Understanding and knowing your body is very important for your development. I’m specifically talking about productivity here. During my freshman year, I had trouble knowing when to do my homework, especially when it came to writing essays. During the day, I was very tired but couldn’t rest because I was in class, and at night, my brain was just too active. I did notice that the time I had set aside to work on my studies was difficult, and the work was often not up to what I wanted.

Do I know how to balance that today? Not really, because there are times when I’m more active during the day, and others when I’m more active at night. Just like Eliot and Kimberly said during our team meeting today, when we were talking about our feelings now between our MCA and our main research project, knowing when we’re productive is important, and resting when needed is also important-it’s apparently not easy as a young person. Honestly, forcing yourself isn’t a good idea; you’ll either get nowhere or make the problem worse-that’s what I did until my first semester of sophomore year. The brain becomes extremely exhausted when forced-it’s exactly like forcing someone to do something against their consent. It was interesting to listen to our mentors talk about their experiences with this same problem, them knowing their bodies better than I and therefore organizing themselves easily on when to complete their tasks. Doing relaxing things during the rest time is beneficial. It can be a walk, dance, workout, sleeping… For example, yesterday we had a Zumba dance session at the gym with a dance fitness coach. After that, I was feeling extremely good and ready to finish my PowerPoint for the MCA- it was just at the right time and moment!

As for me now, I’m always trying to figure out my productive hours; one thing is certain: when my brain turns on OFF mode, I just take breaks, I don’t force myself anymore. Afterward, I’m always more energized. This topic is what drove my idea for my MCA project…