With Halloween having just ended and Thanksgiving and winter holidays coming up soon, it can be difficult to stay on top of your assignments with all of the upcoming excitement. I know, at least for me, my motivation drops right at this time in the semester because it feels like the end (or at least a break) is almost within reach. However, while it can be easy to slip up and let loose of the reins a little bit, it can be even more rewarding to successfully sail through the rest of the semester with great grades.
Even though we’ve only just finished midterms, it sometimes feels like we’ve already hit the burnout limit for the entire semester. Instead of letting midterms overtake us like that, we should use the difficulty of midterms to our advantage — be proud of yourself! You have managed to learn so much content thus far this semester, and there are new things that you now are knowledgeable about that you probably didn’t even know existed last year at this time. While I know you’re probably not thrilled to have learned things from all of your classes this semester, trying to take a positive spin on things can help relieve burnout.
During this weird period between midterms and Thanksgiving, I have to think of creative ways to keep myself motivated. For me, Thanksgiving is a slower-paced, more relaxing time to spend with my family, but it also comes with plenty of free time for when everyone at home is busy. So with that free time, there are so many different things that I would love to do with it. When I am feeling particularly burned out at this point in the semester, I will set a timer for 5 minutes and write down all non-curricular things that I would like to do in my free time, especially things that I can look forward to doing over Thanksgiving break. Giving myself this five minute brain-break allows me to reset and go back to my work with a more focused mind while also having specific things to look forward to in the near future.
It’s also the point in the semester when it can get easier and easier to push off assignments until the last minute. While I know it can be super tempting to do this in order to spend time doing other things and spending time with people, think about how much more rewarding it can be to go out without a looming assignment deadline or a bunch of Canvas notifications for your to-do list on your phone? When it gets increasingly difficult to maintain motivation to finish assignments, I try to be extra cognisant of how I am spending my time. Mostly, trying to stay away from doom scrolling. By reminding myself how great it feels to have fun and see people without having the dread of multiple deadlines hanging over my head, it becomes easier to focus on getting as much work done well ahead of time that I can. It is still so important to enjoy yourself and spend time doing things other than schoolwork, so why wouldn’t we want to make these experiences better by not having to think about upcoming assignments?
While we head into the somewhat beginning of the final stretch of the semester, it is important to take care of yourself! Give yourself breaks when you need them and remember to prioritize your mental health just as much as your physical health. You’ve already made it so far this semester, and a break is coming up soon (in less than a month) — yay! Remember to try to stay focused on getting things done early while still having plenty of time to yourself!
