After a long and cold winter, spring break feels like the perfect escape: one week of no classes, warmer weather, beaches, and friends. What could be better? But then it’s unfortunately back to reality, and you have to push through a little over a month more of classes – and then, of course, finals – before it’s finally summer. With spring break basically being a tease of summer, it can be hard to come back and remain fully focused and productive for the rest of the semester. The closer it gets to the end, the nicer the weather is, and the less you want to be spending your time studying. How do you survive it without totally giving up? Follow these five rules, and staying focused will be significantly easier.
1. Plan out your day ahead of time.
Waking up in the morning on a beautiful sunny day might make you want to put off your homework and use all of your free time to just sit outside. This obviously is not the smartest idea, considering this is one of the busiest times of the semester. If you start your day with a plan of what you’re going to get done and when you’re going to do it, you’ll end up being a lot more productive in the long run. In fact, you may even end up with even more free time to just relax and enjoy the weather.
2. Study outside when you can.
If the weather is nice enough, sitting outside to study can make such a difference. Whether it’s grabbing a table outside of 7th Street or setting up a blanket on the quad, outdoor studying is probably one of the best ways to study in the spring. You get to enjoy the warm weather while still getting your work done, and in turn, you end up being a lot more productive than you would have sitting inside.
3. Make sure to take breaks.
Naturally, you’re going to need to take some breaks from your work. Use these to your advantage. Get outside, whether it’s to take a walk, go on a run, tan, or even just sit on a bench to talk on the phone. No matter what you do, you will be a lot happier knowing that you spent at least some of your day outside, and you will be able to work a lot harder knowing that you have breaks to look forward to.
4. Try to make more time.
Of course, you’re going to have things other than studying that you want to do. Maybe you want to go to the gym to work out before summer comes around, but you also want to finish your favorite Netflix series. Whatever it is, try to find ways to combine activities that you’re doing because you want to do them, not because you have to. This could be as simple as timing your workout at the gym to the length of one or two episodes of your favorite show. By multitasking, you’ll have time to work out and get your Netflix fix for the day.
5. Keep the end goal in mind.
Finally, remember all you have to look forward to after finals. In no time, you’ll be spending warm days at the beach and hanging out with your friends, all without a worry in the world about classes or studying. Use this as your motivation to keep going, because you only have a little longer to go before it becomes your reality. Stay strong and focused, summer is almost here!