If you’ve suddenly found yourself with a surprising amount of free time now barely any lectures or seminars are happening, you might be at a loss of what to do with all of it. It’s certainly a new luxury – even holidays never really feel like time off when they always have coursework deadlines at the end. Here are our recommendations for how to spend the next few weeks:
1) Do the reading
Yes, I know it sounds ridiculous to do reading for lectures you will never hear and seminars you will never sit in. It would certainly be folly to write about books you barely studied when it comes to exams or end of semester coursework, but if you’re anything like me then you chose your course and modules because you were interested in the subject, so why not curl up and enjoy those books without the stress of knowing you have to have interesting things to say about them in a 9 a.m. seminar.
2) Be active
Not having the time is no longer a reason not to go to the gym! If your student budget doesn’t quite cover a membership, then try a jog down South Bank. Many places will also let you take one class as a free trial, so take advantage of it and try out different activities all over the city! You might just find one you want to stick with.
3) Take a self-care day
Whether it involve visiting your favourite place, eating your favourite food, or seeing your favourite people, set aside a full day to indulge yourself with the things you love. After a semester and a half of hard work, you’ve definitely earned it! If the cold makes you dread the idea of going outside, then bundle up with blankets and cushions and browse the internet to your heart’s content without the slightest bit of guilt.
4) Catch up on a TV show
Hate-watching Riverdale and are a few episodes behind? It’s time to grab some popcorn and load up Netflix. Or maybe you’ve been meaning to start a classic? If you’ve never seen Friends or Buffy the Vampire Slayer, you can finally sit down and start a marathon of a cult TV show that always looked a little too intimidating to get in to.
5) Start a project
I’m not talking glitter and hot glue, although feel free to run with that if you feel so inspired. If you have a creative project in mind that you’ve never had the time to spend on before, nothing is stopping you anymore. Start planning that e-business or drafting that novel! Me? I’m writing my own RPG, and being able to dedicate days at a time to it is a silver lining of not being able to attend lectures.
Obviously we hope that someone calls the strike off soon so things can get back to normal, but until that happens we hope these ideas give you some inspiration on how to spend the extra free time.