There are three things in the world that are absolutely devastating:
1. Dropping that perfect plate of food on the ground.
2. Stepping in a puddle when you’re wearing socks.
3. Getting homework assigned over breaks.
It’s unfair—no, it’s downright cruel—that professors can get away with such a heinous crime. Break is our time to decompress and de-stress. That simply cannot be done when our backpacks are twice as heavy as we are.
After years of lugging home a backpack stuffed to the brim with textbooks and loose-leaf paper, I’ve finally learned how to make the most of my precious break without sacrificing my grades.
Get ahead while you can
The last thing you’ll want to do just before break is extra work. However, getting homework done sooner rather than later will save you plenty of stress. Check ahead in all of your syllabi for activities and readings you can complete before you head off campus. List all of those on a sheet of paper. Starting the weekend before you leave, chip away at those assignments and check them off. Whatever is left is what you have left to do when you’re home.
Set aside time to work
It’ll be nice to sleep in, and you’ll probably be staying up late with friends or family, but it’s still important to keep some structure over break. Tell yourself you’ll spend a bit of time each day to work on school assignments. Personally, I like to take one hour just before lunch to get work done. Then, I have the rest of the afternoon and evening to myself. It’s obviously not the most fun way to spend your break, but it will keep you in the proper mindset for when you inevitably have to get back to school.
Know what all is on your plate over break
For me, break is when I have all of my doctor’s appointments and other hometown obligations. I usually travel north to visit my sister over spring break, so I know I’m headed straight to the train station and won’t be doing work for three days. Once you have an idea of how much work you have to do, figure out all of your plans for break. It may help to write out your schedule, as that can give you a visual of times you are free to work on assignments.
Pack just the essentials
Since I’d rather not break my spine trying to carry my backpack to the car, I try to limit how much I’m actually packing. Have a textbook reading? Take pictures of the pages on your phone. Don’t want to pack all of your spiral-bound notebooks for scrap paper? Just pack one and photograph any pages you’ll need from the others. Remember to bring any supplementary materials you may need for assignments, including calculators, writing utensils and course-specific equipment.
Avoid procrastination
Easier said than done, I know. But think about it this way—do you really want to spend Sunday night before class hunched over a textbook, writing so furiously you get early-onset carpal tunnel? Of course not. That’s why you should do as much work as possible before and during the first half of break. You’ll probably be annoyed, but you’ll thank yourself later. Trust me when I say procrastinating over break is a thousand times worse than procrastinating over a typical weekend.
Prioritize assignments
You may be tempted to get the easy assignments out of the way first. However, when doing homework over break, it’s integral to “do first what’s due first.” That may mean finding eight to ten sources for an annotated bibliography instead of writing a five-sentence reflection. Even if it’s not the ideal way to complete work over break, it’s the most efficient way.
Remember to take time for yourself over break as well. If you truly need a break from schoolwork, don’t force yourself to sit down and study. Take care of yourself before you take care of your assignments.