Most students tend to over or underestimate the amount of time they should spend
studying and how much of that time they can use to take breaks.
Breaks are crucial! Otherwise, you will panic about the balance of relaxation time and actual studying time you have created for yourself. You deserve it, no matter how far behind you feel you are.
1) Socialise!
You won’t feel any better isolating yourself from plans with friends to focus, it will
make you feel like you are missing out or spending too much time on one thing than
the other. If you’re not feeling a night out, perhaps take a coffee trip so you can break up
your day. That's your time to step away from your laptop and have a chat.
The space and time you get away could ultimately benefit your work. People aren’t perfect - you might miss certain details because you’ve been staring at the same task too much. Go out, take a breather!
2) Don’t forget your hobbies!
Hobbies can be super helpful for break time but also for brain development. There
should still be activities you enjoy and indulge in outside of a workspace. Whether
that is exercising, playing and practising instruments or reading your favourite novel.
These are all great ways to keep your brain active over assessment or exam
periods. Also, you may draw inspiration from those hobbies to put into
your work.
3) Make (realistic) goals for yourself!
I recommend making a schedule, so everything is clearly in front of you. You can
purchase cheap calendars from Poundland to do this. It can separate each day
efficiently - especially if you prefer to work on certain days or around
your uni timetable.
Separating your time into segments helps. An example that has worked for me has been dedicating 50 minutes to work and 10 minutes for a break. This means you can reward yourself, for example if I finish this task I can then focus on an activity.
Don’t be hard on yourself and go with whatever works for you!
Edited by Nadia Lincoln