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Advertiser spotlight: Top of the Slope to hold major Columbus Day sale

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Nate weakens to a tropical storm, but rain and floods will continue

<p>We all know that all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. If Jack were a college student, it also would make him a sleepy boy, a cranky boy, a mentally exhausted boy, a lonely boy &#8212; you name it.</p><p>Possibly one of the most difficult things that overachievers face is lack of free time, whether it be because they have places to be at all times, or work to do when they aren&#8217;t in those places.</p><p>It&#8217;s easy to look at the mountain of things one needs to accomplish and think, &#8220;Well, it looks like I won&#8217;t be seeing my friends or sleeping this week.&#8221;</p><p>No one should do that to themselves.</p><p>In my opinion, breaks are as important as getting work done.</p><p>If you have so much work to do that you pull an all-nighter, the next day you will be useless in class.</p><p>You will be useless when you&#8217;re trying to do homework.</p><p>You will fall asleep when you&#8217;re not supposed to.</p><p>If you spend too much time thinking, your brain gets tired and it&#8217;s possible that you actually get less done.</p><p>Aside from productivity &#8212; because productivity isn&#8217;t everything &#8212; this can be detrimental to your mental health.</p><p>I&#8217;m talking from experience.</p><p>I knew this my freshman year, but it took until my junior for me to figure out what the balance of work and play should be.</p><p>My freshman year, I overestimated how much time I should have for myself. I thought that if I spent all of my time working, I would be miserable.</p><p>I always got my work done, but it would be last-minute, and it ended up causing me even more stress than if I had just spent an hour less hanging out with my friends, and an hour more getting caught up on homework.</p><p>My sophomore year, I still didn&#8217;t quite have it down, but I was a little closer. I made some more time during the day to read for classes, rather than trying to cram it all the night before. I still did the rest of my work the night before.</p><p>In the beginning of my junior year, I realized my grades weren&#8217;t where I wanted them to be, and I started working too hard. I didn&#8217;t give myself breaks. I was exhausted. My grades were fine, but I definitely was not.</p><p>It took me until the second semester to figure out that the key was balance. As soon as I figured that out, it was the dean&#8217;s list every semester for me.</p><p>No matter how much work you have to do, you deserve a break. Let yourself have one. Let yourself be mindful. Meet a friend for coffee. Eat lunch.</p><p>Always let yourself eat lunch.</p><p>Be realistic about what you are physically capable of &#8212; and don&#8217;t pull an all-nighter. You don&#8217;t need to do that to yourself.</p><p>Of course, the balance is different for everyone, and no one is perfect. I know that my balance isn&#8217;t perfect every day, but I&#8217;m constantly striving to get closer. All anyone can do is try. </p><style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Toni Pennello</p><p>tpennello@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Toni Pennello is a Wilkes University senior who works in the Times Leader newsroom.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

College Life: Taking breaks just as important as getting work done