With only one week of winter break left, Hawkeyes might be feeling a little distressed. What if you didn’t do much over break? What if you feel overwhelmed at the thought of heading back for another semester in just a few days? Never fear. We’ve made a list of eight productive ways to spend your time this week so that you can go back to school feeling proud of what you accomplished!
1. Curl up with a good book and read
Visit the library, use one of the gift cards you got over the holidays or raid a family member’s shelves! Not to be a downer, but in a few days you probably won’t have very much time to read for fun, so take advantage of your free time now. I spent many hours this break sprawled on the floor of my room, surrounded by comic books with my cat sleeping nearby, and it was AMAZINGLY relaxing. I’m hoping to do some more reading before I have to head back to school!
2. Get a head start on your coursework for the upcoming semester
Careful, though: Think small! Don’t make plans to finish the entire reading list before school starts up again because you and I both know that’s never going to happen. Instead, find a couple of tasks that interest you and focus on just those. Is there a novel you could read for one of your lit classes? Or an introductory video your bio professor expects everyone to watch before the first lecture? You get the idea.
3. Buy your textbooks for the new semester
This one is largely a matter of personal taste—I know plenty of people who prefer to buy their books after the first day of class, once they know whether or not the professor has made any last-minute changes to the syllabus and reading list. However, I like to head into a new semester knowing all of my book-buying is already taken care of. So make yourself a big mug of tea, coffee or hot chocolate, open your laptop and get to work! I typically buy from used-book sites, so it’s always fun to find the cheapest books. Old journalism textbooks for $3.50?! YES.
4. Spend time with family members
Unless your family lives nearby or you have siblings who also go to Iowa, you won’t see them for a few weeks or month, so be sure to spend some time with them now while you still can! Go hiking, play a video game, catch up on your favorite TV show, make dinner together, etc. Pick something that you truly enjoy doing so that it doesn’t feel like forced family time and just remember that although your family gets on your nerves occasionally, you know you’ll miss being with them in person at times throughout the semester.
5. Get your sleep schedule back to normal
At the beginning of break, I slept too much. Lately, I haven’t slept enough. I’m trying to get back on track this week in order to make the transition from break to school smoother. Try scheduling activities that require you to be out of the house at a fairly early hour. At night, put your phone in a different room if that helps you to avoid the temptation to keep checking it. Even if you do very little else for the rest of break, it really helps to get your body back into the same rhythm so that you can function like a human being during the semester.
6. Tackle that big project you’ve been planning to do all break
Whether it’s a sci-fi movie marathon or an elaborate cookie recipe, set aside an afternoon (or even an entire day) to accomplish those big plans that you meant to accomplish over break but haven’t actually gotten around to doing. This could be fun to combine with #4!
7. Start packing
Confession time: I am THE WORST when it comes to packing. I always leave it until the last minute! One thing that does help, though, is to gather all my stuff together in one spot so that even if I don’t actually get everything packed until a few hours before I have to leave, at least it’s easy to find everything. Books, food, toiletries, clothes and more all go on top of or right next to my dresser, which helps me to avoid scurrying around the house later on trying to find where I left things!
8. Make plans to get the whole squad back together
Going back to school means reuniting with friends and roommates! Are you going to meet up for coffee? Binge-watch Netflix? Walk around to all the bookstores on campus and in town to buy your textbooks for the new semester? Even if you’re not exactly thrilled about heading back to school after nearly a month off, at least you have something fun and social to look forward to upon getting back. Baby steps, right?
Enjoy what’s left of break, everyone!