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Any ideas for efficient breaks between study sessions?

I’m a pro at this;

For a 5 minutes breaks;

Clean your desk. This is very important because you would want to have a clean space when you want to return to studying. It’ll also help you focus more.

Grab a healthy snack. Carrots and nuts are my favorite snacks tbh. 

refill your bottle of water.

Solve a rubix cube (if you know how to solve it)

Check your email or messages, but make sure you don’t spend more than 5 minutes. Just reply to the important ones.

Make yourself a cup of tea or coffee.

For 10-15 minutes breaks;

Prepare some oatmeal! I love oatmeal and I always have some during my break. It’s very nutritious and it wakes you up frankly.

Have a shower. Sometimes when I’m sleepy, I just take a short shower, usually moderately cold, maybe even warm, and change into fresh clothes. That boosts my level of concentration AND makes me feel amazing.

Tidy your room. This is a nice way to control the mess and it sets you in a better mood, knowing that everything is in place and neat. 

Call a friend! You sometimes need to chat with someone that makes you feel happy.

Watch a youtube video (preferably motivational). This is what I do most of the time. It really gives me a boost of motivation and kind of reminds me why I’m doing what I’m doing. Why I shouldn’t stop.

Exercise; some yoga sequences, crunches, squats, ANYTHING REALLY! Maybe practice your splits or bridge. I don’t know, just MOVE your body. I frankly dance. I just place some music and start to choreograph to it. Or I also practice my kicks for karate (trying to get them higher than usual). Just do any kind of exercise that moves your body.

For 20-40 minutes breaks;

POWER NAP YAASSS. If you feel too tired, just sleep. Tell someone to wake you up in 20 minutes or so. but don’t exceed the 40 minutes or else you would wake up tired rather than energized. Tbh, a 20 minutes power nap is the best option.

Read a chapter from your favorite book. Just one chapter yeah?

Prepare lunch, or dinner. I honestly just go heat up my food and eat it, or maybe actually prepare some (noodles bruh). and then I watch something while I’m eating, like a part of that musical I’ve been wanting to watch (Heathers is what I’m currently watching).

Prepare next week’s spread. I tend to do that during the weekends.

Skincare! Since I have rosacea (it sucks), I use this time to wash my face, apply a face mask, then wash my face AGAIN then put some serum to regenerate the skin. Not only is this good for my skin, but it also makes me more relaxed.

Go outside! go to the library, the coffee shop, the grocery store, the park. ANYTHING. You need fresh air. 

For 1-2 hours break; 

THIS IS THE MOST YOU CAN GET.

Watch a movie. Preferably something that doesn’t have sequels. 

Watch an episode or two from your favorite show. if the episode is for 1 hour or more (Sherlock or GOT) you probably should watch one episode.

Go out. Have lunch with a friend, or by yourself (quality time aye)

Go shopping!

Write. I have a two hours break every Saturday and Sunday to write.

Clean up your closet. You probably have many shirts and pants that don’t fit you anymore, so why not give them to someone that actually needs them?

This is what I can think of at the moment. Hope they’re useful!

And remember to actually be productive for you to take a break yeah?

when the speaker suddenly says something relevant to my research

How to Handle Having TOO MUCH To Do

So let’s say you’re in the same boat I am (this is a running theme, have you noticed?) and you’ve just got, like, SO MUCH STUFF that HAS to get done YESTERDAY or you will DIE (or fail/get fired/mope). Everything needs to be done yesterday, you’re sick, and for whatever reason you are focusing on the least important stuff first. What to do!

Take a deep breath, because this is a boot camp in prioritization.

Make a 3 by 4 grid. Make it pretty big. The line above your top row goes like this: Due YESTERDAY - due TOMORROW - due LATER. Along the side, write: Takes 5 min - Takes 30 min - Takes hours - Takes DAYS.

Divide ALL your tasks into one of these squares, based on how much work you still have to do. A thank you note for a present you received two weeks ago? That takes 5 minutes and was due YESTERDAY. Put it in that square. A five page paper that’s due tomorrow? That takes an hour/hours, place it appropriately. Tomorrow’s speech you just need to rehearse? Half an hour, due TOMORROW. Do the same for ALL of your tasks

Your priority goes like this:

5 minutes due YESTERDAY

5 minutes due TOMORROW

Half-hour due YESTERDAY

Half-hour due TOMORROW

Hours due YESTERDAY

Hours due TOMORROW

5 minutes due LATER

Half-hour due LATER

Hours due LATER

DAYS due YESTERDAY

DAYS due TOMORROW

DAYS due LATER

At this point you just go down the list in each section. If something feels especially urgent, for whatever reason - a certain professor is hounding you, you’re especially worried about that speech, whatever - you can bump that up to the top of the entire list. However, going through the list like this is what I find most efficient.

Some people do like to save the 5 minute tasks for kind of a break between longer-running tasks. If that’s what you want to try, go for it! You’re the one studying here.

So that’s how to prioritize. Now, how to actually do shit? That’s where the 20/10 method comes in. It’s simple: do stuff like a stuff-doing FIEND for 20 minutes, then take a ten minute break and do whatever you want. Repeat ad infinitum. It’s how I’ve gotten through my to do list, concussed and everything.

You’ve got this. Get a drink and start - we can do our stuff together!