The importance of balancing self care and studying

After guiding different students through their assessment periods as well as going through them myself, I have found that the importance of maintaining self-care practices such as exercise, sleep and a healthy balanced diet is often underestimated. It is easy for students to get caught up in their study, staying up late and losing their consistent sleep routine. Losing sleep to study instead can actually be very detrimental to your academic performance, as sleep plays an important role in memory consolidation and concentration. A lack of sleep can result in reduced attention and difficulty retaining information, where students may spend longer studying but ultimately remember less of what they have learned. A solution to this is setting a specific timeframe for study to occur each night, for example 8-10pm, and then once this ends, devices and study material should be turned off for the night. This gives your brain the best chance at retaining the information and consolidating what you have learned, given that you allow it a minimum of 8 hours to rest and process the information.

Another area of self-care that is important to balance with study is maintaining a healthy diet. It can be easy to gravitate towards snacks and unhealthy foods that are more convenient during exam periods; however, without a balanced diet, you are missing the opportunity to provide your brain and body with the nutrients and energy they need to function effectively. Eating a balanced diet of fruits and vegetables, meat, dairy and carbohydrates provides your brain with a steady supply of energy and essential nutrients. This helps immensely with supporting concentration, energy levels and productivity of students. Therefore, balancing self-care with study during busy exam blocks is so important to helping students perform at their best and study efficiently, without damaging their wellbeing.