With the exam period rapidly approaching for both university and school students, now is a great time to get into some good mental health study habits. My clients and students regularly come to me saying they are exhausted and just trying to get to the end of their exams or the Christmas break. For most of us, this break is still a few months away and just continuing on and busting your gut to get to the end is not the best way to go.
Regarding exams, the strategy often taken, especially by students, is to study for long periods, often feeling guilty when one takes time out. Our brains can usually only concentrate for about 40 minutes at maximum capacity and after this point, our level of absorption of material or ability to think straight diminishes. Rather than trying to just push through when we are tired or struggling to concentrate, we are better off taking a mindful break for a few minutes.
When we are at work, people’s ability to concentrate fully on a task is dependent on the task at hand, how engaged we are with the task, whether we are hydrated and have eaten recently and how rested we are. For an average eight-hour workday, we need a good 20-30 minute-break about every two hours in order to reset and refresh.
What do we mean by taking a break?
A break is when we disengage from an intense activity (such as study) and actively rest our thinking brain. A break can be a few seconds just to stretch our physical body or a few minutes to focus on some basic needs and selfcare, such as having something to eat, a drink of water, a short walk or doing some deep breathing. It’s something that fuels our body and brain. It’s important to have regular breaks otherwise our bodies become stiff and sore, our brains overworked, and we feel lethargic or stressed.
What should we avoid doing when taking a break?
Because the aim of a break is to give our brain rest and fuel our body, mindless activities such as scrolling on our phones or engaging with social media are best avoided. Our brain doesn’t recover from mindless activities. Rather, we should engage in mindful activities, activities where we gain energy and refreshment, such as food, water and relaxed movement.
Getting enough sleep is important, as well as having time off from study. We can’t constantly study as there comes a point where our brain cannot absorb anymore, and we just start to feel tired and irritable.
On the flip side, if you’re struggling from procrastination, try timetabling short periods of study/work with the reward of a pleasant activity afterwards.
Remember that it’s okay to take breaks and have days off even when we are working towards a deadline such as exams. Breaks help keep us alert and refreshed and make us more resilient during times of stress.
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