How exercise breaks can help you learn better

Do you find yourself getting distracted when you study?

Here’s a simple thing you can do to help you focus better and improve your study sessions . . .

Take regular exercise breaks.

A study titled Sweat so you don’t forget found that engaging in regular five minute exercise breaks reduced mind wandering, improved focus, and enhanced learning.


In this study the researchers wanted to know if engaging in short exercise breaks could help with learning.

They took a group of 75 psychology students and split them into three groups.

Group 1: Exercise breaks group
Group 2: Non-exercise breaks group
Group 3: No breaks group

All the students had to watch the same 50 minute psychology lecture. But the difference between the groups was this . . .

The exercise breaks group performed five minutes of exercise every 17 minutes. The non-exercise breaks group played a simple video game for five minutes every 17 minutes. The no breaks group had to watch the entire lecture without getting a single break.

What did the researchers find?

The students in the exercise breaks group could focus better and they retained more information. They also found the lecturer easier to understand.

The researchers said:

“The exercise breaks buffered against declines in attention resulting in superior engagement during the latter part of the lecture compared to the other two groups.”

What about the people who had the computer game breaks?

One would think they would show some improvements in attention and memory since they were getting breaks. But they didn’t show any significant improvements.

In fact, they performed just as well as the no breaks group in terms of attention and memory.

The researchers concluded:

“One possibility is that the computer game played during the non-exercise break may have acted as a second cognitive task as opposed to a cognitive break. Switching between two cognitive tasks can deplete attention and impair performance for both tasks.”

This shows the type of activity you engage in on a study break is really important. It pays to get out of your head and move your body!

What exercises were the exercise break group doing?

It was a series of exercises performed for 50 seconds each followed by a rest break:

1) Jumping jacks (50 seconds) + Rest (10 seconds)
2) Heeltaps (50 seconds) + Rest (10 seconds)
3) High knees (50 seconds) + Rest (10 seconds)
4) Split jumps (50 seconds) + Rest (10 seconds)
5) Hamstring kickers (50 seconds) = The End

Since reading this study, I’ve started to incorporate more exercise breaks into my day and I’m noticing a big difference.

Personally, I’m not a fan of some of the exercises the researchers made the participants do in this study. So, I have replaced them with other cardio exercises I enjoy doing, such as punching a boxing bag and using a skipping rope.

I also find doing 50 seconds of non stop exercise pretty exhausting. For this reason, I’ve reduced my exercise time down to 40 seconds followed by a 20 second rest break. I find it helps to time my exercise sprints/rest breaks using an interval timer on my phone instead of a kitchen timer (which can feel a little clunky).

Feel free to experiment with different exercise/rest ratios. Make it work for you. As your fitness levels improve, you can increase the period of time you exercise for.

So, here’s my challenge to you . . .

After working for 20 or 30 minutes, get up and take a five minute exercise break.

Exercise break challenge

You don’t have to do jumping jacks or hamstring kickers. Select simple exercises you want to do.

Notice how you feel before and after your exercise break.

After experimenting with this simple strategy, I can say with confidence that I feel more energised and mentally sharper throughout the day. Try it and let me know how you go!

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Movement-breaks

Do you tend to sit for long periods?

Most of us do. We sit and stare at our screens or textbooks for large chunks of the day.

You’ve probably heard the phrase, “Sitting is the new smoking”. It sounds dramatic, but sitting for 30 minutes or more leads to:

• Reduced blood flow to the brain
• Increased blood pressure
• Increased blood sugar
• Reduced positive emotions

Even if you exercise at the gym, if you sit all day at work or school, that’s not good for you.

Most of us know we should move more and sit less, but knowledge doesn’t always translate into action.

I’ve known for years about the harms of sitting. Every year, I’d set a goal “To move more during the day”. But it wasn’t until this year that I finally got off my butt and started taking regular movement breaks. In this blog, I’ll share what made all the difference.

