Back to School Series#6 - Taking Care of Yourself

Back to School Series #6 - Taking Care of Yourself

Welcome back friends! Sorry for the delay but I started working again and my posts usually take a bit of time.

This week's topic will consist of taking care of yourself. Whoa. Hold on. I thought this was about school. Yes, it is about school. Part of earning your degree will include taking care of yourself. Before I get into the how, here is a short story as to why you need to take care of yourself…

Picture this:

I was in my last year studying for my Bachelor’s degree. Since I was a dual major in education, I was required to complete a certain number of hours for my student teaching. Since student teaching is a job (without getting paid) I was stressed. I was tired. I simply was not eating well at all, which made me feel even more tired. I was stressed from looming bills and at the moment had a 2 and 3 year old. This stress also added to the 2-3 hours of sleep that I got about 5 days a week for about a month. There was a small-time frame in which I had to earn my degree by a certain date. I was the last graduating class for this particular educational degree and needed to pass this exam or I was not going to graduate! Talk about pressure!

One day, in November, I woke up with a terrible headache. I could not breathe through my nose and my chest felt tight. Still went to school. My mentor teacher told me, “You look terrible. Go to the doctor and I will see you Monday.” I felt so dizzy I ended up going home to rest thinking I could just sleep it off. Later that night, I was wheezing and had difficulty breathing. The next morning, I woke up to the same symptoms (that felt 10 times worse, along with feeling feverish and my left eye hurting badly. I looked in the mirror to see my eye was swollen. My body hurt and in such terrible pain, I could not even hold my head in an upright position. My husband ended up having to take me to the doctor. I had: severe bronchitis (I don’t smoke), but one more day of not seeking medical help would have been an ammonia, strep throat, pink eye and a sinus infection. 

I don’t even remember my husband bringing me home. All I remember is him waking me up later that night asking if I wanted soup.

What is the point of this story? If you can’t take care of yourself, you can’t take care of anyone else or even school assignments. Your health is a priority. Being healthy allows you to think clearly and to get assignments completed quickly and in a timely manner. I ended up not only losing precious study time, but I also had to cram in an assignment due the day I woke up! That just added additional stress on top of feeling awful. I did complete the assignment and got a decent grade. But why aim for a decent grade when you want to get the best grade possible?

So here are some tips on taking care of yourself during this time:

Plan some breaks in with your family

If you have children --TAKE A BREAK. Yes, this break includes taking time away from your computer. Make sure it is something that gives your mind a break. Play a game--if it’s a video game or a card game. whatever it is, do something fun.

Plan time for yourself

There are going to be moments you need time to just hear nothing, look at no technology or just read a book. You need this. Yoga is a great option to use. With getting your mind quiet and listening to your thoughts, you can learn relaxing techniques, unstressed and stretch those muscles. (I am not a doctor. So, check with your doctor if you have any medical issues or physical issues before doing any type of exercise / stretching). Tired? Take a nap and feel good about doing it. When I was in school, I had to master napping. It was the only way that I got the rest I needed and helped me to complete assignments before the deadline. Another method is to meditate. This was something I did frequently with praying and it helped me to stay focused and feel balanced through the day. It does not need to be for 30 minutes or an hour. It just needs to be for the time you feel you need it to be. Got 30 mins and your kid? Hey, why not ask for a "spa " treatment. Get your massage for 1.00! I loved giving my daughter quarters to get that massage. If you have a spa card, go for it! We all need to be pampered at some point.

Read that book you've always wanted to read

10 minutes. Yep. Take ten minutes to read that book. Oh, I know you wanted to read that next chapter. Make that an incentive for yourself! If you finish X number of hours studying, you can read for X amount of time. Sometimes just taking a few minutes to give your mind a break from thinking hard can relax you further and help you to get back into your study groove.

Go for a walk

When you are sitting for hours, it is important to be able to ride, walk or stretch. Sitting for hours is simply not healthy. (Remember the goal, to stay healthy while studying and being in school). Being able to walk around and see different things can get your mind off the work for a while and assist with being more focused while working on assignments needed.

Keep up with medical appointments

If you know you are not feeling well, get checked out. Don't let your pride get in the way. Better to know what is going on than to find out later it was something serious. Going to your checkups every year will also help you to analyze routines and habits that you may need to change.

Smile and be Kind to Yourself

Okay sounds weird. Studies have shown smiling is contagious and eventually others around you will smile. You want that joy. You want to be able to feel content and happy. These feeling attract the very thing you want in meeting your goal. To graduate successfully from school. Don’t be hard on yourself when things don’t go as planned. Instead, reflect on those dips/falls and figure out why they happened and create a plan so it does not happen again.

 Our next post will be, “Back to School Series #6 -First Day of School”. How to get organized WHEN school starts. (Sounds similar to the last post, but it is different). Be sure to follow me on Google Plus for updates and to find out about my Facebook page that will soon be released with a giveaway!

Till we meet again friends!
Melody--