Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at noon, I walk into my English class, sit down, close my eyes, and breathe for one minute. At the beginning of this semester, my professor told my class we would be doing this exercise as a way to collect our thoughts and refocus ourselves before class begins. While at first I felt a little silly sitting in class with my eyes closed, as I started to relax into my chair, hearing nothing but the clock ticking and the synchronized breathing of my classmates, I felt my mind emptying of any thoughts that might have been hindering my ability to concentrate during class. In many ways, the minute often feels much longer than a minute.
On the especially hectic days when I start to feel panicked about getting everything done and done well, I sometimes quite literally forget to breathe. I begin to hyperventilate, but I keep working, not absorbing information, not able to focus, but continuing so that I can get things done to get them done and often having to redo them later. I get so worried about my lack of time to finish my to-do list, that I refuse to take breaks and often neglect basic aspects of self-care such as eating, showering, or sleeping. From talking to friends and peers, I know that this is not something that I alone struggle with.
The amount of work I have is always manageable despite the lack of time to do it. Professors are understanding and often offer extensions. Something might, and probably will, end up taking less time than I originally anticipated. But the sheer panic that comes over me when I look at my upcoming schedule stops me from focusing on anything but panicking about what I have to do, and it becomes a vicious cycle of not sleeping, feeling less focused, being able to do my work even less efficiently, and panicking more.
This is why I urge anyone who has ever found themselves in a similar situation to take my English professor’s advice. When you find yourself starting to feel overwhelmed and thinking that you do not have time to take a break, just take one minute to sit in silence and breathe. It may not feel like you have the time, but you can spare one minute in order to save yourself from an hour of unproductive and mentally unhealthy work later. Those few deep breaths will hopefully help you get through until the next minute you need to take for yourself.