The Importance of a Healthy Lifestyle for Academic Success

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There’s still a stereotype that most students are feckless about their health. Being young and energetic, they care more about entertainment, like night parties on campus, than healthy sleep. They learn everything the night before an exam, with snacks and energy drinks at hand. They can’t manage time and fail to organize all the available resources for a work-life balance.

Blah. Blah. Blah.

The image of such a student came from comedy films of the ’90s and ’00s. While some continue to live a party-going lifestyle, modern students are more responsible about their behavior. They understand the impact of their lifestyle on academic performance, health, and overall success.

For those still in doubt, the short guide below explores the influence of lifestyle choices on academic gains.

How Healthy Lifestyle Influence Your Academic Results

Sleep Patterns

That’s how the human brain works:

When you sleep, it organizes all the information you absorb during the day and turns it into memories. Lack of sleep disrupts this process, hurting your ability to learn and solve problems.

Six to eight hours of sleep at night (!) helps you stay clear-headed, avoid exhaustion, and prevent academic burnout. (The latter is a physical, mental, and emotional condition you feel after overstudying. Symptoms include stress, social disconnection, and the inability to keep up productive work, making you address MBA essay writers for help with college assignments.)

How to organize your sleep:

• Make a comfortable bed
• Establish a bedtime routine (reading a book, for example)
• Keep the room cold and dark
• Avoid caffeine and smartphone screens before bedtime

Diet and Nutrition

Did you hear the “you’re what you eat” mantra?

Surprise-surprise: It works!

Proper nutrition is critical for health, cognitive functioning, and brain well-being. Snacks and cola are yummy (well, for some), but their excessive number of processed elements and sugar brings energy slumps and problems with concentration.

Instead, focus on a well-rounded dietary regimen. Eat foods rich in brain-enhancing nutrients: fish, turkey, vegetables (leafy greens are a must), fruits, nuts, mushrooms, and berries.

Exercises and Physical Activity

Physical activity is essential for well-being as it ensures healthy brain function. Exercising in a gym or spending time on regular walking do wonders:

• Enhance cerebral blood circulation, thus supplying oxygen and other essential nutrients to the brain to boost cognitive performance.
• Trigger the release of endorphins to lower your stress and anxiety.

Combine resistance training (yoga, stretching, swimming) with aerobic exercises — and you’ll feel more proactive and motivated to reach your goals, whether in study or any other area of life.

Habits

Student life is stressful, given the academic overload and arduous exam periods. The release of cortisol (a stress hormone) hinders memory, impacts learning, and can lead to anxiety or depression. Do your best to prevent that: Develop stress-coping strategies and make them a habit.

Meditation, yoga, proper hydration, or breathing exercises are just a few strategies you can try. Also, master time management: Learn to set clear goals, create schedules, organize tasks, prioritize, and delegate when appropriate. Tools like calendars, to-do lists, or productivity apps will help.

Over to You

Lifestyle choices impact your academic success by all means. So, it’s crucial to develop and stick to healthy lifestyle habits that will support your performance rather than hinder it. Take care of how you sleep and what you eat, make physical activities a part of your everyday routine, and make friends with stress- and time management strategies — and you’ll win!