From vague goals to specific targets

Part of my problem was telling myself to “move more” and “sit less”. This was way too vague for my brain.

When it comes to taking movement breaks, how long should we move for? How frequently? And at what intensity?

I recently came across a brilliant study, published in 2023, that answered some of these questions.

A team of researchers at Columbia University compared different doses of movement on several health measures (e.g., blood sugar, blood pressure, mood, cognitive performance, and energy levels).

The researchers were interested in exploring how often and for how long we need movement breaks to offset some of the harms of sitting for long periods.

So, what did they do in this study?

Researchers brought participants into the lab and made them sit in an ergonomic chair for 8 hours. Participants could only get up to take a movement break or go to the toilet.

They tested five conditions:

• Uninterrupted sedentary (control) condition (Note: no movement breaks)
• Light-intensity walking every 30 minutes for 1 minute
• Light-intensity walking every 30 minutes for 5 minutes
• Light-intensity walking every 60 minutes for 1 minute
• Light-intensity walking every 30 minutes for 5 minutes

What did they find?

The optimal amount of movement was five minutes every 30 minutes. This movement dose significantly reduced participants’ blood sugar and blood pressure and improved their mood and energy levels.

That said, even a low dose of movement (one minute of movement every 30 minutes) was found to be beneficial.

Although walking has been described as ‘gymnastics for the mind’ and numerous studies show brisk walking can improve cognitive performance, they found no significant improvements in participants’ cognitive performance in this particular study.

You can read the full study here.

Life out in the real world

When it comes to any research conducted in the lab, the question worth asking is: Is it possible for people to do this in the real world? And if so, will they experience similar benefits?

Journalist Manoush Zomorodi wanted to find out. So, she teamed up with Columbia University researchers to explore whether people could incorporate regular five-minute movement breaks into their day.

They created a two-week challenge where people could sign up to one of three groups:

1) Five-minute movement breaks every 30 minutes
2) Five-minute movement breaks every hour
3) Five-minute movement breaks every two hours

Over 23,000 people signed up to participate in the challenge. Sixty per cent completed the challenge.

What did they find?

Five-minute movement breaks improved people’s lives, whether taken every half hour, hour, or two hours. They felt less tired and experienced more positive emotions.

Here’s what was interesting . . .

They found a dose-response relationship. This meant that the more frequently people moved, the more benefits they gained.

In the Body Electric podcast, Columbia University researcher Dr Keith Diaz said a preliminary analysis of the data showed:

• People who moved every 30 minutes improved their fatigue levels by 30%.
• People who moved every hour improved their fatigue levels by 25%.
• People who moved every 2 hours improved their fatigue levels by 20%.

Here’s the thing, though . . .

Dr Diaz pointed out that most people weren’t getting all their exercise breaks in. On average, they took eight movement breaks each day (note: the researchers recommended 16 movement breaks a day), but they still experienced benefits.

Here’s what I take from all of this . . .

You don’t have to do this perfectly. There are no hard and fast rules. Doing some movement is better than doing no movement.

All movement matters. It all adds up.

Making movement breaks a habit

Although movement is natural and good for the mind and body, my brain often resists the thought of getting up and moving (“No! I don’t want to get out of this cosy chair!”).

What’s up with that?

In the book Move the Body, Heal the Mind, Dr Jennifer Heisz explains that our brains hate exercise for two reasons:

1) The brain doesn’t want to expend energy; and
2) Exercise can be stressful.

This has to do with how our brains are wired and our deep evolutionary programming.

If we go back in time, our hunter-gatherer ancestors had to be constantly on the move to gather food, build shelter and run from hungry animals. All of this activity required a lot of energy. Since food was scarce and energy was limited, hunter-gatherers had to conserve their energy.

If you were to offer a hunter-gatherer a free meal and a comfortable place to stay, would they take it? You bet they would.

The problem is our brains haven’t changed in thousands of years. We still have the same brain wiring as our ancient ancestors.

