Although syllabus week and the beginning of a new semester are widely regarded as an easy and relatively unbusy time for college students, I have often found that my anxiety actually tends to spike during the first few weeks of classes. There is something inherently stressful about attending each new class for the first time and finding out all I will have to do over the coming months — not to mention the dreaded icebreakers we’ve all been forced to participate in. Still, as I’ve repeated the process of starting a new semester over and over again (now for the fourth time), I have discovered certain healthy habits which have enabled me to ease any feelings of anxiety and proceed into the weeks ahead with confidence. If you have struggled with the mental strain of transitioning from one semester to another, you are not alone, and I hope these tips will enable you to enjoy your happiest, healthiest semester yet!
Photo by Eric Rothermel via Unsplash
Plan Ahead
I have found that nothing makes me feel more prepared at college than keeping a daily planner. Once I’ve received all of my syllabi, it greatly alleviates my initial feelings of anxiousness to map out all of my assignments. That way, I can visually see when I will have to complete my “big” assignments, and the spaces of time in between them. I do this mapping on my yearly calendar so that I can easily fill out my planner at the beginning of each new week according to what work must be started and/or completed during the next seven days. It is a bit of extra work during syllabus week to have to go through each course calendar and fill in your own, but I promise that it pays off in the end and leaves you feeling informed and ready for the semester ahead of you.
Photo by NeONBRAND via Unsplash
Remember All the Time You Have
Even once I have filled in my calendar, it is easy to single out a particularly heavy week of work and agonize over how I will get everything done when the time comes. However, this habit is ultimately a waste of mental energy and a thief of potential happiness. There is nothing I can do about a cluster of assignments six weeks in the future — and that is okay. Without fail, each time I have entertained worry and dread I have ultimately realized that all of it was for nothing. The week arrives and I am able to work ahead and utilize each hour productively. It is important to remember once all of your assignments are laid out that even the nastiest, most stressful weeks consist of hours upon hours of time that can be used to your benefit. While it is *not* healthy to pull all-nighters and camp out in the library until 3 a.m., going to bed just a little bit later and/or waking up just a little bit earlier are temporary measures which can ultimately enable you to produce your best work possible. Just remember not to sacrifice self-care for the sake of a grade!
Photo by Alisa Anton via Unsplash
Let Yourself Rest
This past week, there was one day when I enjoyed an unprecedented amount of free time, and I was able to spend almost my entire afternoon reading a book for fun. While I was happy to be able to read something unrelated to my classes, I couldn’t enjoy myself fully because of a nagging worry in the back of my mind: I had to be forgetting about something. There was no way I had nothing else to do for the day! Despite knowing that it was only the second week of classes and going over my completed mental checklist over and over again, it was almost impossible for me to turn off my “work” mindset and allow myself to rest. In the future, it is my goal to appreciate the relaxed schedule of the first few weeks of classes, when homework and extracurricular obligations are not yet in full swing, and to be thankful for all of my free time, rather than wishing for more work to do in order to feel like I’m being “productive.” After all, taking time for yourself is productive in its own way, so why not savor it?