Do you ever feel that you are working thrice the number of assignments that you should? Sometimes you feel so swamped with homework you have to bring home that it feels like you have no more free time to spend for yourself and for your friends and family?
There could be times that teachers and professors assign you a bulk of the workload, especially over the holidays, with the reason that they don’t want you to forget what you learned in their classroom. Some teachers give you papers, reports, or math and physics worksheets that they don’t seem to remember that you have other classes you also have to focus on.
Inevitably, homework becomes too much to handle at times. Here are the instances when your assumption that it’s just too much homework could be right:
You are experiencing symptoms of stress
Symptoms of stress include headaches, stomach pains, sleep deprivation, weight loss or sudden weight gain, lack of appetite, low energy, and frequent colds and infections. These symptoms can lead to serious health issues and mental sickness. If you have at least two of these symptoms and you are sure that it is connected to the amount of workload you have to bring home from school, this validates that your homework is too much.
You are sacrificing sleep
Sleep is important. It helps your brain regenerate all the cells that you lost as you go through your rigorous routine. If you are sacrificing sleep for homework, that is being counterproductive in learning. Going to school the next day with just an hour or two of sleep affects your ability to learn and focus. You will surely find it hard to stay awake in class, understand what your professor discusses and retain the lessons in your mind. Sleep deprivation can also damage your immune system, which can lead to serious medical conditions in the long term.
Your friends no longer expect you to join them in weekend night outs
If your friends invite you to dinner on a Friday night and they don’t insist that you come with them if you say no, chances have they just invited you for formality reasons. They don’t expect you to come, and they know that there is no getting through you even if they insisted. You should have fun with your friends on weekends. It is a good way to develop your social skills, which helps build character.
You barely have time to see your family
Most of the time, college asks you to be away from your family, because you attend university in a different state. Weekends, and particularly moreover winter breaks, are the only time you get to see and spend time with your family. However, this is not happening because you have to stay in your dorm to finish the take-home work your professor assigned you to do. Maybe you get to be home during the break but you’re stuck in your room working the whole time. Sacrificing family time because of homework should never happen.
You feel like you’re not learning anything important
College requires you to have several subjects in different departments. General education subjects such as Natural Science, Math, English, and Philosophy are basic requirements you need to pass in order to move on to the next year. However, these subjects should not hinder you from learning more about your major classes–subjects that you actually need to ace for your college major. If your general education subjects ask for too much workload, you must talk to your professor or department advisor about it. You must have more time learning and practice what you are majoring in because those give you the actual skills you need for your future career.
You have no more time to enjoy what you really like doing
Spending time for yourself–relaxing and taking the day off, doing what you actually love, honing your skills and talents–is necessary for character building. And we all know how important character and personality are as soon as you graduate from university and start looking for a job to kick-start your career. Most companies choose people who fit their brand character, and if you spend too much time focusing on the wrong things such as doing loads of homework in order to not fail the subject, you get no time to find out who you really are. You miss the chance of doing the things you love.
Too much homework can actually take the time you need for your emotional and mental development. In most cases, it can actually be counterproductive to your health and learning. If you feel like you sacrifice too much time doing homework, do know that you can seek help from a professional. Too much homework is just not worth it if it means that you can’t enjoy what really matters.