This is why my brain often throws a tantrum and comes up with all sorts of excuses to avoid my morning workout.

In this modern world, with all the calorie-dense fast food, comfy chairs, and modern conveniences, our brains get confused.

As evolutionary psychologist Dr Doug Lisle, author of The Pleasure Trap, states, in the modern world:

“What feels right is wrong. And what feels wrong is right.”

Understanding that we operate with an ancient brain that isn’t suited to this modern world opens up new possibilities. For example, you can use your prefrontal cortex (the rational part of your brain) to override the primitive instinct to stay comfortable.

Here are some strategies I’ve been experimenting with to get me taking regular five-minute movement breaks:

1. Timers in every room

I’ve strategically placed electronic timers in every room I spend a lot of time in (e.g., my office, outdoor desk, and dining room). Before I sit down to start a task, I set a timer for 25 minutes.

When the timer goes off, that cues my brain to get up and move.

2. Turn it into a fun game

When the timer goes off, I usually jump on my treadmill for a five-minute walk. But not always.

Whenever I feel like doing something different, I play a little game with myself.

The game is simple:

I roll a dice with different movement activities I wrote on each side. Whatever activity it lands on, I do it.

Here are the activities currently listed on my dice:

• Pick up a set of dumbbells and do some bicep curls
• Do some stretches on my yoga matt
• Use resistance bands
• Go outside and walk around my garden
• Do squats
• Hit play on an upbeat track and dance!

3. Negotiate with your brain

Sometimes, the timer going off will not be enough to get you up and moving. You may need to have a few words with your brain.

I often find myself negotiating with my brain, trying to convince myself to get up and move.

Me: “Come on, it’s time to get up.”
Brain: “Noooo! It’s nice and comfy here.”
Me: “On the count of three, we’re going to do this . . . 1 . . . 2. . . 3.”

Be gentle with your brain. Remember, it’s wired for comfort.

4. Make it easy to move

There’s a reason I have stretch bands hanging on door knobs, a yoga mat rolled out on my dining room floor, a rack of dumbbells next to my desk, and comfortable walking shoes always on my feet. All of these little things make it easy for me to move.

Look around your workspace: is there anything that makes it hard for you to move? Identify any barriers and do what you can to remove them.

5. Use a treadmill desk, walking pad, or cycle desk

Instead of stopping to take a movement break, can movement become part of what you do?

For instance, I wrote the first draft of this blog as I walked at a slow pace on my treadmill desk, and I edited it while pedalling at my cycle desk.

Remember, movement doesn’t need to be strenuous to be effective. Light-intensity movement delivers results.

6. Create a ‘I Dare You Not to Move’ playlist

I recently finished reading an excellent book called Creative First Aid: The science and joy of creativity for mental health. It is packed full of creative practices to help calm your nervous system.

One of the practices the authors suggest is creating a playlist of songs called ‘I Dare You Not to Move’. This playlist is a selection of songs that make you want to dance.

On a movement break, I close my blinds and hit play on one of my favourite dance tracks.

Don’t consider yourself much of a dancer? No problem! Sway your hips from side to side or throw your hands in the air and make some circles with them.

7. Remind yourself that movement will make you feel good

Even though it may feel good in the moment to stay seated in a comfy chair, I have to regularly remind myself that movement makes me feel good (and less stiff and achy).

Remember, whenever we force ourselves to get up and move, we go against our brain’s programming. This is why these reminders are so important.

Before stepping onto the treadmill to do a run, I say to myself, “This is good for me. You won’t regret doing this”. And you know what? I always feel better after a workout.

8. Plan your movement breaks with tiny habits

What is something you already do on a regular basis?

It could be making a cup of tea, preparing lunch, or putting on your shoes.

