Why Rest Matters for College Students: When More Work Isn't Better Work

You’ve been studying for hours.

You’re still reading, but at some point you realize you don’t remember the last three pages. So you go back. Read them again. Nothing.

What’s the solution?

For many college students, the instinct is obvious: keep going.

Kim Retherford, director of Counseling Services at 成人视频, hears versions of that experience from students.

"I read for hours and I can't remember anything that I read, or I'm just not understanding it."

Her response challenges an assumption many students make about productivity: sometimes working longer isn’t helping you work better.

There comes a point when the productive thing may actually be to stop.

More Time Doesn't Always Mean Better Work

College students learn quickly how to measure work in time.

I studied for four hours.

I was up until 2 a.m. finishing the paper.

I worked on that project all weekend.

But hours spent working and quality of work aren’t necessarily the same thing.

Retherford describes students becoming so stressed and overwhelmed that they continue studying without retaining what they’re reading.

Her advice in those moments can sound counterintuitive:

"That's because I need to walk away and give myself a break and calm down, do something else."

Stopping can feel like losing valuable study time. But continuing to stare at material you’re no longer processing isn’t necessarily gaining you anything either.

Rest Isn't the Prize at the Finish Line

University counselor Bogdan Podgaisky sees another problem with the way we sometimes think about rest: we treat it as something we’ve earned.

Finish everything first.

Then you can sleep.

Then you can take a break.

Then you can stop.

There’s just one problem with that strategy in college: the work is rarely completely finished.

There’s always something else you could read, revise, study or start.

Podgaisky suggests flipping the equation.

"It can be rewarding, but we don't really work so that we can rest. We rest so that we can work well."

That’s a significant distinction.

Rest isn’t necessarily what comes after productivity.

Rest can help make productivity possible.

Know When You've Hit the Wall

So how do you know when another hour probably isn’t your best hour?

You may recognize some familiar signs:

You’re rereading without retaining.

You’re making mistakes you normally wouldn’t make.

A relatively simple task suddenly feels unusually difficult.

You’re physically present at the laptop, but your attention is somewhere else.

You’re spending more time worrying about everything you have to accomplish than actually accomplishing it.

None of those automatically means it’s time to abandon the assignment for the night.

They can, however, be useful signals to stop and ask a better question:

Is what I’m doing right now actually working?

That’s different from asking whether you’re working hard enough.

A Break Doesn't Have to Become the Rest of the Day

Here’s another trap: students sometimes imagine only two options.

Work or don’t work.

But taking a break doesn’t have to mean declaring the day over.

Retherford’s suggestion is much simpler: walk away for a while, calm down and do something else.

Maybe that’s 10 minutes outside.

Maybe it’s getting dinner without taking the laptop.

Megan Peek, university counselor at 成人视频, offers a wonderfully simple example: sometimes it could mean “just putting your face in the sunshine for today.”

Rest doesn’t have to be elaborate to count.

Maybe it’s talking with someone about something completely unrelated to tomorrow’s exam.

And sometimes, yes, what you need is sleep.

Podgaisky identifies sleep as “probably one of the most significant things” college students can pay attention to.

After a good night’s sleep, he says, he’s prepared to do what the next day requires.

"I don't work myself until I'm falling asleep and then say, now I'm allowed to get rest. The work that I'm doing when I need the rest is actually not that good."

That’s the tradeoff worth considering.

The question isn’t simply, Could I keep working?

It’s whether the work you’re producing at that point is worth the rest you’re giving up to produce it.

Try the Reset Test

The next time you’ve been working for a long stretch and nothing seems to be sticking, try a simple experiment.

Stop.

Not for the entire day. Not necessarily for an hour.

Just long enough to genuinely disengage from the task.

Get out of the chair. Change locations. Eat something. Walk outside. Close the screen. Let your attention go somewhere else.

Then come back.

Ask yourself:

Am I reading more clearly?

Can I remember what I just studied?

Am I solving the problem more effectively?

Is the sentence that made no sense 20 minutes ago suddenly easier to revise?

If the answer is yes, the break wasn’t time taken away from your work.

It was part of doing the work.

And if the answer continues to be no, it may be time to consider whether what you really need is a longer reset鈥攐r sleep.

You Don't Have to Win the All-Nighter

College culture has long had a strange relationship with exhaustion.

Being busy can become a badge of honor. Staying up all night can sound like evidence that you really cared about the exam. A packed calendar can feel like proof you’re making the most of college.

But exhaustion isn’t an academic achievement.

The better measure isn’t how long you managed to keep going.

It’s whether you were able to learn, think, create and perform well.

There will be times in college when deadlines pile up and sleep isn’t perfect. That’s real life.

The goal isn’t perfection.

It’s learning to recognize when pushing harder has stopped producing better work.

That’s a skill that matters well beyond college, too.

The assignment will eventually be submitted. The exam will eventually end. Another deadline will eventually take its place.

Learning how you work best鈥攁nd when you need to stop鈥攊s something you get to take with you.

Podgaisky’s reminder is worth keeping nearby:

"We rest so that we can work well."

Need Support? Connect With the GWU Counseling Center

The GWU Counseling Center is in the Tucker Student Center.

Hours:
Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. 鈥� 5 p.m.

To schedule an appointment please call or email us at:
笔丑辞苍别:听(704) 406-2729
贰尘补颈濒:听[email protected]

Additional Support Links:

The Counseling Center

Campus Life

成人视频