How to balance study and free time?
Posted on 14th November 2019
Finding a healthy balance between studying and free time is extremely difficult, especially when your body tells you that it is time for sleep, but your heavy workload says otherwise. All of these techniques are helpful in order to achieve a healthy balance where no stress is required.
Give yourself 10-15-minute breaks throughout study periods
I can understand the fact that you want to study for as long as you possibly can, in fear that you won’t have enough time to complete the task given to you. However, when you propel yourself through work and make yourself restless, you are at risk of causing detrimental effects to the quality of your work, therefore allowing your grades to be lower than you deserve. What I am trying to express is the fact that you shouldn’t feel guilty about giving yourself short breaks as they will not only be beneficial in the long run but may also help you to compose your thoughts and let your brain rest before another period of hard work takes place.
Sleep!
Is finishing assignments good? Yes, of course. Is finishing assignments but not allowing yourself to sleep for a suitable amount of time good? No, it’s unhealthy!
Sleeping is an important aspect of human behaviour that shouldn’t be taken lightly; without it our brains are unable to function properly so we cannot absorb as much information or translate it as well through essays or problem questions.
Needless to say, the amount of sleep required completely depends on the person we are considering, but the national average is between 7 – 9 hours (please keep this in mind and use this information wisely).
Condense your notes
Nothing is worse than flickering through pages and pages of lengthy notes to find an answer when a short sentence would suffice. That’s why I’m recommending that you spend a small portion of your time on creating mind maps and revision cards containing the vital information that you need. When doing this, it’s important to refer to questions that the exam papers may ask so that the information that you include is relevant. For example, if you are likely to be asked to evaluate a belief, then it is probably suitable for you to include information relating to people who agree and disagree with the belief and what evidence can be used to support their arguments.
So…what have we learned?
Well, it’s obvious really. Give yourself short breaks, enough sleep and the time to condense your notes and you should be able to find a balance within your stress levels to help you through your A level experience.
Chloe Thomas-Evans (Studying A Level English Literature, A Level Sociology, and A Level Media Studies)