As the much-needed Thanksgiving break is just around the corner, it may be incredibly tempting to kick up your feet and not think about school at all during the break. That being said, many students also use this time to catch up on previous work and start preparing for finals that arrive so quickly after Thanksgiving break.
Make a Plan
Now is the best time to make a plan about what you are going to do over break. This plan can come in many forms, but I do recommend writing it down and placing it somewhere visible where you’ll be reminded to follow it.
Making a plan could also include figuring out what you have to do for classes, finding all assignments, or any projects whose due dates may sneak up on you after the break. Additionally, this time could be used to get ahead on assignments, so you can focus on studying for finals instead of having to worry about reading assignment #16. This can help mitigate the stress you may feel later in the semester as well. Two birds with one stone!
To go along with your plan, I recommend making a schedule for break. Some examples of schedules can include in-depth hour-by-hour calendars, general to-do lists for each day, or even just making note of when you will be busy. Of course, since many people are going back home and traveling in general, it may be hard to schedule your days. It is perfectly fine to be flexible! It is break after all, and as much as we would like to do everything we can, it may not be possible do to everything we have on our to-do list. Making this schedule does not necessarily need to be set and stone, things can change around, but the point of making a schedule is to mentally prepare yourself to do those tasks at certain times, which will hopefully help prevent procrastination.
Do a little each day!
“A little” can range from doing one discussion board post to starting a lengthy reading assignment to making a comprehensive and extensive study guide. Really, what this looks like will range from person to person. The main goal here is to get some work done over the break. Even if you do not end up finishing any assignments or studying as much as you wanted, one of the greatest struggles is just starting to do the work in the first place, and doing some work will always be better than doing no work.
If you do decide to spend multiple days working on assignments and or studying, make sure to take breaks! This is a time to rest and recuperate after all, and burning yourself out during the home stretch is not ideal.
Establish or Fix Routines
Like many, I personally started this semester with decent habits, but as the weeks have gone by, certain things like sleep or exercise schedules have become a fraction of what they once were, or completely nonexistent in general. While it might also be tempting to stay up all night then sleep past noon, coming back from break and getting up for your 9 a.m. class is going to be rough (Trust me, I’ve been there). This is a great time to both catch up on sleep and establish a better bedtime routine, if this is something you also struggle with. Not only will it prepare you for the return after break, but hopefully it will help prevent burnout nearing the end of the semester.
Of course, this is a break, so please go and have some fun! Whatever you end up doing, stay safe in both your travels and activities! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving break Cougs!!
