With exams in full swing, your brain power is as limited of a resource as time and sleep. (Sorry mom, but replying to your text is going to have to take backseat to writing my term paper.) But your brain power isn’t just about the capacity you have to retain information or do tasks. Preserving your mental and physical health are not only important, but are actually the keys to success.
Here are five tricks to help you save your brain power.
1 – Eat Brain Food: Nourish your body with delicious foods proven to help increase brain functionality. Foods like nuts, blueberries, and avocados are known to maintain a healthy brain by providing essential vitamins like vitamin E. While you are studying make your own trail mix filled with blueberries, almonds, cashews, and a little bit of dark chocolate. Munch on this delicious mix while you work and you will surely see a happiness boost in your brain.
(Photo via @allyxfisher)
2 – Have Fun: All work and no play is just going to lead to a lack of focus. Instead of exhausting your mind trying to fight your brain’s creativity, use it to your advantage. Use colorful pens, draw pictures, or write short songs to help memorize your course content.
(Photo via @oyindaodewale)
3 – Plan and Prioritize: Organize your study time so you don’t have to cram everything last minute. If there are topics you are already comfortable with, you can study those until the end because those topics will be just be a refresher for your mind as opposed to topics you don’t understand as well. Don’t forget to spread your study time over a longer period of time so you don’t overwhelm yourself by crash studying.
(Photo via @withlovejennaa)
4 – Stay Active: Keep your mind active and refreshed by keeping it moving. Staying seated staring at your computer screen or glossing over endless pages to your study guide can drain your energy. In between the topics you are studying for, get up and stretch, do yoga, or go for a walk. Energize your body so it can actively absorb the material you are learning.
(Photo via @keepingitkrischic)
5 – Get Sleep: We all know it’s true but we don’t always make sure we go to bed. Scientists say that we need at least eight hours of great sleep to be well-rested for that day. Make sure you make the effort to turn your phone on “Do Not Disturb” mode so that those endless notifications aren’t reducing your quality of sleep.
(Photo via @phenix_xox)
Have you given your brain a break today? Share with us in the comments below how you take care of your mental health during exams.
