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😴 The Importance of REST in Achieving your Desired ATAR!

Work Hard, Play Hard

Author

Luqman Arab
March 24, 2024

If you’re an ambitious student who is aiming for a high ATAR, you may feel obligated to study all the time…

You may feel like having breaks is a waste of time, or that it stops you from achieving your true potential.

I’m here to tell you that’s completely wrong.

I used to be the same.

I used to feel super guilty for having breaks and enjoying myself.

However, It was through a lot of stress and anxiety that I realised rest was a must (not an option).

❝

Rest is a MUST, not an OPTION

Luqman :)

Have you ever heard of the saying:

❝

Work hard, play hard.

Not sure who said this.

This is a quote I now stick by, but how is this relevant to you?

When you’re studying, study hard. Focus and put in your 120% effort.

However, when you’re having a break or enjoying yourself on a Friday night, don’t think about your studies and the work you have to do (by the way, I know how easy this is being said than done - trust me).

Table of Contents

Why rest is so important for achieving your desired ATAR

Rest is absolutely crucial for students wanting to succeed and be amongst the top for several reasons. However, in today’s post, I’ll talk about 3 of the most important reasons:

1. Preventing Burnout

Scoring a high ATAR requires sustained effort over an extended period (around 1-2 years).

Without adequate rest, you’ll risk burnout!

What is burnout exactly?

Burnout is when you experience physical and emotional exhaustion which can destroy your performance and motivation. When you’re burnt out, you don’t feel like doing anything at all, you get stressed out super quickly and you’re just on an emotional rollercoaster. It’s not a good place to be in.

If you prioritise your rest you’ll be able to avoid burnout and sustain your performance in the long run, allowing you to achieve your goal ATAR!

2. Cognitive Functioning

Rest allows your brain to recharge and function optimally. During sleep, your brain consolidates information learned during the day, making recalling and applying that knowledge easier.

Without resting enough, your cognitive function, memory retention and concentration levels will decrease, hindering your academic performance!

If you don’t believe me, try it out yourself:

Try to stay focused and study with no rest and little sleep…

It’s impossible!

3. Emotional Well-being

Rest is vital for your emotional regulation and mental health.

If you don’t rest enough and you’re on little sleep, you’ll experience:

  • Increased stress levels,

  • Irritability (you get annoyed & frustrated very easily) and

  • Brain fog (you can’t think clearly).

All of these can negatively impact your exam performance and ultimately can limit the success that you have during year 11/12.

Remember: Exams have a psychological side to them. No matter how hard or effectively you study, if your mental health is poor, you won’t be able to achieve the highest of marks.

This is why it’s especially important to have adequate rest!

Rest is not only essential for your overall well-being, but it also has a great influence on your academic success. Students who prioritise rest will prevent themselves from burnout, are better able to learn effectively and will maintain optimal cognitive function - ultimately increasing their chances of scoring their desired ATAR!

So make sure you’re resting, because trust me, if you don’t it will only lead to bad things!

How to rest effectively

Although rest is important, you need to be careful to not rest too much (to the point where you’re just wasting time and not being productive). So, here is what I’d suggest you do to rest effectively.

1. Choose a rest day

Have a day throughout the week where you do little to no work. For me, this was on a Friday.

On Fridays, I would only do the bare minimum - which would be my homework or working on that assignment for 30 minutes. After this, I would do whatever I felt like doing!

2. Use the Pomodoro Study Method

Make sure you include breaks during your studies. I’d suggest you do this through using the pomodoro method:

  1. Set a timer for 25-50 minutes

  2. Study during this time with full focus

  3. Take a 5-10 minute break

  4. Repeat!

This is how I studied all the time, and it allowed me to stay focus for hours and also prevent burnout.

3. Leverage Weekends

Use the weekends to your advantage by following one of these routines:

Routine #1:

  1. Wake up early and study until the afternoon.

  2. Take the evening off doing whatever you want.

Routine #2

  1. Wake up early and get a couple hours of deep study in.

  2. Take a break for a few hours until the afternoon.

  3. Get some deep study work done in the afternoon.

  4. Take the evening/night off doing whatever you want.

I typically chose routine #2.

I will talk more about this in the upcoming posts, but when you’re resting, try not to do things that will cause more stress. For example, I’d advise you not to rest by scrolling on TikTok or using some other social media platform.

This scrolling isn’t really rest - all you’re doing is frying your brain by giving it cheap dopamine.

Now, that being said, of course everything in moderation is okay. Just be sure not to scroll for hours on end!

Instead, do something like reading a fiction book, watching a movie or exercising.

✅ Action Steps for the Week

  1. Work hard, play hard — when you’re studying, do so with full focus. But, when you’re resting, also do so with full focus. Don’t have rest in mind while studying and don’t have study in mind while resting.

  2. Choose a rest day — find a day throughout the week where you do not study (or if you want, do the bare minimum). For me, this was Friday.

  3. Use the Pomodoro Method when you’re studying.

Watch this before your next exam…

This is a FULL GUIDE for exam preparation!