This winter break was one of many firsts for me. I went to Florida, walked the Atlantic beaches, kayaked with dolphins and woke up every morning around eight o’clock. Being an early riser during break has resulted in a very unusual sleep schedule for me as a college student.
In semesters past, returning to school from break has been a wholly inefficient experience. Up until this year, my breaks from school consisted largely of lazy days of waking up late and achieving very little. As a result, the transition from lazy back to productive was very difficult. I got a winter break hangover.
Getting up early was nearly impossible, doing simple readings for class felt like running a marathon, and taking notes in lecture was as laughable as reviewing them later on.
My habits and tendencies during break sabotaged me for the weeks of school that followed. I and many other have set ourselves up for failure by being so lazy during the intermissions we get from semester to endless semester. Hangovers suck.
In the last couple days leading up to this semester, I have felt infinitely more productive and prepared. My body doesn’t let me wake up later than nine, and all of the syllabi have been read. I found time to work out, shop for groceries, write and listen to Ed Sheeran’s new songs on repeat.
A simple change in my sleep schedule the three weeks leading up to school has led to a significant change in my ability to return to the life of a student, and I bet most people would experience similar results. But why do little habits have such big influences on our mindset?
Amy J. C. Cuddy and Caroline A. Wilmuth, associates at Harvard University, and Dana R. Carney, an associate at University of California at Berkeley, ran an experiment that you’ve probably heard of.
They predicted that if someone strikes a powerful, dominant pose before going into a stressful evaluation such as an interview, they will feel more confident and do a better job.
Their hypothesis was proven correct, and they showed us that our actions have a significant effect on our beliefs.
What we do can affect how we view ourselves and the world. In my case, forcing myself to wake up early during winter break allowed me to come back to school with more vigor than ever.
When I spend three weeks telling my brain that it’s a sin to wake up before eleven and getting up to go to the fridge is exercise, it will believe that I am a sloth. Sloths don’t do very well in college.
However, when I am up early every day doing things and going places, my brain comes into the new year believing it’s supposed to be productive and efficient, which is infinitely more beneficial to my grades.
As college kids, we set ourselves up for failure by spending our breaks doing nothing.
A little productivity can go a long way during those days off, and who knows, maybe you and I will never experience another winter break hangover.
sbreinoe@umail.iu.edu
