Uni (and Medicine especially!): the importance of a break

You know how your boss NEVER says "hey, you've worked hard this week, take the Friday off too." Well, MINE JUST DID. So this means I get a long weekend WOOHOOO!

Celebrating a hot summer's day with ice-cream. Duh.

Burn out is extremely common in Medical Students. It doesn't help that selection is biased towards people with strong work ethics, time management and organisational skills, and to perfectionists.

So therefore, it seems fitting that I talk about how CRUCIAL being able to relax and unwind is.

It is important to stop and question what you really value. It is important to stop and take time for yourself. It is important to stop and make time to balance work, life and study - which I'll talk about in a future post. 

You've all heard 'work hard, play hard' but what this fails to mention is that sometimes, you just need to take a day to be lazy and lethargic. No matter what you do, life happens. It gets hectic. And in order to maintain sanity, you NEED to relax.

This is important during study too. If you're too stressed, or too mentally exhausted, it actually reduces your productivity. You lose focus and all that time that you THINK you are using is actually wasted since you won't be able to remember anything later. 

Listen to your mind (but not always, because - let's be real - then we probably wouldn't get anything done), if you keep reading the same sentence and don't understand it, or if your eyes blur over, or if your head is drawn to laying down on the desk like a magnet, then STOP.  Take a break. Research shows that giving your mind a rest allows you to be more productive and efficient when you get back into it. 

I know it's especially hard when you have tests or deadlines coming up, but this is the time when it is EXTREMELY important to keep this in mind. Instead of cramming the night before an exam, have a good night's rest and wake up a little earlier to study. Thoughts will be fresher and you'll be much more alert so you don't make any stupid mistakes (such as not reading the question properly)! 

Find something that will take your mind off of things - it may be a walk, a movie, a book, cooking, knitting, meditating. Whatever it is, FIND something that works for you and prioritise it. It's the only way to get out of Med - or anything, really - alive and sane. 

So take the time to relax! You know you want to. ;)
And to practice what I preach, I'm now going to curl up with a cup of hot chocolate while watching Tangled while snuggled up in my blanket. 

As per usual, feel free to contact me with any questions or topic requests by either commenting or email!

-Diana