While attending Wake Forest, I’ve heard the phrase “work hard, play hard” more times than I can count. This motto markets an impressive but sustainable lifestyle, one where someone’s schedule might include Pilates in the morning, a breezy exam in the afternoon, three extracurricular meetings and a social event to end the night. I’ve been doing my best to reach this standard by scheduling out time for the gym, meals, friends, classes, work and clubs.
However, recently, I’ve been doing a lot less of a perfect balancing act and a lot more of rushing around, getting five hours of sleep a night and closing out ZSR.
I’m not the only one, though. The library has progressively gotten more crowded, and almost everyone answers “How are you?” with something along the lines of “tired.” Maybe Wake Forest does promote a “work hard, play hard” lifestyle, but I wonder if, recently, we’ve been doing a better job at the work part than the play part.
Now, it’s true that exam season is upon us, and that these next few weeks are usually referred to as the “end-of-year craze,” where students run on energy drinks and a dream. But after waking up from another night’s sleep still not well-rested, I can’t help but think there must be a better way to deal with the stress.
While ruminating on this dilemma, one of my friends proposed that we go to the movies as “self-care” after a long week. Initially, I rolled my eyes at this assessment and weighed my workload against this idea, almost bowing out to spend another night in Scholar’s Commons. But I decided to treat myself and walked out of that theater feeling better than I had in weeks. The assignments and exams that had been plaguing my mind had been pushed aside for a wonderful two and a half hours, and once I did get back to work the next day, I found myself significantly more energetic and productive.
The days following, I experimented with tiny forms of self-care: taking an extra-long shower, going to bed 30 minutes earlier, watching a few minutes of my favorite TV show during study breaks and generally trying to balance out that “work hard, play hard” mindset Wake Forest loves to tout. After a few days, I decided that self-care is not something to scoff at. In fact, it’s something we all can and should do a lot more of.
Self-care is a term we throw around a lot in everyday language, and it usually brings to mind spa days and other practices we deem expensive, indulgent or somehow selfish. But self-care is actually much simpler than that. In my opinion, it’s all about the little things that you can do to keep yourself happy and healthy. Self-care could be going on a quick walk to Reynolda Village in the sunny weather or devoting time to your favorite hobby.
Self-care doesn’t just feel good, but it can actually be good for you. Studies have shown that taking the time to “indulge yourself” and tend to your physical and mental health results in several surprising benefits. It can improve self-esteem, physical health and overall mood, as well as lower stress. It can even make you more productive, as you’ll be less prone to burnout and exhaustion.
One of my favorite forms of self-care is reading a chapter in a fun book I’ve picked up. This type falls under what researchers call “mental self-care” because it promotes intellectual stimulation. For other people, this activity might just sound like more work. Luckily, there’s no “right” way to do self-care. In fact, self-care is highly personalizable, though it usually falls into one of seven categories: emotional, mental, physical, social, spiritual, professional and financial. It’s important to find the one that works best for you. While your friend might find journaling to be a useful and relaxing form of emotional self-care, you might instead enjoy hitting the gym and participating in a more physical form of self-care.
The beauty is that it’s all up to you.
In a highly rigorous environment like Wake Forest, it can be hard to remember that there is so much more to life than academics. A grade doesn’t define you, and a day off won’t ruin everything. It’s important to give ourselves a little grace and make room for all the other stuff that makes us happy. So next time you’re deciding between yet another night in the library or a fun activity that presents itself, I ask you to maybe listen to that little voice in your head saying to “treat yourself.” Self-care isn’t a term to scoff at, but rather how we sustain a joyful, balanced life.
