#studying while sick

June 17th, 2020 || 2:23 PM

I’ve been gone again for a little bit due to health and productivity waning, but today has been the best day I’ve had in a while so I though I’d pop on and I logged in to find 600 followers. Last time I was on I had less than 50 so this is pretty mad to me. Hello all of you!

As gad as my studies go, I’m still chipping away at the work I have to finish from the spring semester, but the incomplete deadline has been extended to October 5th so I have a lot less pressure. My two seven-week summer courses end in less than two weeks, so I have to stay on top of it. My university uses the +/- grade system, so in order to get a 4 in a class, you have to make a 94. Im in the 90s in both classes, but not at a 94 just yet :/

How to Study when Sick

A week or so ago I fell sick and of course I still had a mountain of work to do, so during that time I found a few things that helped me when studying while I was sick. Without further ado here are a few tips on how to study when sick…

Before studying

Fluids

When you’re sick, your body needs fluids! Sometimes water can taste really gross when you have a sore throat so grab some tea; either herbal tea or good old English breakfast or try some hot water with lemon and honey; it does wonders for the throat! Make sure you have a big old cup next to you that you can grab for often.

Comfort is key

Dress comfy for your study sess! If that means your daggy sweatpants and oversized jumper or even pyjamas, do whatever is going to keep you warm and comfortable. But not too comfortable where you will fall asleep haha.

Eye drops

If you need to use computers while you’re sick make sure to have some lubricating eye drops on hand! You don’t want to get sore, tired eyes or even a headache when your body is already run down.

Gather supplies

Gather what ever supplies you will need when your studying. Here’s a list of some things might be helpful (of course just get whatever works best for your sickness!) :

What you are studying! (Flash cards, notes, computer)

Stationary (highlighters, pen, white out, ruler, sticky notes)

Tissues

Blanket

Cough drops

Tea/fluids

Snack

Medication

Deep heat

Hot water bottle

Hand sanitiser

Eye drops

Nasal spray

Humidifier

When studying

Small tasks

Do small tasks that require less brain power, so you don’t over exert your brain. Think easier tasks like flipping through flashcards, writing flash cards, organising notes, re-writing notes, planning your week, compiling lecture notes with textbook notes, making quizzes for yourself, an easy work sheet or going through last week’s class content.

Set timers

Set timers for when to take breaks and medication. You could even try using the Pomodoro technique to keep you motivated and productive.

Have a small do to list

Along with doing smaller easier tasks, have only a small to do list or maybe 2 – 4 items that will only take you 1 – 3 hours to complete in total, depending on how well you are feeling. By doing this you will feel more motivated to complete the small to do list as you know the tasks are simple. Additionally, by adding in breaks or using Pomodoro you are taking extra precautions against working to hard which will slow down recovery.

Ambient study sounds

The best thing I found to help me stay focused is to listen to ASMR ambient sounds. I found some great channels that make ASMR ambient sounds based on different rooms from movies, tv shows and books. Here are my two favourite channels ASMR Rooms & Story Ambiance. Some of my favourite videos (all harry potter themed, so I can feel like Hermione haha) are Hogwarts Library, Studying in the Great hall, Gryffindor Common Room, Potions Classroom and Sitting in a Hogwarts Class.

After studying

Make a to do list for tomorrow

After you have finished everything from today, make a to do list for tomorrow. This is an opportunity to brain dump anything in terms of school that you are worried about completing and gives you direction for the next day.

Have something to look forward too after your session

Have something planned after your study session that will be relaxing and enjoyable. Something like watching a movie, reading a book, calling a friend, watching a YouTube video; basically, anything you enjoy and look forward to doing. This can act to motivate you to get work down yet also be a much-needed winding down reward for you brain and body.

Take a nap!

You worked hard, made a dent in your to do list and feel productive so take a nap! Your body needs to rest so give it what it needs and take a nap. This will help your body recover quicker and will help your mind to relax from working for a long time.

Extra tips

Be easy on yourself

If you only complete one item before getting too tired, or if you couldn’t even complete one to-do, then that’s fine! Have some self-compassion and realise that you’re sick and won’t be able to be as productive as normal. Once when I was sick, a task that took me normally 45 minutes to do took me 2 hours because my brain was so foggy, and it was hard to concentrate. You’re not alone in being unproductive, we all go through it went sick and run down.

Don’t overwork yourself

Nothing is worse than over working yourself when you are sick, it will only make you stay sick for longer! Do not push your self to be a productive super human when your body can’t handle it, its only going to make you less productive in the long run

Some tips on how to continue studying even while you’re sick:

🏫Try using a nasal wash (neti pot) in the morning! They’re a little awkward at first but they help A LOT. Just make sure you use distilled/sanitized water and follow the directions! Nasal washes can be a lot less irritating than nasal sprays, imo!

