stuff-doing FIEND for 20 minutes, then take a ten minute break and do whatever you want. Repeat ad infinitum. It’s how I’ve gotten through my to do list, concussed and everything.

You’ve got this. Get a drink and start - we can do our stuff together!

good emotional skills to know 4 college but also in general

this is stuff that i’ve found helpful and am in the process of working on. they may not be achievable for you without help and may not work for your specific circumstance, but this is a list of suggestions that you might be able to think about. i am also not a mental health professional so please do feel free to contradict me!!

self soothing.  having a toolbox to take care of yourself by yourself. bc sometimes nobody else is available and you just gotta put some lotion on, listen to a tune, and go to bed early. 

checking in. checking in with yourself to see if you’re okay. knowing how to alter your strategies when your strategies aren’t working. knowing when your strategies aren’t working. this is just taking some time every day to reflect on what goals you didn’t meet and why and what you can do to fix that.

there’s nothing you “should” be doing. if you get caught up thinking “i should be doing x” that’s false! stop that! “should” be doing better implies that you have some obligation to do whatever it is that you “should” be doing. you don’t owe anybody except yourself. analyze why you think you should be doing that thing and change that into…. “i want to be doing x because…” or “doing x will make me happier, because…”. overall, more productive and less self-shamey. 

disconnecting from the crowd. eating in a crowded dining hall can be stressful! knowing how to be alone in a crowd and stay calm is helpful

being okay with being alone.  tbh college is kind of… being alone a lot, in my experience. even though you’re surrounded by people, a lot of time is spent alone. making friends is hard. your friends have different schedules. you’re busy. shit sucks. we make the best of it.

knowing yourself. this relates to a lot of what i’ve already said but like. knowing your emotional state and knowing what helps trick the monkey brain is helpful. stop repressing your feelings, friends.

talking to strangers. ordering from a menu! paying library fines. going to office hours. asking for a cashier at the register if there isn’t one. ya this is hard. ya you gotta expose yourself. sometimes i just try playing a persona. like this isn’t me ordering a sandwich. this is a cool me who knows how to talk to people who is ordering a sandwich.

you don’t have to be friends with your roommates. you just have to live together in a way that doesn’t make you two hate each other. ideally, you two will coexist in a way that doesn’t interfere with the other’s daily life.

give and taking. on the topic of roommates, sometimes your roommate can be a shitty person, but sometimes you are the shitty person! give a little but if they’re negatively impacting your life, communicate.

communicating during disagreements. explain what your emotions are instead of blaming them. “i feel hurt when you…” or “i feel frustrated when” or “i feel unappreciated when.” if things get heated, ask if you both can take a ten minute break and then come back. and don’t bring up disagreements when the other party is preoccupied or going somewhere. you can legitimately schedule a discussion.

it’s okay to apologize. learning to swallow your pride gets easier each time.

knowing that people work differently than you. some people are not gonna click with you and it’s gonna seem like they have this whole brain process up there that is totally unlike yours. and yeah! that’s how it is. and that’s chill if they aren’t hurting anyone else. work with them and be flexible!! 

comforting people. you will probably/definitely see someone cry! hell if i know how to comfort people. someone please help. but some things i’ve learned are: 1) different people need different things. different people need different things! 2) people need different things at different times. 3) you can ask them what they want and it won’t be weird. 4) apparently a lot of people like hugs? but ask. and it’s okay to not want a hug. 5) just show that you care in some way if you don’t know what they need. i used to think that if somebody needed to tell me what they needed it was a sign that i just didn’t know them well enough and we weren’t compatible or i wasn’t being a good friend. that’s fake! friendship isn’t based off of fitting naturally in every way and making an effort to be good for them is important.

knowing it’s okay to not be liked by everyone. it’s okay if strangers think you’re dumb because you said something dumb in public. you know you’re not dumb. it’s okay if not everybody you meet likes you. it’s okay if you do something cringey. everybody has their own shit to deal with and you will not shatter their world.  grow and move on!

forgiving yourself. i’m trying this new thing where when i feel embarrassed about something i say. out loud. “i forgive myself.” and then i just try to grow from that and move on without getting caught in a spiral of shame.

knowing what you need vs what you want and what is better at the time. what you need: a shower. what you want: to not do that. solution: take a shower! or maybe what you actually need is to go to sleep? but guess what. you probably know what is good for you. the hard part is actually doing it.

realize that building habits is less work than discipline. emotional effort is expended every time you have to make yourself do something. just make it part of your routine and you’ll just think it’s normal to do all the good things! like, for example, i’m trying to make it a habit to eat structured meals instead of a “eat when i’m hungry” thing because i know that makes me skip meals, which is bad!

you won’t be able to do everything. forgive yourself for that. write down  things that are top priority and focus on them. everything else is not important right now and you shouldn’t beat yourself up for not being able to do them.

your health is important. i’m not saying health will solve all your problems. it won’t! but health will cause a lot of your problems to go away. because let’s face it. not sleeping causes a lot of problems. 

it’s okay to ask for help. we say this a lot but it’s hard to internalize it. here’s a thought: there’s so much shame and hesitation about asking for help so by doing that you’re actually being proactive (which is respectable) and mature, and therefore… not weak or stupid. ask for help even before you need it! most people love to help others. and especially take advantage of people who are OFFERING help. for example: counselors at school or TAs. it’s literally their job. they want to do it. and if you don’t want to talk to anybody in real life, my inbox is always open.

New Year’s resolution ideas for students

Finish all your schoolwork by 11 pm each day

Limit yourself to one cup of coffee a day

Get at least a B in all of your classes (or set goals for individual classes)

Stretch for 10 minutes before bed

Read a book each month for leisure

Get at least 7 hours of sleep every night

Spend less than two hours on social media a day (or some other time limit, depending on where you are now!)

Journal every day

Leave for class 5 minutes earlier than you need to

Listen to podcasts or watch documentaries instead of binging Netflix or watching YouTube

Get at least 1 hour of exercise a week

Only spend money on things you really need (not just things you want)

Finish papers at least a day in advance

Spend 30 minutes a day on self care

Wake up an hour earlier than you currently do every day

What are some of your resolutions (if you have any)? x