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Woman Reading book in bed with coffee
Woman Reading book in bed with coffee
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SBU | Life

Taking Me Time

Abigail Taber Student Contributor, St. Bonaventure University
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at SBU chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

While I was back home for Thanksgiving break, I realized a couple things.

The first thing that I realized was that I am completely overwhelmed with everything and would be miserable if I didn’t do something about it.

The next thing was that it was entirely my fault.

I have been completely neglecting any kind of self-care that I usually rely on. I have been so busy with school and work and trying to maintain all my healthy relationships that I just forgot to take any time to myself.

So, I came up with a game plan to get me back on track before finals.

Step 1: Stop talking to people.

I’m not going to cut myself off from society, but I am going to take a few days to myself to just re-collect my thoughts and have some quiet time.

I told my boyfriend that I would be on Do Not Disturb mode for the next couple days. I told my roommate that I’m keeping everything low-key. And I’ve set myself up for the next couples days of quiet school work and Me time.

Now, typically this isn’t something that I do regularly, but I feel like I’ve spent more time talking with people and being around them than with myself.

I need to remember that from now on instead of doing this all at once this week, that sometimes it’s ok to say no to hanging out with someone. Sometimes you just need a day to go back to your room and sit by yourself.

Step 2: Focus on school work.

Thanksgiving break was awful for my work ethic. I just pushed everything, all the essays I need to write and books I need to read, to the back of my mind and didn’t even open my laptop until the night before school.

This damned me. I had to stay up til midnight reading an assigned book just to be ready for class on Monday and I didn’t even touch the papers that I have to turn in this week.

It has wrecked my motivation but I am back at school and hopefully with a few good study sessions in the library, I’ll be all ready for finals week.

Step 3: Do what I want.

I forget sometimes that I ultimately can just be lazy. There is nothing wrong with curling up in bed with a good book (not required for class) and staying like that all night.

As long as I get my work done, I plan the next couple weeks with be very, very quiet for me. By design.

I want to be in bed by 9, asleep by 11. I want to watch movies and drink hot cocoa.

I need to keep reminding myself that I have the time to do both: work hard and relax hard.

Abigail Taber

SBU '27

Abigail Taber is a third-year writer for the St. Bonaventure chapter of Her Campus. She enjoys writing about culture, entertainment, and the happenings in her college life. Abigail is excited to be the editor for her chapter this year and to be a part of such a cool organization that centers around the work and interests of women.

Beyond Her Campus, Abigail is the Editor-In-Chief of the literary magazine on campus, The Laurel, the President of SBU College Democrats, the Vice President of the Book Club, a tutor at the Writing Lab, and a volunteer at SBU Food Pantry. Abigail has had her creative writing published in both her high school's and university's literary magazines. She is currently a junior at St. Bonaventure University, triple-majoring in English, Literary Publishing and Editing, and Women's Studies.

In her free time, Abigail, or Abbey to her friends, enjoys reading, listening to music, and thinking of her next tattoo. She is a music trivia master and a known enjoyer of any and all romance books. She hopes to work for a publishing house editing novels in the future. Growing up in a small suburb of Buffalo, New York, Abbey hopes to embody the city-of-good-neighbors attitude.