I know that every now and then, life gets hectic and we don’t have time to partake in our hobbies or take care of ourselves as much as we would otherwise. Yet, it is important to remember the basics of taking care of yourself and giving your soul a motivational push when things do get stressful, to make sure life never gets boring or overwhelming.
Especially with dead week looming every nearer and the end of the semester coming up on the schedule, taking care of yourself both physically and mentally is important. So, in reference to Parks and Rec, I suggest you “treat. yo. self.” in order to stay healthy, happy, and, hopefully, ace those finals!
Why should people care about taking care of themselves when they have work to do? Well, for starters, taking the time to groom and pamper yourself will not only make the people sitting next to you in class happy, but it will help boost your self-esteem. When you feel confident in how you look and that you are healthy and clean, you don’t have to worry about appearances or smell and can focus on more important things. Spending several nights straight studying can make you feel burnt out and stretched too thin — like butter scraped over too much bread (LOTR reference). Taking the extra thirty minutes to shower, shave, paint your nails or even give yourself a spa facial or mud mask can do wonders in terms of appearance and mental relaxation.
Also, when people take a break from studying to “digest” what they just read or to keep themselves from going crazy with writer’s block, they are more likely to find it easier to continue when they come back. Staying too focused on a task or assignment can lead to a narrow perspective. Stepping back, taking 15 minutes to go enjoy something not related to the task, then coming back can inspire creativity and help change your perspective enough to make those hard to understand textbook concepts easier to digest. Treat yourself to something you enjoy doing and it will make the task you don’t enjoy seem more palatable and manageable.
Go read a book you started at the beginning of the semester, go sketch, watch an amusing YouTube video or anything else that will help make it easier to break up study time and help prevent stressful breakdowns — especially during dead week, when you’re trying to catch up on readings. Don’t believe me? There have even been studies that suggest you study more effectively if you take breaks, roughly a 10-minute break after every hour of work (Source: MIT Effective Breaks).
Another option for your breaks to help de-stress and take the time to refocus on life in the larger scheme of things is to meditate. Don’t knock it until you try it — just sitting and thinking of a simple, happy memory, a fictional place or even focusing on relaxing music while doing nothing else can help clear your mind from things you might be stressing about. Everybody could benefit from a short meditation session every now and then. It’s even better when you daydream you’re on vacation somewhere “treating. yo. self.”
Nightlife Writer Anna Hoover can be reached at blogs@collegian.com or on Twitter @Hoovanna17. Read more of her content on https://collegian.com/category/blogs/night/ Leave a comment!!