According to the Tiny Habits Method, the key to forming habits is to attach a tiny behaviour to a pre-existing habit. For example:

• After I put on the kettle, I will do five wall push-ups.
• After I shut down my computer, I will do arm circles for 30 seconds.
• After I put my lunch in the microwave, I will march on the spot.
• After I pick up the phone, I will stand up to walk and talk.
• After I notice I am feeling sluggish, I will hit play on an upbeat song.

If you want to wire in this new movement break quickly, celebrate after moving your body (i.e. release a positive emotion). I tell myself, “Good job Jane!”. But usually, the movement leaves me feeling good, so it’s not always necessary.

To sum up

The science is in. We know breaking up periods of sitting with regular five-minute movement breaks can make a big difference to our mental and physical health. The good news is you don’t even have to break a sweat to experience these benefits (light-intensity movement will do the job).

If you can’t manage moving every half hour, no problem. Do what you can. Some movement is better than no movement. On that note, is it time to get up and move? Let’s do this together. How about a light walk? Or a short dance break?

On the count of three . . . one . . . two . . . three. Let’s go!

What activities help you get through tough times?

Over the years, I’ve experimented with a range of weird and wonderful stress-busting activities, including yoga, pilates, meditation classes, floatation tanks, massages, acupuncture, and sound healings (to name a few).

I’ll be the first to admit that cash-grabbing wellness gurus and advertisers have sucked me in.

In our capitalist culture, we’re sold this idea that in order to relax, we need to spend big dollars. But I now realise that the best relaxation experiences are cheap or free.

In this blog, I want to share one of my favourite relaxation practices: cooking.

I’ve created rituals around cooking that help me stay calm, grounded, and focused throughout the day.

These days, cooking is my number one way to relax. My kitchen is my happy place, and it can be your happy place, too.

Perhaps this sounds a bit strange. But hear me out.

I haven’t always found cooking to be relaxing or particularly enjoyable.

Being half Italian, I used to get involved with the occasional food tradition, such as tomato sauce-making day. But it wasn’t like I grew up with the delicious smells of homecooked food wafting through the house.

My teenage years and early twenties were filled with processed junk foods: a dizzying array of Hungry Jacks combos, greasy fish and chips, and takeaway meat lovers pizzas.

Cooking was a relaxation practice I stumbled upon much later in life.

Since upping my kitchen game and trading the expensive wellness activities for a sharp knife, solid chopping board, and fresh vegetables, my savings and confidence have grown.

How does one cultivate calm in the kitchen?

To emerge from the kitchen in a calm and tranquil state, a few conditions have to be in place:

1. You cannot feel rushed
2. Your kitchen counter must be clean and clutter-free
3. You need a sharp knife to chop with
4. Your phone must be out of sight (like most things in life, it’s best not to multitask)

If these conditions are met, cooking can feel like a meditation or an empowering yoga class.

I’m not the only person who feels this way.

In the book ‘Uncook Yourself: A Ratbag’s Rules for Life’, Nat’s What I Reckon shares how he cooks his way through tough times. He writes:

“I reckon getting in the kitchen and un-cooking yourself from the tough moments in your head every now and then is a way better self-help routine than throwing five grand at some short-lived back pat from a cash grabbing blowhard at a self-help seminar just to tell you you’re not doing life right.”

How does cooking lead to a sense of calm? What are the underlying mechanisms?

One reason is you need to focus your mind.

When chopping with a sharp knife, you must pay attention to what you’re doing. If you get distracted, and I have (many times), you might pay the price with a cut to the finger.

Chopping is also a repetitive activity that delivers an immediate outcome. One minute, the bok choy is on the chopping board in full form; the next, it has been chopped and is ready for tonight’s stir-fry.

Cooking also requires you to slow down.

When you’re online, you tend to jump around in a frenzy. But when you’re cooking, you have to follow a recipe step-by-step. This requires focus. This focus helps to clear your mind.

Cooking also gives you a sense of control, power, and agency. As food journalist Michael Pollan says:

“Eating out breeds helplessness, dependence and ignorance, and eventually, it undermines any sense of responsibility.”

