With finals just around the corner, studying can feel like a never-ending cycle of textbooks and practice questions. It’s easy to bury yourself in studying for hours at a time with no break, or spend hours telling yourself you’re taking a break when really you’re on Pinterest looking at cute furniture ideas for your apartment next year. The best way to balance these two extremes is to limit yourself to short breaks, that way you don’t fry your brain and you’re actually studying. Here are some quick study breaks that you can give yourself a time frame for, instead of getting lost in mindless scrolling.
1. Do 15 minutes of yoga or stretches.
It can get annoying and uncomfortable to sit in the same position for hours, and it can get easy to doze off lying on your bed or couch. So, taking a 15 minute break to get up in stretch or do some yoga poses can keep you comfortable if you’re in it for the long haul. It can also help wake you up if you feel like drifting off. This option is really easy to time yourself with so that it doesn’t lead to distraction. You can take a quick break to work out those kinks in your back and be right back to work in 10 minutes if you need to be.
2. Get yourself some food or a drink.
This is another good way to set a time limit for yourself. Whether you’re popping some popcorn, grabbing a to-go box from the dining hall, or making yourself some coffee – once that’s done, you can go right back to studying. It’s also a good method because it reminds you to take care of yourself. It can get hard to remember to eat when you’re studying, but an empty stomach ends up being a bigger distraction than taking 15 minutes to get yourself a snack.
3. Take a Buzzfeed or Sporcle quiz.
This is a riskier option because these can get addicting, so proceed at your own risk. But, if you ever feel like your eyes are losing focus, or your brain is halfway to mush, a pointless, funny Buzzfeed quiz – or a more engaging Sporcle quiz – can be a fun and quick refresher. These can take only 2 minutes or 7-8 minutes, so it’s okay to take one or two if you need a longer break. However, the Buzzfeed quiz page is an abyss, so set a timer for yourself if you feel like you could be easily distracted.
4. Do some organizing.
This is a good way to get some other important things done while also taking a break from studying. If you’re in your dorm room or apartment you can take 15-30 minute breaks to do some packing up for your move out day. This way, you don’t have another huge task to tackle after your exams. If you are in the library or just not in your own space, you can take a quick break to reorganize the notes you are studying or your study space.