It’s the last week of the semester and you know what that means: due dates and finals. If you’ve somehow managed to avoid a mental breakdown so far this year, your time might be here.
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It’s completely natural to spend every waking second from now until winter break in the library. Which is exactly what most of us do, spending little time caring about our bodies as we stuff down chips from the vending machine or order pizza to the library at 2AM. But it’s actually more important now than ever to take care of your body.
According to this study, we should all hit the gym this time of year because not only does it help reduce stress, but it also helps us fight diseases, which is super important right now, because #Mumps.
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Some science: Exercising causes our bodies to release endorphins, which helps us sleep better, which in turn helps reduce stress. Not only will you feel less stressed if you get enough sleep, which alone might be just what you need to ace your finals, but this article explains why sleeping may be even more important than studying to get that A.
Here’s a little breakdown:
This study found that sacrificing sleep to study, aka pulling an all-nighter in Bird to cram, actually backfires. The major finding was that regardless of how much time students spend studying each day, if they sacrifice sleep to study, they will have academic problems the following day.
This doesn’t mean you don’t have to study at all, but according to the APA, you should space out your study sessions (in other words don’t cram), interweave your subjects, and test yourself before the exam.
With all this research telling me how important it was to exercise and sleep, I look ½ the day to take care of my body and now I feel energetic, positive, and ready to hammer out some work. Hope this helps some of you, too.
Happy finals!