Sleep
- You need: 7-9 hrs.
- What it does:
- Creates memories
- Boosts concentration
- Lowers stress
- Improves mood
- Repairs body
- Prevents disease
- Tip 1: 20 or 90 min. nap
- Tip 2: Use sleep routines & turn off screens for good sleep hygiene.
Exercise
- You need: 30 min./day, 4-5 hrs./week aerobic
- What it does:
- Makes BDNF protein (“Miracle Gro for the Brain”)
- Boosts concentration
- Lowers stress
- Improves mood
- Tip 1: Exercising 4 hours after new learning improves recall.
- Tip 2: Learning a new complex physical skill produces new connections in the brain you can use for other learning.
Food, water, and nature
- Food: Brain starved for energy = more effort & less results. You need:
- Regular meals.
- Proteins, whole grains, fruits/veggies.
- Water: Even mild levels of dehydration affect school performance. Try:
- Drinking when thirsty.
- Drinking water when possible.
- Nature: Has dozens of long-term mental/physical health outcomes:
- Just looking out at a green landscape lowers heart rate and transitions you from fight/flight to tend/befriend.
- Boosts levels of natural killer cells (type of white blood cell) in your bloodstream.
De-Stress
- What stress does:
- Interferes w/ learning & memory
- Can’t problem-solve or seek creative solutions (fight/flight)
- De-Stress Right Now:
- Square breathing
- Count backwards from 10/Staircase
- Progressive Muscle Relaxation
- STOP (Stand, Tune-In, Observe, Possibility)
- Olivia Remes’ TED talk: Do it badly, Forgive yourself, Wait to Worry
- De-Stress Long-Term
- Time management, makes possible…
- Spaced studying (double effect –learn it better, lower stress)
- Learn & practice mindfulness
- Sleep, exercise, nature
