The study demands of the final years of school and tertiary education are akin to training for a major sporting event. In this case, however, you not only have to develop intellectual fitness but maintain the physical condition and stamina necessary to stay the course. Health concerns – diet, exercise, not burning too much midnight oil, avoiding the byways of drugs or smoking or the many other routes to debilitation – are as important for academic achievement as for athletic prowess.

This need to get yourself into shape physically and intellectually, and even emotionally, is part of your academic workload. Mind and body are part of the whole living organism – you neglect one at the expense of the other. A dumb athlete will seldom achieve much, an unfit student who lacks the staying power to handle the demands of study will also find the going hard.

That is not to say people who are handicapped or at some physical disadvantage cannot succeed. Rather, it means that they have to invest more effort in the intellectual process to make the grade.

Planning for exercise and recreation is an important part of organizing your study comprehensively to allocate time for everything, especially adequate sleep and relaxation. It has always seemed to me unfair that an adult can go to work, complete the tasks demanded of him or her during the working day and return home with time to put their feet up in the evenings or on weekends. But the unfortunate school or university student must do homework or extend on the educational institution’s contact hours by home study, and this sharply reduces the time available for socializing, keeping fit or just flopping out in front of the TV. Yet these activities are as vital as a good diet for health and well-being and will often determine the overall capacity of the student.

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