While the start of the school year can be overwhelming, it is also a great time to work on incorporating more positive habits into your daily routine. Here are some important tools that can help you manage your tough workload and maintain your overall physical and mental well-being all year long.
Fuel Your Brain & Body
The food you eat affects your brain, which in turn impacts your overall physical and mental well-being. Taking care of your brain (exercising it, fueling it, etc.) allows you to both perform and feel your best. While school allows you to exercise your brain through learning, nutrition is what gives you the fuel to keep your mind and body running. There are four key nutrients that the brain thrives off of:
Fats/Lipids
Proteins and Amino Acids
Carbohydrates
Micronutrients
Several studies show that students who consume a diet high in these four nutrients perform better on tests and assignments, display better behavioral patterns, and have better school attendance.
Now here's how these nutrients actually impact brain health:
Fats: Omega-3 and Omega-6 fats are the essential fats that make up our brain. These fats are important for our learning and memory and for preventing degenerative brain conditions.
Proteins/Amino Acids: Protein, which is made up of a chain of amino acids, provides us with the energy we need to live and for our bodies to develop. Amino acids contain neurotransmitters that send signals from a neuron to a specific cell in our body. These neurotransmitters impact our mood, sleep,
Micronutrients: The five micronutrients (vitamin B6, vitamin C, vitamin E, magnesium, and zinc) are only needed in small amounts, yet they are critical for maintaining our energy levels, improving our behavior and thinking, and for overall growth and development.
Carbohydrates: Most of our brain's energy comes from carbohydrates, which our body digests into glucose. Eating enough carbohydrates allows us to maintain proper glucose levels, which improves our memory, thinking, and learning.
So when you look at it scientifically, you see how nutrition is such a vital tool that can be used to improve so many different areas of your life (sleep, energy, mood, academics). That's why when looking to improve your daily habits, start with nutrition!
Write It Out (By Hand!)
While most of us are used to writing notes or essays for our classes at school, I want you to see beyond writing for solely academic purposes. Writing for recreation can be incredibly beneficial for your mind. Writing out your thoughts and ideas allows for better self-expression, improved communication skills, creativity, and a deeper awareness of the world around you. If school is stressing you out, take some time to write and reflect on how you're feeling. At the start, it may be difficult to let your ideas flow. It's hard to let go of the habit of over-correcting your writing but know that becoming a better writer comes from practice and the more you allow yourself to write, the better!
Additionally, writing by hand is one of the most beneficial ways to retain information (Which may explain why your teachers encourage it so much). So whether you need to study for a certain subject, take note of an important date, or keep up with your assignments- write down what you need to know and keep it in a place where you know you'll look to see it!
Practice Time Management
Another key component to finding success this school year is practicing time management. Essentially, do your best to allot some time each day to complete work from each of your classes. Prioritize your time. Some days you'll need to spend more time on one class and less on another. If you know an assignment may take more time or has an earlier due date, devote more of your time to that. Try not to waste too much energy on smaller tasks or assignments with later due dates. Also, take into account other time commitments (such as school clubs or sports). Additionally, plan for anything that may come up. If you know you have a doctor's appointment coming up, make sure to take note of that and plan your study schedule around it.
There are several online tools that help with time management. Many devices allow you to set time limits on certain apps as well as designated "downtime" away from your device(s). If you know you're likely to get distracted by certain apps or social media, set up these time limits. There are also apps you can download that give you an incentive to stay focused. The app "Forest", for example, gives users the incentive to stay away from their phones in order to plant more trees, both virtual and in real life. When users spend the coins they earn by planting their virtual trees, the Forest app uses these donations to partner with the Non-profit organization "Trees for the Future" to plant real trees!
Try New Things
With the mundanity that the school year brings, it's easy to get stuck doing the same old things. I know the saying goes "why fix what isn't broken?" but think about all the things that can be added to your life when you try new things. Say, for example, you decided to sign up for a yoga class to try out a new form of exercise. You're not sure if you'll like yoga but you go anyways and find out that you love how yoga makes you feel! You wouldn't have felt that had you not tried something new. It takes trial and error to figure out what you enjoy doing. It likely took you trying multiple things to discover the things that you now enjoy doing. But I encourage you to embark on this journey of trial and error because it can make the school year so much more enjoyable! So find ways to try new things through school by signing up for clubs or taking a class that sparks your interest, as well as trying new things in your free time!
Find Movement You Enjoy
Like nutrition, exercise is another great way to improve your mental & physical health as well as brain functioning. It has been scientifically proven to reduce anxiety, stress, depression, and negative thoughts while improving self-esteem and cognitive abilities. It also helps strengthen our muscles and bones, which allows us to complete our day-to-day tasks. Exercise also reduces our risks of several common diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and arthritis.
All science aside, I've personally found that exercise can be a great way to de-stress and take my mind off of school for a bit. I've found the type of exercise doesn't necessarily matter. As long as I'm moving my body for an extended period of time, I'm giving myself the time I need to recharge my energy and get back to my work in a better headspace.
So if you're looking for another way to feel better after a long day of school, try going for a quick run, taking a walk around your neighborhood, or lifting some weights. Find what exercise works for you!
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