With midterms likely starting soon for all of us students, I decided to share some of my tips on staying healthy during college. I find that the busier I get, especially during stressful times, I tend to sacrifice the wrong things to stay afloat. 

On that note, my first tip is to manage your time as specifically as possible. I highly suggest scheduling your tasks for a length of time, rather than a complete list of things to do. This will greatly improve your ability to complete everything, because it is much more realistic to comprehend and then to implement how long a task will take instead of burning yourself out.  Moreover, this can allow for you to plan ahead on assignments and exams and such, rather than cramming everything at the last minute. 

Along with that, my second tip is to overestimate how long your tasks will take for you to complete. Firstly, you should utilize the leeway time; because more often than not our simple assignments can take longer than anticipated. But also, if you finish early, you will have earned a well deserved break! Breaks are so important to keep the motivation and momentum going. So, be sure to prioritize breaks and rest just as much as productivity. Afterall, being well rested will allow you to perform better. 

Speaking of breaks, I want to emphasize how important it is to prioritize your mental and physical health during stressful times. And trust me, I know that is way easier said than done. Inevitably, the stress will negatively affect your mental health but there are ways we can try our best to combat that. I really could write a whole blog on mental health; but to keep it short and simple for now, I strongly encourage everyone to be as self aware as possible in the way they feel. If things are starting to feel like too much, please take the necessary steps to get yourself out of that dark place. Again, I know that is way easier said than done; but for more resources that USG has to help us, click here. 

As for physical health, I again could write a whole blog about this in itself. As someone who prioritizes the gym and fitness, it was difficult for me to find the balance between that as well as school. My advice for that is to follow my first rule, which is to manage your time according to how long tasks will take. So personally, if I am only able to squeeze in a 30 minute workout, I commit to that rather than skipping it all together. But no matter if the gym is a priority to you or not, I highly recommend taking care of your health in other ways; such as, making sure you get meals in and getting good sleep every night. By lacking in these two areas in life, everything else will get extremely affected. So, please take care of yourself even when it is easy to forget to. Good luck in midterms!