Recently I have had some extremely packed and stressful weeks. I always seem to have a lot on my plate from academics to extracurriculars, but these past few weeks have been particularly overloaded. After having a break from it all during Thanksgiving, where I did minimal work, I have begun to truly appreciate the idea of finding balance.
I tend to be the type of person who is either really motivated or really unmotivated, I have rarely found an area in between. However, I am trying to do that for this last bit of the semester so that I can carry it on into next semester and start fresh. Finding a balance between your academics, your social life, time to relax, and other parts of your life that might be important to you can be extremely difficult. When things pile up, one thing takes priority and others are left by the wayside. However, finding a balance is extremely important for many reasons including; your mental health, your grades, maintaining friendships, and your overall happiness.
There are a few ways you can try to find balance in these last few weeks of the semester as we enter finals time and prepare for winter break. First, make a list prioritizing the things you need to do. Put the most important things that need to be done right away at the top and slowly make your way down to the less important things you can do later. (I would also suggest putting official or unofficial due dates beside every item on the list). I know having a huge list can be overwhelming, but having everything written out and being able to cross things off as you do them can really help you stay motivated. This can help you find balance because you can see if you are getting things done and can take a break or if you are still on number one on the list and really need to get focused. Knowing what you’ve done and what you still need to do can help you balance your time.
Second, try and kick some bad habits. This is a great time to attempt this because you don’t have a lot to lose, but you have a whole lot to gain. If you try to kick a habit and you can’t do it you only have a few weeks left and then you can reevaluate and try again next semester. If you try and you succeed, you can be more productive these last few weeks and carry your success into next semester.
For example, with academics if you tend to cram the night before an exam and always end up feeling overwhelmed and wishing you’d started earlier, choose your most difficult final and try spreading out your studying. If you are successful, great you will most likely do well on the final and you can try to spread out your studying for all of your exams next semester. If it doesn’t work out, you can still cram the night before, like you usually do, and hopefully you’ve learned something you can apply next semester to kick the habit.
Bad habits can take up a lot of time and cause a lot of stress; by kicking them you can free up your time and reduce your stress making you feel more balanced.
These are just a few ideas for finding balance; there are a million more ways it can be achieved. Challenge yourself in these last few weeks of the semester to try and find balance in some part of your life. Finding balance doesn’t entail changing your whole life, just making little changes. These little improvements can only help you as your prepare for finals.