It’s never too early to take a break

As you start classes for this semester there are two important things to remember: First, pay attention and try your best on every assignment and test because every grade adds up. Secondly, you’re never too old to take a nap, or color or whatever you like to do to relax. 

You are probably feeling like you can handle pretty much anything your classes are asking of you. Hold on to that feeling it’s a great mindset. If you do nothing but homework, and worrying about homework, you won’t feel great about your classes, and you’ll probably lose that feeling. 

I know the idea you have to work super hard and just keep your head down is popular. Working with your head down not bothering to take a break to look up and see anything other than your work. If you don’t know any better you might do just that. I’m not saying it won’t bring you some success. It might bring you a lot of success at first, but inevitably you’ll hit a wall. 

As the semester goes on, you’ll get tired and more stressed and maybe a little burnt out with all your classes will ask of you. You’ll start getting frustrated  for not having the energy to study. You might become physically exhausted even though you feel like you haven’t done anything worth being tired.  

Being burnt out is something often mentioned close to finals week. By then it’s too late, you can color as many pages as you want- one day of coloring won’t fix a whole semester of abusing your brain. 

You have to remember to take care of yourself more than once a semester. Take weekends or even an hour every other day to do something you enjoy. These little breaks will keep you from a mental break down once finals week starts. 

College is about preparing yourself for your future and learning the skills and information necessary to succeed. Good study skills and knowing when to take a break and breathe are  essential. You can’t study or work effectively if you’re burnt out so it’s important to know your limits. It’s sometimes hard to accept that you can’t just keep going forever without a break, but the sooner you get past that, the sooner you can reach your goals. 

Bad habits die hard, so start forming good ones now. It’ll help you get through college and eventually help you enjoy your future job without burning out. Out of thousands of participating nurses, 95% said they felt burnt out within the last three years of their job according to a study done by Nursing CE Central. And it’s been a long-known fact that teachers have been burning out quickly. 

Unfortunately, systemic change to curb burn out won’t happen soon. Until those changes happen, it’s up to us to learn how to take care of ourselves.

Take a breath, remind yourself of your possibly long-forgotten hobbies and take a break. It’s never too late or too early to learn to take care of yourself.