Charger Blogger Discusses the Importance of Taking a Break

Author, dragging herself to the weekend: “FALL BREAK. PLEASE.”

Hey, everyone, how are we doing? I apologize that I’ve been a little more absent on here article-wise. It’s definitely been hectic for me, and between the piles of homework and subsequent lack of sleep, finding the time to do anything but schoolwork has been really challenging.

I’ve been in college for what seems to have been a millennia, and after a while, you come to realize what causes you to burn out. Usually, it’s a combination of not sleeping, not eating enough, eating too much, and not doing anything outside of school... or doing everything outside of school. This cycle makes your brain want to die inside, and, as much as I hate to say it, (mostly to myself):

Get off that darn phone.

Sometimes, we ignore our essential needs and instincts that the little voice inside of us is nagging to engage in. Why? Because there are things on the line: grades, GPA, extracurricular opportunities, etc. There are things we will give up our health for, and they’re often the things we say that we don’t care about. Ironic, isn’t it? It’s interesting how our brains work.

Now you’re breaking out in acne, your energy is garbage, and the last time you slept was two days ago. I hate to break this to you, but college– and life –isn’t going to stop for you. Classes get harder, your workload is larger, and the stakes of boosting your GPA get higher. For myself, I have a crippling academic fear of failure. Crippling. So much to the point where I’m up at 4 a.m. doing homework and blinking at the lecture video.

That entire thing ended in my first dumpster fire mental breakdown of the semester. My brain hadn’t rested in weeks, I was cutting my sleep in half (fun fact: women need more sleep than men), my eating habits were poor, and I wasn’t getting outside. Those are all signs of bad: bad mental health, bad physical health, and poor respect for yourself.

So, I’ve been trying to honor myself a bit more. This week, I’ve upped my movement (current fixation is Pilates and a lot of hiking), drink more water, engage in more thoughtful mental practices whether they be for my mental health or just to give my brain a break from staring into the depths of biochem, and really focusing on sleep. I’ve scribbled in my journal, and had a lot of sweet potatoes (soooo gooooooooooddddd).

Anyhow, this little blog is not only a reminder that college is hard and requires sacrifice, but also a nudge toward honoring your health for a second. If you need to sleep, try getting the most important stuff done today, and work on the weird little things tomorrow so you can get to bed early. There’s always a compromise you can find, it’s just your willingness to find it that matters.

Sending lots of love, and of course, plenty of peanut butter,
Bea