Since the new semester has started, you may find yourself intensely catching up on missing assignments, bulldozing ahead of scheduled coursework, and enduring long lectures, recorded or not. Perhaps you have instead regressed into your winter break habits, accidentally bingeing an entire TV series or mindlessly scrolling through social media. One thing that all these activities share is that they can be done sitting in a chair, much to our detriment.
What many of our professors have realized is that it is not good for our health—or attention—to be sitting still for long periods of time. During breaks, they often encourage students to stretch or invite the whole class to stand up and move around if they catch a lot of nodding heads. Students are more likely to inwardly doubt that stretching can salvage declining attention or offset a late bedtime. Furthermore, so many years of being in the educational system have ingrained the notion that one must sit still in the classroom and that excess movement is obnoxious. With a few noncommittal attempts at minor stretches, we students furtively glance at our peers to coordinate when we should sit back down. When on our own, therefore, remembering to take breaks from sitting may be even more difficult.
With a simple search on the Internet, we can find a host of detrimental effects of extended periods of sitting. The risks for heart disease, obesity, and cancer are higher with a habit of gluing yourself to your seat. The cramps and soreness that we may feel after sitting down for so long should be a signal for us to stand up, but many of us have become numb to this discomfort. Truthfully, we know that the effects of all our unhealthy habits will suddenly hit us in later years, but the lack of immediate danger hinders our efforts to change. Keeping this in mind, I have decided to take regular breaks from sitting throughout the semester.
For the past week, I have been more careful to make sure I do not exceed an hour while sitting and working on my assignments. After setting a timer for 40 minutes, I try to work on as much as I can without breaking my concentration. The panicked buzzing of my phone then acts as a cue for me to peel my eyes from the word I have been reading for the sixth time and lift myself from my chair. If I am in my own room, I will do around 50 jumping jacks or a short exercise for 5 minutes before returning to the chair. If I am in a public area, I will get up for a short walk or stretch for 5 minutes.
Although it may seem like a waste of time, especially when breaking off your concentration from your work, I suggest that you give this a try. It may instead boost your productivity because it is quite likely that your mind has been wandering off anyway. The break from sitting does not have to be long; a few minutes is good enough as long as you do not sit for too long—standing up every half hour is a good idea. Taking a walking or stretching break, or even a short interval of exercise can also get your blood pumping, increasing alertness. Additionally, you may find that this increased alertness helps you resist searching for other online distractions, as I have personally found it to do.
As we start a new month and continue to struggle with COVID-19, it is a good time to implement small changes like these that will be beneficial to our mental and physical health. Though seemingly unimportant, habits like making sure to sit less will make us better fit to handle the rest of the semester and other uncertainties in the future. I hope that you will be able to recognize and enjoy the benefits of improved health as much as possible, with every less minute confined to a chair.
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of Andrews University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, Andrews University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.