To all the busy bees out there, take a freaking day off. (Note: If you’re someone who prefers to take every day off, take a day off of that and actually do something please.)
This year marks my fourth year both attending and volunteering for TIFF, the annual Toronto International Film Festival. I love not just watching films, but also getting to meet and converse with volunteers, fellow rushers, and festival street wanderers. That being said, sometimes there are awful moments, like the four hours a day commute, rushing a movie for hours upon hours and still not getting in, getting dispatched for a volunteer shift to a really boring venue or role, the tickets I want all being offsale and just not coming back onsale, and when two of the last screenings I want to see are scheduled at conflicting times.
Despite all of the negative moments, the festival keeps me coming back each year. It is one of those things that you love in a way that you allow them to absorb all of your energy and then when you step away from them, you realize just how much you love them because everything outside suddenly feels mundane and like a missed opportunity. Since TIFF is a 10-day festival, this is something that happens when I go home for the night and I have school or work on some days in between the festival. You know you’re going to sick soon because you haven’t been sleeping, exercising, or eating properly. But your peak mental state keeps you doing just fine until the final moments. Mind over matter, right?
Last night I got home and fell asleep without meaning to for the 5th time in the last week, but today I woke to no alarm. Today was the day I was supposed to watch the film at the top of my to-watch list for the festival, so you can imagine how I felt. I kept telling myself, “Mind over matter. Mind over matter. Mind over matter…” As it turns out, the saying isn’t wrong. I have been able to do everything thus far. The problem lies in reaching a point where even if I manage to stay awake on Sunday night (the final day of the festival) to work on this large accumulated pile of work that needs to be done before the weekend is over, there aren’t even enough hours left to do it. It was inevitable that I would have to pull the plug on one day of the festival. With better planning, I could have chosen the day. But because I wanted to push myself to an unhealthy state for too many days altogether, it was decided for me. It’s okay to put everything else on hold, as long as you make sure to account for it ahead of time. Shoving everything aside last minute isn’t going to pan out well.
What sort of things that you find yourself constantly getting frustrated with keep you coming back? Between TIFF, work, school, commuting, and other extracurriculars, I haven’t had a weekend to myself in three weeks. But I’m okay with that because with the exception of my commute, I want all of it (I need to look into teleportation). In addition, I know that everything just happens to be at its busiest right now and this is a temporary state. I am able to look at my calendar and find a relaxation day. Make sure to have that–a time or day off that you can look forward to when you’re getting near burnt out.
With the fall semester just starting back up, drop the things that you’re doing because they feel like obligations but aren’t. For instance, stop going out after work/class with friends everyday if it is more important to you to do your reading. If you have to cook dinner for your family and don’t want to do something complex, don’t. Your simpler recipe will probably be healthier for them anyway.
All HerCampus readers know how important sleep is, yet I’m willing to bet that at least 50% either have really messed up sleep patterns or just aren’t getting an adequate amount. If you are a person who keeps each and every hour of their day as an available time slot, schedule some of that time for your mind and body to recover.