The New Year is one of my favorite times of the year! It brings a fresh start, a new quarter, and an opportunity to set new goals. I’ve always preferred goals over “resolutions” because I feel like it’s a more positive way of framing what I want to achieve or how I want to grow that year.
Although I’m nearly half way through my second year at UW, I’m still figuring things out and take each quarter as a new opportunity to find what works best for me academically. I found myself extremely burnt out after fall quarter. Balancing classes, a new job, new involvements and leadership roles on campus, and a social life proved to be more difficult than I anticipated.
This quarter, I’m still striving to find that balance. Here are my goals to help me find that this quarter. Hopefully they can help you be your best, most motivated and productive self this quarter too.
Take a Day Off
Fall quarter of my freshman year, I always tried to take a day off and not do homework. Did I always stick to this? Probably not, but I did my best to make plans on the weekend so I had something to look forward to throughout the week and give me a break from homework. Whether it was a football game, getting brunch with a friend, or exploring a new part of Seattle, planning for a day off helped me stay on top of my work during the week, make time for socializing with friends, and avoid burnout.
Find a Way to Stay Organized
Having a system that works well for me is so helpful! I would not be able to succeed without one. While my system hasn’t changed much in my time at UW, I’m always open to tweaking it. I keep all of my classes, meetings, events, etc in my Google Calendar. (I don’t know what I’d do without it!) I keep a physical planner with due dates for the quarter on my desk. Over fall quarter, I started keeping a to do list in the notes app on my phone, which helped me to have it easily accessible. I definitely plan to keep using these tools to help me stay on top of things this quarter!
Do Homework in Smaller Chunks
Last quarter, I did a lot of my work for the week on Sunday. I grocery shopped, cleaned, did all of my readings and readiness assignments, and review material from the previous week. While it was what I needed to do since I didn’t have much time during the day, it was not sustainable or productive. I am much more focused when I can do work in smaller spurts, like between classes. That’s definitely something I plan to work on this quarter, and I planned my classes so that I could do this!
Remind Yourself of Your Long Term Goals and Why You’re Here
Trust me, I love to complain about my classes, sometimes even classes I enjoy. Going forward, I want to be more mindful of this. I am excited to take classes for my major and take classes that challenge me. As college students, we’re here to learn and work towards finding a potential career path! Even when I’m tired and don’t really feel like going to class, this quarter I’m going to try to remind myself of this. Hopefully, a positive mindset and better study strategies will help all of us have a fun, burnout free winter quarter.