💊 Take some non-drowsy medicine

📝 Eat what you feel like eating! Try to get some healthy nutrients, but don’t restrict yourself too much. Sometimes your body knows what it needs more than you think!

☕ Have a hot drink. It’ll help you feel soothed if your throat or head hurts! I really like the tea called “throat coat”, you can find it in most grocery stores that have medicinal teas!

💉 Nasal strips are AMAZING! I never tried them until recently, and lemme tell you, I need to wear one 24/7 because I can breathe so much better with them on!

📚 Use a humidifier. You can find some pretty inexpensive ones on Amazon! They also sell them at drug stores.

#optomstudies here with some tips for studying when you’re sick!

Tips for Studying at Home

Wear something warm when you study. A hoodie of some sort is best, or just layer on your clothes. Make sure that you wear socks too; if your feet are cold the rest of your body will still feel pretty miserable. Don’t stay in your pajamas though, because firstly it just feels icky being in clothes that you’ve slept in whilst your sick, and secondly it makes it all too easy to slink back into bed.

Listen to your body - there’s a point where you try and study all you want, but nothing gets in! There’s no point slaving away because it will just extend your recovery period and make things worse.

Along that line of thought, take frequent breaks and get enough sleep. Shorter working periods and breaks works well because you can picture concentration as an exponentially decaying graph; when you’re sick it drops off real quick.

Make sure you have good fluid intake. This will help to put off any headaches caused by dehydration. Plus, drinking enough water will help keep your blood pressure at a good level so that you aren’t feeling faint.

Prioritise - you’ve only got a limited amount of time that you can stay productive before your body gives out, so if there’s anything at all you can put off then do so. Also, there are usually a few things that you need to do for others which you can shoot them an email and ask for an extension. Even if you don’t need it, ask for one anyway, and if you finish early then great! It’s always better to under-promise and over-deliver.

If you’re finding it hard to think clearly about what tasks you have to do, I’d suggest you use an Eisenhower urgency/importance grid, and plot in all your tasks. Ignore all the tasks which are “Not Important” until you have some physical/mental/emotional facility to attempt them.

Don’t waste your time doing chores or tidying up your study space so that you can be “optimal”. A lot of people kind of advocate this, but at this point, you’re sick and that will only waste what facility you have. Doing the very minimum you need to meet deadlines means honing in on the work. Nothing else is important.

If possible, limit the amount of time at a computer; firstly, if your body is fighting an infection systemically, I’m sure commensal bacterial levels in all part of your body will be higher than normal. Your eyes will probably be feeling irritated if you’ve got a cold as well (I know mine always are :P) and staring at a computer screen when you aren’t blinking will just make them dry out.

At the very least, remember to use preservative-free eye drops more regularly whilst you’re working on a computer (this is true whether or not you’re sick tbh).

Plus, the blue light from the screen will keep you up even though the rest of your body is telling you to sleep; get f.lux for your computer or twilight for your phone.

Try to avoid blasting your room with brightness. Even though you might feel like it would make you more concentrated, a lot of times, you feel more light-sensitive when you’re sick. So just choose an appropriate light level, nothing too dark as you’ll fall asleep, and nothing too bright as you’ll be distracted.

Tips for Surviving Compulsory Classes

For classes that are compulsory to attend, take naps before and after so that you won’t fall asleep in them. Because optometry has compulsory clinics, tutorials and even lectures, I have to attend even when I’m down with a cold. What I usually do is to go as late as possible and leave as early as possible to maximise time at home sleeping.

If you’re finding it difficult to concentrate in class, then just switch off the critical thinking and focus on copying down anything the lecturer says. It’s more important to not miss anything than absorbing things when you’re sick. Once you’ve recovered, take the time to go through what you’ve written down again since you weren’t able to absorb it at the time.

If you ultimately weren’t able to attend a lecture or miss something during the lecture, ask your friends for notes. Support system :)

When I’m sick, I will just take time off home-studying because I have a low discomfort/pain tolerance so I really can’t concentrate when I’m tired. It’s really unfortunate that you can’t take days off just to get better, but it’s best to avoid these situations in the future by not leaving everything to the last minute if you can!

Don’t stay up late. Best if you can get the full 9 hours of sleep to allow your body to recover from a cold. You need more sleep than usual because it’s fighting an infection, but you’ll still need to wake up early to get to uni if classes are compulsory.

Finally, don’t expect 100% from yourself when you aren’t feeling 100%. It’s unrealistic to expect to get everything done and beat yourself up over it when you don’t. People will understand if you’ve got a raging headache or a really bad cold, so don’t feel afraid of asking for help or an extension or getting them to do things themselves when you’ve got too much on your own plate. Hope you get better soon!! ^__^

MY STUDY TIPS

All original posts at #optomstudies and see my study tips directory (web only) for the full list + kpop vocab lists + stationery + bujo spreads!