I run a wellness practice alongside my work as a nurse practitioner, which means I spend a lot of time talking to women about how their bodies are doing. And I’ll tell you something I’ve noticed: the women who come to me the most depleted, the most chronically run-down, the most disconnected from their own physical signals — are often the helpers. The nurses, the teachers, the mothers, the caregivers.
We are extraordinary at noticing what other people need. We are catastrophically bad at noticing what we need.
So as you prepare for your NCLEX — possibly the most demanding cognitive task you’ll have done in your life — I want to invite you to do something countercultural. I want you to take care of the body that has to take this exam.
Your nervous system is the instrument you’ll be playing on test day. You wouldn’t show up to a concert without tuning your violin.
Sleep Is Studying
If I could put one thing on a billboard, this would be it. Sleep is studying.
During slow-wave sleep, your brain consolidates the day’s learning into long-term memory. The information you crammed at 1am isn’t actually yours yet — your brain hasn’t filed it. When you skip sleep to study, you’re not gaining more learning. You’re undoing the learning you already did.
Aim for seven to nine hours, ideally on a consistent schedule. The night before the exam, no last-minute cramming after 9pm. Take a shower. Drink some water. Get into bed at a normal hour. Trust that the work is done.
NCLEX Crossover: This isn’t just self-care advice. This is content. Sleep hygiene, sleep architecture (REM vs. NREM), and sleep disorders show up on the exam. The questions about sleep deprivation, insomnia, and patient teaching for sleep are easier when you’ve lived the principles yourself.
Hydration Is Cognition
Even mild dehydration — losing just one to two percent of body water — measurably impairs cognitive performance. Reaction time slows. Working memory contracts. Mood drops.
If your body is even slightly dehydrated during a long study session, you are studying with a handicap. And on test day, in a fluorescent-lit room with no water break for four to five hours, dehydration is a genuine threat to your performance.
Carry a water bottle to every study session. Drink before you’re thirsty — thirst is already a sign of mild dehydration. The morning of the exam, hydrate steadily, but not so much that bathroom breaks become a problem.
Movement Changes Your Brain
Aerobic exercise increases brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a protein that supports neuroplasticity and learning. A twenty-minute walk before a study session has been shown to improve focus, mood, and retention.
You don’t need a gym membership. You don’t need to train for a marathon. You need to move your body — outside, ideally — for twenty minutes a day. Walking. Yoga. Dancing in your kitchen. A bike ride.
If you’re someone who has been telling yourself you don’t have time to exercise during prep — I want to gently challenge that. Twenty minutes of movement will make your study time more productive. You will retain more, focus longer, and feel better. The math works in your favor.
Blood Sugar and Brain Function
Studying on coffee and a granola bar is a recipe for brain fog by 11am. Your brain runs on glucose, and stable glucose requires real food — protein, healthy fats, complex carbs.
This is especially true on test day. Eat a balanced breakfast that won’t spike and crash your blood sugar. Bring a snack with protein for the testing center. Avoid sugary energy drinks that give a fast hit and a faster crash.
My Test-Day Breakfast: Eggs (protein), avocado on whole-grain toast (fat and complex carb), berries (antioxidants and a little natural sugar). Your stomach will be too nervous to eat much. That’s OK. But eat something real, not pure sugar.
The 90-Minute Focus Cycle
Your brain operates on natural cycles called ultradian rhythms — roughly 90-minute windows of focused capacity, followed by a need for restoration. Trying to grind through four straight hours of studying violates this rhythm and produces diminishing returns.
Try this instead: 90 minutes of focused study, followed by 20 minutes of true rest (not scrolling). A walk. A meal. A real break. Then another 90 minutes.
Two of these cycles equal three hours of high-quality study. That’s better than five hours of grinding, and it leaves you with energy for the rest of your life.
The grind culture in nursing tells you that suffering equals seriousness — that if you’re not exhausted and miserable, you’re not really preparing. That culture is wrong, and it produces depleted nurses with poor exam performance. Reject it gently. Take the break.
On the Practice of Choosing Yourself
I want to close with this: every time you take care of your body during this prep, you are practicing the kind of nursing you’ll one day do for your patients. You’re learning to honor the signals of a body under stress. You’re building the discipline of restoration.
And — perhaps most importantly — you’re rewriting an old story that says caring for women is everyone’s job except their own.
Drink the water. Take the walk. Sleep the sleep. Eat the real meal.
Then go pass your boards.