When you cook, you’re in control of the process (not some big corporate fast food company). Plus, compared to that commodified wellness experience, cooking is super cheap (all it costs is the price of a few ingredients).

It also produces a nourishing meal at the end. That meal will give you energy, help regulate your mood, and keep you calm and steady.

Food impacts your brain

In the book ‘The Food Mood Connection’, Uma Naidoo argues that to decrease anxiety, you should pay attention to what you’re eating. She writes:

“A crucial part of battling anxiety is making sure your diet is full of foods that are calming and free of foods that put you on edge.”

What foods could put you on edge?

Fast foods and highly processed foods. These foods (e.g., greasy hot chips and baked goods) are problematic because they lack fibre and the fragile micronutrients and phytochemicals needed for good brain health.

Naidoo recommends increasing your fibre intake by consuming more plants and whole foods, such as beans, brown rice, baked potatoes with the skin on, broccoli, pears, apples, and oats.

“But isn’t it easier and cheaper to buy takeaway?”

A few years ago, I delivered a talk called ‘Rediscovering the Ancient Art of Thrift’ at a local library. In my presentation, I shared the thrifty practice of avoiding eating out and cooking meals at home.

At this point in the presentation, an elderly gentleman put up his hand and said:

“But vegetables are expensive. Why not just get McDonald’s? It’s cheap, and there’s no cleaning up at the end.”

I immediately thought of a friend who, at the time, ate only McDonald’s (for breakfast, lunch, and dinner). His housemates had confided in me that his feet had developed a pungent odour.

Although my diet was far from perfect, I was concerned. If my friend kept going down this path, I could see him heading for serious trouble.

Fast forward a year: How was my friend doing?

He was not well.

He had put on a significant amount of weight and seemed depressed, rarely leaving his room except to get his next McDonald’s meal (back in those days, there was no Uber Eats).

I explained to this elderly gentleman in the library workshop:

“Maybe you’ll save a bit of time and money in the short term [buying the fast food], but eating processed food will cost you down the track. It will cost you in medical bills and poor health. Your quality of life will suffer.”

He nodded, but I could tell he wasn’t entirely convinced.

Cultivating calm and confidence in the kitchen

Until you’ve cut out the processed junk food, allowed a couple of weeks for your tastebuds to readjust, and developed the habit of home cooking, it’s easy to be sceptical. After all, we live in a world that values convenience. Opening an app, pressing a button, and having dinner delivered to your door in less than 20 minutes has some definite appeal.

But every time you order Uber Eats, you miss out on a valuable opportunity to practice slowing down and calming your mind. You also undermine your cooking skills.

If you haven’t developed the habit of cooking or cooking makes you feel anxious, there are a few simple things you can do to cultivate calm and confidence in the kitchen:

1. Give yourself permission to make a mess

Cooking is a messy process. While I may start with a clean kitchen bench, it quickly becomes a mess. That’s how the process goes (I try to clean as I go).

It’s also okay to mess up a meal. Not every meal is going to be an absolute winner. In ‘The Four Hour Chef’, Tim Ferris encourages the reader to see meals that don’t work out as cheap cooking classes. Learn the lesson and move on.

2. Break down the process

When you think of cooking as one activity, it can feel overwhelming. I divide the cooking process into two stages:

1) Preparing the mise en place: chopping vegetables, taking out utensils, etc, and
2) Pulling it all together: cooking the dish.

In the morning, I take out all the ingredients for a dish so they are ready to go when I need to take a break from my work. I chop earlier in the day and cook the dish in the afternoon/early evening.

If I’m overwhelmed by the idea of chopping vegetables, I break it down to chopping just one vegetable at a time. I’ll say to myself:

“Just chop the capsicum. That’s all you need to do.”

3. Invest in good tools

It’s not fun chopping with a knife with a dull blade. A sharp knife combined with a lovely chopping board makes all the difference.

