Reading week gives students a very much-appreciated break from school. It allows many of us who live away from our families to spend a week at home, and some lucky students even go on vacation somewhere warm. Reading week is a great opportunity to be extra productive as it’s a week free from any classes or deadlines. It is also an opportunity to relax and destress because of those same reasons! If you’re the type of person who is hoping to accomplish as much as they can over the break, keep reading for tips on what you can do to have both a productive, and fun, reading week.
Catch up on Readings
This may be an obvious one, but it’s something I feel like not enough people are actually taking advantage of. Being a student means you’re most likely taking multiple courses, and taking multiple courses means multiple readings. During the semester, readings can start to pile up and it is not very hard to get behind on them. There’s a reason they call it reading week, and it’s because it’s a chance to catch up (or even get ahead) on the readings you have for your classes. If you have the extra time you could even do some personal reading for fun!
Get into Healthy Habits
At school it is easy to get into unhealthy routines or habits. We’ve all had nights where we stay up way too late to study for a test the next day or finish a project right before the deadline. Making sure that you’re getting a proper amount of sleep over reading week is a great idea. In addition, if you feel like you’re behind with working out you can use the week free from classes to get back into a gym routine. Lastly, something I like to do is use the break to try out new recipes that I can make while at school. I tend to get stuck making the same (sometimes unhealthy) foods over the semester, and learning new recipes gets me out of that habit.
Spend Time With Your Family
Personally, when I’m living at school the people I miss most are my parents. Reading week lets me have a full week living with them and I make sure I spend a lot of quality time with them as well. Being home gives you the opportunity to see and hang out with your siblings, parents and friends. Given that fall reading week falls at the same time as Thanksgiving, not only do many of us have the opportunity to see immediate and extended family, we also get to eat (way too much) super delicious food.
Tidy Your Spaces
During the school week, I have a tendency to let my bedroom get quite messy. When I’m super busy, cleaning up my room usually ends up falling very low on my priorities list. Having a week off of school is the perfect reason to tidy up any of your (not so tidy) spaces. This is also one of the first steps to making sure you are as productive as possible because it is much easier to get work done when you have a fresh and clean space to do it in.
Study for Upcoming Tests
Given the fact that we’re now officially in midterm season, you most likely have a midterm or two directly after reading week. The break from classes gives you extra time that you usually wouldn’t have to make sure you are fully prepared for any upcoming tests. The extra free time might allow you to even try out study methods you usually wouldn’t. Over reading week something I do while studying that I usually don’t have the time to do is create cue cards for important terms in my courses.
Work on Upcoming Assignments
Similar to the previous point, many of us have assignments due once we get back to school. Using your free time over reading week means you won’t be cramming to get it done right before the deadline. You (and your grade) will most likely thank you for getting ahead on your work. Even just looking over future assignments is still something you’ll be glad you did. Getting ahead and doing papers/projects early while you have the time means having more free time later on during the semester.
See Your Friends
If you’re spending time at home for reading week, it is the perfect time to see your hometown friends. I know that many of my friends from home go to different universities than me, some far away, so I always look forward to everyone coming back over the break. Making time for each other and doing something fun together is a great way to make memories that you can look back on when you miss them during the rest of the school year.