Its midterm season here at AU, and unfortunately that means you and everyone you know has a ridiculous amount of work to do, and it’s hard to keep up with anything. Everyone has moments where they feel like their stress is about to overwhelm them, so make sure you take a second to take a step back and de-stress. While you’ve probably discovered lots of tips for this over time, here are my favorite unconventional de-stress tips:
1. When you feel like you can’t be in the library anymore, leave all your stuff and go take a couple laps on the quad, tears optional. Either the “fresh air” will make you feel better, or maybe someone will steal your stuff and you’ll have an excuse to not do your work.
2. Facebook stalk that one kid in your class. We know you’re going to do this anyway, so make it a real break from doing work and then it’s self care.
3. Awake at 2am? Take a shower and blast some Beyoncé to cheer yourself up, which absolutely no one will find annoying, especially if you live in a dorm.
4. Plan out your distant future, look up internships for next semester, or start researching grad schools. Who needs to pass comparative politics when you’re already Secretary of State?
5. If you really need to finish an assignment but have class, go to class anyway. Type as loudly as possibly. No one will have any idea what you are doing.
6. Having a day when you’re not feeling too smart? Grab a friend and go get coffee. Talk as loudly as possible about an issue that you have very little experience with for the entirety of the wait. Have you taken a single SIS class? Talk about the crisis in Syria and how you would solve it. Are you a freshman in SPA? Let everyone hear your analysis of the election.
Happy Midterms season!