Sometimes I find that this little interval between Thanksgiving and Winter break can sometimes be made worse with the trip home. We go home to take a break from school and spend time with friends and family, but more often than we'd want, the ones we love end up freaking us out with questions like these:
What do you want to major in? What do you want to do this summer? Are you studying abroad?? Or for seniors--How's the job hunt going?
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| It'll be alright Cinderella...(source) |
So what do you do when it literally feels like everything is happening at once??!!
Step 1: Chill
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| Sleep is a magical thing...just make sure to wake up (source) |
Also, if you find that you're procrastinating, try not to spend more time freaking out about all your work: Stop. Pat yourself on the back for your "extra" self-care, and hit the books for a while.
All those questions that your Aunt asked you about summer plans and your intended major and what you want to do after graduation may have you thinking (but mostly freaking out) about your next steps. But please, repeat after me: Now is not the time!
While here at the Career Center we're happy to help students with summer internships, resumes, and job searching, school should come first. For the next two weeks, no job opportunity should be worth spreading yourself so thin. Finals period will come and go so quickly; you want to allocate your time wisely. For a majority of fields, job and internship opportunities are constantly coming up, especially second semester, and the Career Center is there all year--even during Winter Break*, but your final exams/assignments only come around once.
(*we'll talk about utilizing the Career Center during winter break in my next post!)
Step 2: Prioritize
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| Some things aren't worth paying attention to...(source) |
While here at the Career Center we're happy to help students with summer internships, resumes, and job searching, school should come first. For the next two weeks, no job opportunity should be worth spreading yourself so thin. Finals period will come and go so quickly; you want to allocate your time wisely. For a majority of fields, job and internship opportunities are constantly coming up, especially second semester, and the Career Center is there all year--even during Winter Break*, but your final exams/assignments only come around once.
(*we'll talk about utilizing the Career Center during winter break in my next post!)
Step 3: Focus
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| Without focus, things can turn into a mess...(source) |
After you've figured out what needs to be done, now you just need the perfect study environment. There are a lot of ways to create the optimal environment--this is one good article--but here are just 3 takeaways:
- Work in the environment best for you. If you're someone who needs quiet and alone time, don't say "yes" when your friends want to study together. Respect your own preferences, and your friends will too. Your GPA will thank you later.
- Set reminders. There are so many things to keep track of this time of year, but don't use more of your precious brainspace! Use reminder apps to keep track of your tasks. Most Macs come with this reminder app, or you can download the reminder app Remember the Milk which works on any device.
- Schedule break time. Self-care and focus go hand-in-hand. Avoid burning out by taking, the article suggests, "a brief five-minute break every 25 minutes but you should also plan larger breaks every 90 to 120 minutes." So, many get a snack in those five minutes or respond to those messages that you *hopefully* ignored. For the longer breaks, take a brief walk. I'd stay away from Netflix though...
Well, I hope this helps during the Finals Stretch. Remember: Don't overwhelm yourself with more than the imminent tasks in front of you. Just give it your all, because this final stretch will be over before you know it!
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| Dora is a Disney Princess in my eyes :) (source) |
Thanks for reading!
Class of 2018