4. Learn how to chop

Learning basic chopping skills is a game changer. With the proper technique and a sharp knife, there’s no need to worry about cutting yourself. You can chop with ease.

I took a chopping skills course with the online cooking school Rouxbe, but you can find YouTube videos teaching you good chopping techniques.

5. Take your time

You’re not running a restaurant. You don’t have to rush to get meals out to hungry customers. Take your time and enjoy the process of chopping each vegetable.

To sum up

If approached with the right mindset, cooking can deliver a sense of calm and ground you in the present moment. You also get to experience the mental and physical benefits of a nourishing home-cooked meal. The bonus extra is saving a bit of money.

So, what are you waiting for? Pull out some ingredients and start cooking today.

You know you need to prepare for exams, but you tell yourself, “I’ve have plenty of time”.

But how much time do you actually have?

It’s hard to get a sense just by thinking “My exam is in three weeks.” After all, three weeks sounds like plenty of time, right?

Don’t be fooled. This is your brain playing tricks on you.

No one ever has a full three weeks (504 hours) to prepare for an exam. Thrown into the mix is time for sleep, getting ready for school or work, working on assignments, socialising with friends and family, etc. Plus, you usually have more than one exam to study for.

But we can forget this. And when we do, we end up procrastinating with our work and it piles up for our future selves to deal with.

What’s missing is that your brain needs clear visual feedback. It needs to have a sense of the big picture (i.e., all your commitments laid out in front of it).

How can you quickly get a sense of the big picture?

By using a year-at-a-glance calendar.

Earlier this year, I printed out a massive year-at-a-glance calendar (A0 size).

I scheduled all my upcoming presentations, holidays, important events (e.g., birthdays), deadlines, etc., onto the calendar and placed it in a prime position where I couldn’t miss it.

This calendar has made all the difference. It grounds me in reality, helps me feel more in control of my schedule, and gives me clear visual feedback. It also makes me think twice before I agree to take on a new project.

In the past, whenever I’ve said yes to a new opportunity, I haven’t always been grounded in reality. Too many times, I’ve been unintentionally cruel to future Jane.

Let me explain . . .

Back in 2016, I was on the home stretch with my PhD. The path forward was clear. After years of struggling with my PhD, the end was in sight. I was on track to hand in my thesis in a few months’ time.

But then something happened that threw me off course (well, erm, I threw myself off course).

I was asked by a company to run a series of workshops. Without even thinking, I said “Yes! I’d love to!”. It seemed like a great opportunity. One that was too good to pass up.

When I shared the news with my PhD supervisor, she seemed to think differently. Her face said it all: a mixture of concern and confusion.

“Why did you say yes to this? Do you need the money? What about your PhD? You’re so close to finishing”, she said.

The truth was I didn’t need the money. I said yes because without having my other commitments staring me in the face, I had all the time in the world. I was engaging in magical (delusional) thinking. I fantasised about having superhuman capabilities and being able to do it all.

I was wrong. There were only so many hours in the day, and something had to give.

To cut a long story short, pretty quickly the magical thinking wore off, and I regretted taking on the job. I had burdened my future self with a ridiculous amount of work and unnecessary stress.

But worst of all, I had delayed handing in my thesis by several months. A few months might not sound like much in the big scheme of things. But when you’ve been plugging away at a PhD for seven years, every month becomes precious. I risked losing momentum.

If I could teleport back in time and place a year-at-a-glance calendar in my office space, I like to think that I would have prioritised my PhD over the shiny new opportunity.

The value of laying things out in physical space

I recently finished reading an excellent book called ‘The Extended Mind: The Power of Thinking Outside the Brain’ by Annie Murphy-Paul.

In this book, Annie explores nine principles for expanding our intelligence (note: these principles are not taught in schools). She argues that instead of pushing our brains to work harder and harder, we can use our bodies, relationships, and surrounding environment to boost our cognitive abilities.

