For those Badgers who feel that the stress caused by their workloads is akin not to that of the typical college student but the most beleaguered, overworked airplane pilots, any break from studying may be perceived as an impediment to ensuring readiness for a final test or essay. However, even though stress is an implicit part of most college students’ academic experiences, knowing when to take a break from studying is an important part of maintaining mental and physical health. In hearing and observing people’s attitudes toward studying, I’ve realized that many students are wont to follow an academic orthodoxy that holds hunkering down for hours on end as the optimal way to guarantee success in the classroom. To be honest, many workloads do require hours of focus and dedication if one wishes to do well. Nevertheless, work habits that consistently forgo exercise and relaxation breaks in favor of uninterrupted studying run the risk of intensifying the stress caused by coursework and increasing the likelihood of illness.
Research has shown that exercise is related to reductions in both stress and depression, and I would venture to guess that those denizens of UW-Madison who habitually reserve time to exercise would report similar findings in their own lives. Speaking personally, in moments when I have felt stress not just from coursework but the innumerable aggravating idiosyncrasies of everyday life, exercise has almost always aided in clearing my mind and enabling me to tackle my problems more rationally and effectively. Thus, the personal imperative to reach academic success and to maintain physical well-being need not be mutually exclusive.
In knowing when to take a break from pouring over your work, you can actually bolster your ability to study meaningfully. For those preoccupied with figuring out how exactly to allot the time to work out, have no fear. We at UW-Madison are fortunate to have access to recreational facilities with abundant hours of operation, so the perennial argument that there simply isn’t enough time to go to the gym holds little credence with this author.
Strategically removing oneself from intense studying now and then also reduces the risk of developing illnesses associated with the effects of chronic stress. Stress has been shown to suppress the ability of the immune system to respond to illness, so in continually accepting chronic, debilitating stress as the norm, students unknowingly compromise their bodies’ ability to stave off disease.
The immediacy of schoolwork understandably causes many of us to sideline potentially beneficial health habits in the name of academic achievement. We should strive to overcome this impulse to relegate exercise and relaxation breaks to the lower rungs of our priority ladders if we are to meaningfully pursue health and happiness. Making the time to brave the cold and trek to the SERF or Natatorium should not be regarded simply as a means to procrastinate and avoid the realities of coursework. No stigma need be attached to kicking back with friends on your dorm room’s barely functioning futon to ruminate on life and the challenges of school. Abandoning the assumption that uninterrupted studying and the continual absorption of crippling stress is the optimal way to claim academic success would afford us greater peace of mind and potentially higher test scores.
Do you agree with Elijah on the benefits of exercise? Are breaks an essential component of your study routine? Is it possible to incorporate these activities in the coming weeks? We want to know what you think. Please send all feedback to opinion@dailycardinal.com
