It’s mid-semester and your life is crazy. You’ve got five essays and two projects due this week. You’re behind on several of your in-class readings. Generally, you feel like you’ve never been this tired in your entire life. Does this sound familiar? You may be finding yourself right now in a mid-semester slump; a period of time where your productivity and mental wellbeing have gone into hibernation. Even though you may just want to curl up in your blankets and forget about your troubles, the work still needs to get done. Here are six easy steps toward self-care that will help you feel ready to tackle the rest of your semester.
- Rest
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As much as you may want to stay up past midnight cranking out those last words of your essay or chatting with your friends, you have to remember that proper rest is important to your mental and physical health. You’ll start to notice how many more students will get sick around the time of exams, and it is often because of the stress they are putting on their bodies by not getting enough sleep. Even if you cannot find the proper eight hours of time to sleep during the night, build in time to take breaks throughout your day. If you’re feeling particularly restless and like you can’t fall asleep, you can also try unwinding before bed by reading, meditating, or using essential oils. LED and blue lights can also be disruptive to sleep patterns, so if you find yourself having trouble going to sleep, try putting your phone and laptop away a good thirty minutes before you plan to go to bed.
- Get Yourself Off Campus
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It may seem counterproductive, but getting away from your work for a while can be the perfect way to restart your brain. Even if it’s just going on a simple shopping trip to your local Target, taking that bit of time for yourself to change your surroundings is an important step in making certain you’re not getting yourself stuck in a rut. If you’re short on cash, most college campuses provide free shuttle transportation to train stations or other entertainment facilities so that you can be conscientious of your spending on your limited college-student budget. Take this time to indulge in yourself and spend time with your friends that you may not have gotten to see in a while. If you’re stuck on what exactly to do, getting a nice meal, going shopping for a cute new outfit, or going to see a show or movie are all great ways to get your mind off the stress of school.
- Make a Playlist
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Music is one of the most influential mediums that can affect your mood. It can be a great way to relax by compiling a list of your favorite songs, and you can also use it to create a soundtrack for whatever it is you need to get done. Need to study? Make a playlist full of calming songs to help you stay focused. Need to get your emotions out? Fill your playlist up with those tear-jerker songs that’ll give you that good cry you’ve been bottling up. Want to feel happier? Collect all your favorite upbeat bops to jam out to in your free time.
- Take Up Bullet Journaling
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Bullet journals are a great way to plan out your weeks or months in a creative way. They can be used to track just about anything, from your mood to your daily goals to your reading progress for the month. If you’re unsure of where or how to start, there are plenty of concept ideas on Pinterest and tutorial videos on YouTube to help you decide how to best utilize your bullet journal. The best part is that you get to decorate it however you want to: with drawings, fancy fonts, stickers, magazine clippings, or fun graphs and calendars. This way, you get to stay organized while still practicing something cathartic and calming.
- Listen to Audiobooks
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Even if you’re not an avid reader, audiobooks are a great way to stay on top of your reading for classes. If you’re anything like me, you may find it difficult to focus on printed readings, and often times reading dense texts physically can be time-consuming. If you’re tight on time but still want to ace your reading quizzes, most reading subscription services offer your first month for free and allow you to pick any book of your choosing. These services also allow you to put the narration on double (or even sometimes triple) speed so that you can get through your readings faster while still being able to retain information. If you can’t sign up for a subscription service, check YouTube! Sometimes audiobooks are uploaded as video files there too.
- Make an Appointment with the Writing Center
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If you’re really struggling with your final assignments, you’re not alone. It’s likely that your campus has resources to help you. One of the most helpful resources is your campus writing center. When you make an appointment, you are able to meet with a tutor to help you with your work at any stage of the process, whether that be brainstorming ideas or working on the final touches of your paper. When you have several prompts for several different classes, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. Your on-campus writing center can help to alleviate some of that stress and put you in better shape to boost your grades during that hitch in the semester.
Mid-semester slumps are something that can happen to the best of us. The important thing is to recognize when you need to ask for help and when you need to take some time away from your work. Here’s to taking the rest of the semester by storm!