Lately I have been finding myself a little burnt out and out of place. I work more hours than I realize and “reward” myself with breaks when I think I have done enough to deserve them. Sometimes those breaks include food and other times those breaks include just enough time to get up and stretch before feeling like I need to go back and keep working. I tend to work myself until I feel too tired to do anything else. It isn’t a very healthy relationship with school work and I know many others experience the same. It is important to do well at school and work hard, but probably not at the expense of your mental and physical health. Not to mention, food and rest are not meant to be a “reward”, we need them to function.

I am currently in my last year of graduate school. It is very exciting and I can’t wait to be done. Last year, I worked constantly and refused to give myself any breaks. I worked through the night and made sure to try and keep up with all my assignments that would take up the majority of my day. It was very hard on my mind and so my goal for this last year was to find a way to separate myself from my work and actually relax. This year, instead of doing homework for hours on end, I decided to implement some study goals and time limits. I made sure to eat every meal and step away from my work to give my mind a break from all the reading and memorizing. This post is to highlight some healthy ways of working.

Let’s start with the basics:

• Get a full night’s sleep. Please.
  • Sleep is so important and while sometimes if can feel like a waste of time when you have so many things to do, sleeping will help you work better and be more productive since you brain will be functioning at a much higher level. Trust me. I have done all nighters and it could have gone much better. Iza can confirm.

• Eat on a regular schedule
  • As a singer, this one is so important and in general, can be so easily forgotten for busy people. Singing is basically a sport and we need to feed our muscles and body so that we can perform well. Not only does eating consistently give your body energy to do the things you need to, eating well and intuitively can help focus your mind as you move towards completing your goals.

• H2O. Drink up BB!
  • Drink your water. It is so important for you your body to stay hydrated, especially in extreme weather. Dehydrated? Not drinking enough water? Don’t like drinking water? Try adding hydrators with electrolytes. I love Liquid I.V. It tastes good and i feel so hydrated. A bit TMI, but I have almost clear pee every time I drink this in my water.
• Work mental breaks into your schedule.
  • Burn out is so easy. make sure you are listening to your body and stepping away from work when you can. Schedule some mini adventures into your day. There’s a new coffee shop down the street from your office? take some time to try it out. Feeling restless? take a walk and listen to a good podcast or album that relaxes you. You don’t need to walk away from things for days (unless you do, then please do) but pay attention to how you are feeling and react to those feelings kindly. Finding ways to counteract negative feelings will help you in the long run.

Okay, now that the basics are out of the way, here are some study techniques I find really helpful in order to balance my time and energy.

• Keep a list of everything you want to complete.
  • I love checklists. I have two at all times through grad school. One is a major list of assignments for each class. After each assignment I check it off and it really keeps me feeling motivated to see another thing completed on a large list.
  • The other list I keep is a list of everything I want to complete in my week. I write each assignment down and note when they are due. This keeps me focused on what is a priority for the week.

• Schedule your time! Get a planner!
  • I love planners. They are great ways to keep track of everything going on. I especially love using google calendar or even just the apple calendar app on my phone and laptop. I also use a written planner because pen and paper just can’t be beat.
  • When I start to feel overwhelmed I start to schedule myself out by the hour. I write what I want to work on in my planner and for how long I want to work on it. When I know it is a more difficult assignment I make sure to add some time before and after as a buffer. This way I can be realistic about my work.

• Use a timer. It really works.
  • I have gradually found that I produce work faster and more productively under certain constraints. Time being one of them. Because of this I use an app called Emphasis on my phone. It works like the Pomodoro method but you can set your own parameters. I prefer to work for 25-30 minutes, take a five minute break and then work for the same amount of time again. I do this a few times and between each hour of work I will take a longer break, about 10 minutes. It really helps to give my mind a break and keep myself hyper focused on the work while the timer is still going.

• Intrusive thoughts? write them down and worry about it later
  • My brain works a mile a minute. I have a million things on going on at once and sometimes I start to think about another project just as I am starting another one. I hate when I forget a really great idea i thought of, or something important i needed to complete while I was working on something else. A great way to combat this: WRITE IT DOWN . Don’t let it take over your mind but write it down to look at later and worry about when you are ready for that project or idea.

• Note taking doesn’t always have to be important information. It just has to be information that will help you remember.
  • I really struggle with long readings. It feels taxing and I always get distracted. I like to interact with these longer readings. By this I mean, I will write little comments and annotate the reading with little things that it reminded me of or my reactions. It helps to remind myself of what the information was and keeps me interacting with the information I need to be learning.

• Study Snacks!
  • Treat yourself to your favorite candy. Every time you read a huge paragraph of information, eat one. Or just keep a snack handy to curb any other distractions. I find when I eat a snack while I am working, I move a bit quicker and focus on my work in front of me. Maybe it’s just me, but try it out. I love some grapes or blueberries.

Staying focused and getting your work done during stressful times of the year can be daunting and you can feel burnt out and tired of the grind. Hopefully, some of these tips can help you to refocus yourself and push through to your next break. You deserve to spend your time the way you want to. If you find yourself really dying out from everything, take a step back and give yourself the rest you need. I know if feels like you can’t stop, even for a second, but you most certainly can. Listen to your body and stay strong as we come to the end of another year.

We Got This!