1. Don’t take on too much too fast
It’s easy to think that with the start of a new year and semester that you are superwoman. Of course you will go to the gym, attend every classes, have an amazing social life, and manage to look #flawless all at once this year….The reality is that although many of these goals are attainable and ever admirable, taking on all of these things at once is just setting yourself up for disaster. Be ambitious, but not unrealistic. Take on what you can, and try to achieve as much as possible without risking your sanity.
2. Get some rest
Getting sleep in college is something short of a miracle. Naps become your savior and are the only thing that keeps you going. Before you get swamped with the semester and midterms, get as much rest as you possibly can. During the first few weeks of school, most professors will have a relatively lighter workload compared to the rest of the semester. Take advantage of that! An additional bonus is that sleep will lower your stress levels and even help prevent you from getting sick at the beginning of the semester. Get some zzz’s in before all nighters become your life.
3. Organize
No matter how disorganized and frazzled you are, keeping up with a planner and organizing your work will save you a lot of time and stress. Keeping track of things in a planner will help to keep you motivated not only in the beginning but also through the rest of the semester. There’s nothing worse than not being able to find the lab report you spend six hours on because your computer files were too jumbled. Stay clean and organized, and the motivation will come. Even better, you can use sticky notes to both organize your classes by subject with the addition of writing cute motivational notes. You can get through this with some careful planning.
4. Breathe
This is probably the most overlooked, yet simplest thing you can do to motivate yourself. Take a breath and relax. Stressing out about your future exams and papers will do you no good when it comes to getting ready for this new semester. You should definitely take your work seriously and be focused, but every once in awhile you need to remind yourself that you’re a human being and not just a factory machine that outputs essays by the pile. By having a calm perspective, you can embrace the new semester ahead.
5. Confidence is key
Confidence is going to be the key motivator for both this semester, and for however many more semesters you have to come. “You are not receiving an education, you are claiming one,” as poet Adrienne Rich said in her essay, “Claiming an Education.” Be proud and strong! You’ve made it this far, what’s another semester? Just have faith in yourself, and the rest will come. Good luck ladies!