School - life balance

This is a topic that I am still feeling out. I realized while looking back on the past month of my life that I have been really hitting the studying hard. Every weekend in January I would wake up Saturday morning, have a cup of coffee, and head upstairs to my office to work on studying. I'd spend hours reviewing the recorded lectures, taking notes, making notecards, and then using the whiteboard to replicate and try to reproduce what I learned.

I had a lot of school and not much life balance.

I think that my brain last weekend told me that it needed a break. I found that no matter how hard I concentrated I could not make myself focus on school. I needed a mental recuperation day over the weekend. I actually cleaned the house, cooked dinner, and watched Friends. It was amazing how relaxing the mundane can seem when you're constantly stressed, tired and feel as if you're running out of time.

I sometimes like to take a step back and try to see the bigger picture. I know that I will make it through PA school. I know that I can pass the next test. And I know that if I take a few hours to relax mentally, then it will not affect my grade either was too dramatically. (If anything taking a break may help me to study harder when I come back from it).

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I wrote the above posting several weeks ago. Now I can add a little refresher on how I'm feeling since deciding that I am mentally burnt out. I can assure you even though I am not studying as much I am still burnt out and mentally exhausted.

I think this is because of several reasons:
1. I am near the end of the semester. The first finish line is in sight. I see the line... I am very out of breath and tired... but I am hoping that in a few more weeks I can have a few days of rest before a lighter summer semester
2. My grades have definitely uh have not been as better. I think this the sacrifice for time that I am making. Although I am not failing I am not making high B's and A's right now.
3. I need to get back on track. I took about a 2.5 week hiatus from heavy studying, but I am trying to get re-focused for the home stretch of this semester
4. I can tell that my whole class (20 students) are exhausted. Things that I know would not have seemed a big deal in January are huge now... study sessions, friendships... many of these things seem like a huge deal, but I think its because everyone is so exhausted any time a perceived slight occurs it is easy to think that everyone is out to get you.
5. I am still loving that I am here in school.