Sometimes you do not have choice but to deal with a rather annoying schedule. It has happened to me quite a few times, and I have had my fair share of sitting in college and university-level classes for 8+ hours in a single day. Here is a handy list of a few tricks to help you deal better with such days.
1. Go to bed early and get a full night of sleep the day before.
Using caffeine is always an option, but when you have a lot of classes in a day, it’s not healthy to keep drinking it! It’s best to make sure you’re simply refreshed and well-rested for the day to come than to have to rely on tricks to keep yourself going.
2. Wear comfy clothes in layers.
Layers are super important! I’ve had tons and tons of days where I would go from one freezing classroom to the overheated one in the next hour. There’s nothing harder on my focus than being too hot or too cold, and I imagine I’m probably not alone.
3. Bring a refillable bottle for water and tea/coffee.
Tea and coffee can get pricy real fast on campus, and it makes a ton of waste! Lots of college and university places also charge less when you bring your own vessel, and you can sometimes find those cheap student cafes that only charge 50¢ for a refill. Don’t forget to drink some plain water between servings of caffeine—too much caffeine is actually detrimental to your focus and it can cause anxiety symptoms and stomach upsets in a lot of people.
4. Bring a lunch and a few snacks.
Along with being too hot/cold and being dehydrated, hunger is the #1 enemy when spending long days at school. Like coffee and tea, food can be pretty expensive on campus so it’s best if you can bring your own! Bringing your own food also helps resisting the temptation of the unhealthy stuff you’ll inevitably find on the cafeteria menu, and healthier food will keep you going for longer!
5. Get a locker and only carry the necessary things.
Having multiple classes on the same day where you need a different textbook for every class can make your school bag really heavy—don’t haul around that weight more than you need to! A heavy backpack is bad for your health and posture, and it can cause back pain, headaches, fatigue and discomfort throughout the day, on top of causing injuries on the long term.
6. Use breaks to refresh your mind.
You have limited energy to get through a whole day of class, so don’t try to cram revision or homework in the few breaks you’ll get. Use the opportunity to relax and unload your mind instead, so you don’t accumulate too much stress throughout the day.
7. Bring different pens if you take your notes by hand.
When handwriting notes for extended periods of time, it’s easy to get cramping and discomfort from your grip position. Bringing pens of different grip styles or grip sizes can help alleviate that discomfort as you don’t grow too used to the same grip.
Of course, it is better to avoid those long days if you can! But hopefully those tricks will help make the experience less taxing if you don’t have any other choice.