In the chapter called “Thinking with the Space of Ideas”, she writes:

“Whenever possible, we should offload information, externalize it, move it out of our heads and into the world. It relieves us of the burden of keeping a host of details “in the mind,” thereby freeing up mental resources for more demanding tasks like problem solving and idea generation.”

After reading this book, I understood why a year-at-a-glance calendar can be such a powerful tool. Seeing all your projects and commitments in one glance allows you to think smarter and more strategically.

These calendars also help to orient you in time. You can see how much time you have between now and doing the things you need to do.

Your projects and deadlines stare back at you every day. There’s no escaping them.

Seeing your life in this way also helps you to plan and pinpoint busy periods.

Here’s an example . . .

This month, I have more presentations scheduled than usual. This means I need to manage my energy levels, prioritise sleep, and eat healthily.

But a quick glance at my calendar tells me I have a few ‘free’ days before all these talks begin. I can use this time to cook a few meals to pop in the fridge and freezer to make life a little easier during this busier period.

One of the worst things I can do when I get busy is order takeaway food and sacrifice sleep to work. I refuse to do it as it always backfires. If I’m functioning at half capacity, my talks and work will suffer.

These calendars can also provide useful information to help you manage your energy levels, reduce ridiculous workloads, and avoid burnout.

Earlier this year, there was a week when I delivered more talks than usual. During this week, I found myself taking 15-minute power naps between talks to recharge before the next one. Even with all these power naps, by the end of the week, I felt tired. I drew a tired little emoji face on my calendar to represent this.

That tired emoji face is a constant reminder: you have mental and physical limits. Don’t overdo it.

Making your year-at-a-glance calendar

It’s important to find a calendar that is both aesthetically pleasing and functional for you. This means you probably can’t just go to the shops and pick something off the shelf.

You could order a hard copy calendar online, but when the year is already well underway who wants to potentially wait weeks for their calendar to arrive in the mail?

Here are some cheap and fast DIY options:

You can purchase a digital download online and take it to your local print shop on a USB stick. Some templates display the month as a long list of days; whereas other calendars group the month into weeks, with each week on a separate line (see examples below).

Alternatively, you could buy a monthly calendar, cut it up, and stick it together.

One of my friends suggested I try doing this. I gave it a shot, but my calendar looked like a failed arts and crafts project (with messy bits of tape plastered everywhere). Plus, the boxes were too small and cramped my style.

After some trial and error, I purchased a digital download from Etsy for $20AUD and printed it A0 size for $10AUD. All up, my calendar cost me $30AUD – money that was well spent.

The bottom line is you have to figure out what works for you and how much you’re willing to spend.

Tips for using your year-at-a-glance calendar:

• Write on the calendar when all your exams, appointments, special events, and major projects will take place.

• If you don’t yet know the specific dates of each exam, note the week they begin and assume the worst-case scenario (your exams will be sooner rather than later).

• Consider laminating your calendar so you can use whiteboard markers on it.

• If laminating is too expensive, use sticky notes and washi tape instead.

• You can mount your calendar on core-flute material or foam board to give it a sturdier structure.

• Resist the urge to put every detail on your calendar. Focus on the big project deadlines, appointments, exams, etc. The details for what and when you work on each project can go into your weekly planner and/or on your to-do list.

• If you have the wall space, consider printing your calendar A0 size (841mm x 1189mm). You want plenty of space to write in each box.

To sum up

In our noisy world where we are bombarded with endless opportunities, many of us would benefit from embracing analog tools like the year-at-a-glance calendar. These calendars help to ground us in reality and focus our minds on what matters.

If you have a lot going on in your world and find yourself saying “Yes!” to every shiny new opportunity that comes your way, do yourself a favour and create a year-at-a-glance calendar. Having your commitments stare you in the face every day is a simple but powerful way to live with greater focus and intentionality.