You need a break.

Hello, Reader!

The first time I had an idea to make this blog post was at the start of February when I first arrived in Madrid. Prior to leaving London in January, I had an abundance of projects going on: C3 revision, STEP papers, online course, Spanish worksheets, this blog, and more. That’s probably because I also had an abundance of free time- I worked about three times a week and even then I worked 4-hour shifts. Moving to Madrid, I found myself with a bit less free time so I cut down the number of things I was working on. Still, recently, I’ve started a “30-day productivity challenge” (21 days in!) and the first day’s task was to track all my activities throughout the day to see where all my time goes. Turns out… I don’t have much free time because I spend all of it studying. In fact, throughout the whole day, only an hour and a half was "free time" and I felt so guilty about spending that time watching Netflix or laying in bed instead of starting some work. This made me realise that I really need to slow down and take it easy. And also that this post needs to get written - because I know I’m not the only one.

Taking breaks is so important for your productivity but also for your brain; it won’t work as effectively or soak up as much information if it doesn’t get rest breaks, which is also the reason you shouldn’t feel guilty about taking those breaks. Putting so much pressure on yourself that taking a break feels like ‘wasting time’ creates unnecessary stress for yourself and strains your mental health. The worst part is that this pressure is one that we put on ourselves which is more difficult to deal with than outside influences. During A-Levels, I definitely found that I held myself to such high standards that I didn't let myself live outside of my revision. And my mental health definitely suffered as a result. In the end, I did manage to find a balance between enjoying my life and performing well academically, but I can't say that it was easy. This is why, when I realised that I had too much on my plate, relatively to the amount of time I had for it, I made the decision to prioritise rather than trying to do everything. 

One way to get rid of the guilt that comes with taking time for yourself is finding ways to take breaks without compromising your productivity. Firstly, if you’re like me and have a lot of independent projects going on, try to prioritise the tasks or projects which you’re most excited about or the ones that are most urgent. Personally, beginning my time in Madrid, I cut down my projects to my retake revision, my art and my Spanish course. Eventually, I added in STEP papers when I found that I could squeeze in another thing I’m passionate about. If you’re in a position where you can’t cut down the number of tasks you’re focused on, whether it’s because of school work or exam preparation: try the Pomodoro technique for studying! This is a system where you work for 25 mins (with absolutely no distractions and 100% focus) and then take a 5 min break, this 30-minute cycle is called a ‘Pomodoro’. After 5 ‘Pomodoro's you take a longer, 15-20 minute break and then rinse and repeat. This is an effective technique because it promotes intense, focused work followed by controlled breaks so that you’re consciously working towards that 5 min break for every 25 mins of work. During those 5 minute breaks, the best thing to do is to get out of your seat, walk around, have a stretch- something to help you refresh and prepare for another ‘pomodoro’.

Can you believe this is my 20th blog post? Thank you for reading and remember to take those breaks!

Love,

Agnes xo