You’re never too busy to take a break. No, this doesn’t give you a permission slip to watch forty YouTube videos in a row instead of studying, but it does mean you need to pay attention to your energy levels and take breaks accordingly. For example, if you have trouble concentrating—are fidgety and restless, or annoyed by everyone around you—that’s not a green light to push through and down another espresso. It’s actually a red flag that your mind needs a time-out. Your mental capacity is renewable, but you have to give yourself plenty of time to rest in order for your brain to hit that refresh button.
Build breaks into your study time. Keep the length of each break relatively short—from a minute or two, up to 10–20 minutes—and do something restorative during that break: walk around your dorm room, listen to an upbeat song, eat a nourishing snack, drink a cold glass of water, do some jumping jacks, or take a catnap. Think of study breaks as the links between long periods of productivity; you need them to perform your best.