The beach was beautiful, seeing family and friends was refreshing, relaxing was, well, relaxing, but now your final flight has landed you back into the real world. Back into school work and classes, back to jobs and internships, back to the second half of a grueling spring semester, Gross.
If you’re anything like me, you spent the last week enjoying the good life has to offer and ignoring the emails, projects, midterms, papers, and test prep waiting for you on campus.
This spring semester at MSU has felt all over the place, starting online and then transitioning back to in person, now with changing mask guidelines it seems like there hasn’t even been enough constants to even establish a good routine. Here are some small things you can incorporate into your post spring break schedule to not only survive the world and aid your success, but to make the most of it.
1. News Podcast
Okay, none of us are new to the “we live in unprecedented times” line. We’ve been living in them long enough they are starting to feel pretty precedented. Having said that, there is always something new going on and keeping up to date on it takes so much time. The current international situation is complicated, and I don’t know about you, but it can be a beast to try to read about. If you’re curious about what’s going on in the world and want to be informed but don’t have the time (or excess brain power) in your schedule to read about it, try listening to a news podcast. I have one that is about 30 minutes and simply summarizes the most pressing issues of the day. I like to either listen to the one from the evening before when I get ready in the morning or on my walk between classes. Try a few. Most credible news programs have a related podcast or audio program and your favorite music streaming service probably has a whole section for news. Take a look and give it a try.
2. Consistent Wake-Up Time
The mood for the entire day can be set before the day even begins. I know that right before spring break started, I personally got into a habit of waking up as late as I possibly could and then rushing around scatterbrained to get where I needed to be. Then, my day would feel hectic and I’d beat myself up for getting up too late. If you’re like me, consider implementing a consistent wake-up time. Pick something and get up at that time every day. Give yourself an extra 15 minutes in the morning, stop rushing your commute or feeling nervous about whether you’ll hit the green lights. Here’s the deal, you’re going to be tired if you get up at 7 or if you get up at 7:43, so really what’s 43 minutes of sleep compared to a day that feels good and lets you feel good about yourself?
3. Nightly Journaling
Every time I say I’m going to start doing more self-care in my routine this makes it on the list. It feels so good for me to be able to write a bit about what happened in my day, how I feel about it, what’s on my mind, and the things that I’m worried about. Journaling has helped me sleep better and it’s one of the best ways I can manage feelings of anxiety. If your semester is going to be stressful, consider getting a cheap journal (honestly Meijer has a great and affordable selection) and jot down a few things each night. If you’ve got a lot of new or exciting experiences coming up in the spring, go get a journal and write it down! This time in our lives can be so exciting and it could be nice to have some memories to read down the line when they begin to fade. It doesn’t need to be big, use bullet points, sentence fragments, run on sentences – it’s just for you, it doesn’t have to be perfect.
4. Countdown System
Is it the best way to live to be counting down the days until something is over? Probably not. Do I particularly like the idea of wishing my life away? No. Am I going to do it for the next three months because I am dreading them? Yes, yes I am.
Doing the same work day in and day out, studying the same content, going to the same places, eating the same food, seeing the same people at the same time, it’s all part of a routine that can help drive success. But when it’s hard to work and taxing to study, sometimes the best we can do is get through it. If this speaks to you, pick a system to count down until the semester is over. Put descending numbers in the corner of the day on your planner, put a penny in a jar every day, get a pile of index cards and tear one up every day, something that can help you see visually how much time is left. Three months is a long time, but it’s not forever, and having a visual representation of an end in sight might help the individual days to be more bearable.
5. Weekly Night Off
This is a busy time, it just is. The second half of the semester seems to just speed up all the way through finals and it can be a lot. It’s important to take time to do things that you enjoy, and I try to regularly, but here’s the thing: when I “take the night off” I don’t truly take the night off. I’m with my friends but I’m answering emails. I’m not doing school work but I’m researching medical schools. I’m not on my computer but I’m writing to do lists or making business calls. If you can’t swing having a day off a week, pick an evening each week and do not do any work. Maybe you go out with friends on the weekends, maybe you work weekends, whatever your schedule looks like, find a night and don’t work. In high school I called this “Erika’s Thursday Night Movie Fun Time” (yes, I know it’s cringy but I like naming things so I can put it in my to do list). Put it in your calendar, write it on your to do list, and do it. Maybe it’s a nice bath and facemask, maybe a longer workout, maybe it’s cooking or baking, maybe just picking a movie and watching in on a real TV instead of a phone screen and making the conscious effort to not do any multitasking until it is over. Pick a time and take a night off regularly.
6. Weekend Get-Away
Now this one might take a bit more planning, but pick one weekend between now and the end of the semester and get in your car and go somewhere. For me, I’m going to go up north to see my family. It could be to another college to see a friend or a performance, it could be home if that’s close enough to visit on a weekend. The idea here is to get out and take a brief break in a different environment. It doesn’t need to be flashing and exciting, just a little break.
7. Make a List of Things to Look Forward To
This one’s as simple as it sounds. Make a list of stuff you are looking forward to when the semester is over. It can help to serve as a reminder for why you are working so hard and as motivation to continue to work hard.
At the end of the day, real life is rarely as nice as vacation, and coming back from a trip is just one big reminder of how true that is. I’m as unhappy about it as the next guy. However, when one door closes another one opens and the remainder of the semester is filled with doors that just have yet to open. I hope some of these ideas can help you to keep your eyes on the prize and make the most of the spring ahead.