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When I start to get really busy and stressed out I find it hard to remember to eat regularly.

It's the end of Semester two and I have a LOT going on. Who knows why I thought it was going to ease up after the hectic break I had but such is university life. One habit that I do not want to slip into this exam season is forgetting to eat regularly. 

I will get to university at 9am, log into one of the library computers and BAM before you know it, it is 3pm and I haven't eaten since 7am. I know that I should eat something because I start to get a fuzzy brain and squint way too much at the computer screen. My work quality definitely goes down as well...I think that we all know some of those paragraphs we write in the midst of fatigue and look back over like, “what the heck was I thinking?!”

But at this point it is way too late and I am at the tipping point of the ‘hangries’. The only solution is to find some food...fast!

So, to try and manage this habit a bit better I am going to try out the Wellbeing hub's techniques for better studying methods:

1. Planning and prioritising activities

This is where I find having a calendar soooo useful. I even prefer to write mine out and colour code them because that just works better for me. If I know what assignments are due first, I can allocate a good amount of time to each. I still struggle a lot with managing short term and long term tasks though, especially when all of the short term tasks build up.

2. Establish a timetable

(I secretly eliminated the ‘stick to it’ bit because, well I never stick to them and the truth is that sometimes I just can't fit them around more pressing things).

That being said, nothing makes me happier than knowing when to anticipate different things. I definitely need a bit of time to switch from ‘social’ mode to ‘study’ mode and knowing what is going to happen next gives me a lot of comfort.

3. Avoid procrastination

I am actually pretty good with procrastination which I know a lot of people struggle with but nothing actually bothers me more than knowing that I have a task to complete and I am not doing it.

4. Allow time for social and self-care activities as well as work commitments.

This is a big one for me. I should probably make it more personal and amend it to ‘Allow time for EATING and DRINKING’. The truth is that when you are in the flow, it can be hard to break it. That doesn't mean I should sacrifice my wellbeing and health though and that is something I am going to have to keep on working on. 

So if you hear an alarm going off at lunch time in the library and a huff of annoyance then that is probably me going to get some food. See you!