Exam period will always be the bane of every student’s life. The pressure to demonstrate, or at least ad-lib, what you have learnt at university (and justify all the skipped lectures, Netflix addictions, staying out til 8 am and wasting of your loans and grants) always induces many meltdowns amongst us educated folk. Words don’t look like words any more, the lecture slides you need to revise from never seem to have audio and you end up so overwhelmed by the need to organise yourself that you find yourself lying face down on your sofa, dribbling into a jar of Nutella.
I’m sure nobody reading this will be surprised to hear that pulling all-nighters, staying in all day and consuming comfort food are only short term solutions. Also, you don’t want to be reprimanded for falling into these bad habits that seemingly every student will at some point fall into. Sometimes you can’t prevent these things from happening, but if Custard Creams or going on hiatus from the social world are your only methods for getting through these tough times, at least try and balance these bads with some goods. You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do for exams, but don’t sacrifice your health.
This year, I’m determined to emerge from exam period resembling a human, not a spotty, overly caffeinated, feral zombie. Over Christmas (being unaffected by frost and floods) I took it upon myself to go jogging for 30 minutes every day. I’d go mid-morning, and then spent the rest of my day doing all my usual procrastination activities (I’m honest.) I’m convinced this is what has kept my brain ticking enough to go over notes and make essay plans. When faced by the inevitable stresses of exams and turning to unhelpful, unhealthy techniques to get through them, you need to give your brain a break. Your brain is a muscle too, and the more damage you inflict on it, the less efficient it will be. What use is it cramming all this knowledge into your brain if it won’t come out right on paper?
I have three good reasons to engage in some light exercise during exam period:
1) SUNLIGHT. It’s easy to lose touch with sociable hours when revising. Breaking out into the real world and breathing in more natural air than your windows can allow for will be a Shawshank moment. You will cry with joy. Letting yourself see a bit of the world away from revision will allow you to appreciate there is life beyond university. It also reminds you of what’s waiting on the other side of exams.
2) In the 30 minutes I allocated for working up a sweat around the park, I found myself returning to my essay inspired. By taking my mind away from work, I was able to properly consider and evaluate it. Instead of letting ideas pile up on me inside the confined space of my room, ideas could flow more freely one at a time in the outdoors. The sentences and structures I couldn’t seem to find found me during my leisurely run.
3) Your body will thank you for not being so dormant. Exercise feels like the enemy if you’re not naturally inclined to do it and you shouldn’t be made to feel like you must enjoy exercise. It is however impossible to deny its numerous benefits. Work out the stiffness in your neck, the soreness in your eyes and the pins and needles in your legs. Getting your blood pumping and your lungs open in full capacity will warm your body up and prepare it for the day. Once you feel a bit looser and more active, your body’s processes will be more effective. It’s a myth to say exercise will drain your energy; it’s impossible to drain your day’s energy in 30 minutes. The problem is thinking that you have to graft hard until you’re a heap on the floor to properly call it exercise. If I go running, I do it until my breathing becomes notably heavier, not until I’ve run a marathon.
I’ve found I’ve been much calmer approaching my studies because of my jogging. It motivates me to keep to a routine and I’ve made it a part of the day to be excited about, because I can leave the books for a short time. Crawling away from the library, groggy and listless, is a thing of the past. If you struggle to get yourself out the loving embrace of your bed covers, there are ways of making exercise more bearable. If you’d rather not pound the pavements, get yourself in the pool or get on your bike. You could split up your exercise through the day, by doing solid 5 minute intervals. Incorporate it into your day by making some changes, for example taking the stairs instead of the lift in the library. Many gyms make special discounts or offer no-contract sessions, if you’d rather run without the risk of being humped by a dog or falling into a puddle ‘Vicar of Dibley’ style. My top tip, as a big music lover, is plugging in the old iPod and blocking out the annoying, adult world of responsibility. Once you get your jog on, you can tell your stress to jog on.
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By Molly Forsyth