After winter break, I sometimes struggle to stay focused, probably because I’ve been out of school for a month and doing nothing the entire time. It can be challenging to get back into the mindset of being in school, but I know I have to stay on track. Especially as a sophomore taking mainly major-required classes, I have to be fully engaged with my school work and my lectures.
During my winter break, I completely forgot about school, as I was hanging out with friends or indulged in books all month. Returning to school can sometimes be hard, as I’m still within that winter break mindset. These are some of the tricks and tips that I like to use to make sure I give 100% of my attention and time to school.
The first thing that’s a very important part of this process is staying off my phone and electronics. All throughout the break, I had all my electronics by my side as I was watching TV, movies, anime, or scrolling through social media. It’s as if it was glued to me at all times, which can become addicting. Making sure that I turn off my phone completely and put it in my bag when I’m at school, rather than having it in a place where I can see it, tempting me to want to doomscroll for hours, helps me so much.
Another thing that I like to do is plan. I know that most students hate looking at syllabi when the new semester comes, but I love to get an understanding as to what assignments I’ll have over the semester and what the class is about, which helps me with my planning. I’m someone who loves using a physical planner as a guide for me to keep track of all my assignments and classes. It also helps with not being on my computer and urging me to want to shop online or look up something else, rather than plan my semester.
My last trick that usually helps me is walking around campus. I really like walking, especially around campus, listening to whatever song I’m interested in at the moment. It helps me get out of my head and all the worrying that I know the new semester will bring when it starts to become a heavy workload. But I love the scenery that the University of California, Berkeley campus has, and walking helps me calm my nerves or any negative emotion I might have.
For the most part, the three tips and tricks that I listed help me so much to get back into the school mindset after winter break.