Whether you’re attending a technical school, receiving your secondary education, going through post-graduate school or receiving your education online, you’ll need the stamina to get going and keep going.

And while a cup of coffee or a Coke may get you up in the morning, by mid-day you might be struggling to keep your eyes open. School is a lot of brain work, and because of that, we can get tired. We may find ourselves falling asleep in class, not being able to focus, or we may get stuck on understanding the work we knew the day before.

The good news is that there are things we can do to keep our minds active and productive. Here are a few hints:

• Take a break. If you’ve been studying for an hour or more, take a 15 minute break. Get up and walk around. Experience a change of scenery.
• Eat decently. If you’re eating junk food because of the ease in preparing it, reconsider what you could be eating instead. Preparation will take you longer, but your mind will have that much longer of a ride.
• Get enough sleep. Don’t do the all-nighters — rather, study your classes as you go, take notes, and carry around note cardsto which you can add information.
• Get some exercise. This applies especially if you’re taking online courses that keep you primarily at your computer. Study your cards as you go for a walk or go swimming at the local pool and take your books to study as you tan.

Keeping your stamina up is no small task, it takes as much thought as doing the work for your classes, but with forethought comes the greatest success — great grades.