Blackburn is officially going into the sixth week of classes, which means we have gotten through half of the semester. But that also means many students are beginning to, or already have, hit the dreaded slump of the semester.
The slump is different for every student. Some students are fortunate enough to not go through it or don’t suffer from it as much as others. But, for a majority of Blackburn, the slump is a real struggle. In general, the slump consists of not wanting to do what we should be doing, whether that’s tasks for work, classes or just doing laundry. Although, completely avoiding the slump is almost impossible. What can you do to keep it less stressful?
Students usually hit the slump at this point in the semester for a variety of different reasons. Students have fallen behind in classwork, they are catching up on work hours, they have paper after paper to write or they have a lot of reading assignments. When we are overwhelmed with the amount of school work, we don’t really know where to start. So, here are some things that can happen to help get out of the slump or to help make it less stressful.
- Do small cleaning tasks like taking out room trash, wiping down surfaces, throwing out old food, sweeping the floors, etc. This could help you get motivated to start doing work for classes.
- Meditate and get in the right headspace before starting large assignments. The classical meditation (sitting criss-cross applesauce and whatnot) is not for everyone, so find something that works for you to get in the right headspace. This could be anything from running, coloring or even knitting.
- Shake things up a little bit in your daily routine. If you usually eat in your room for lunch, try eating outside. If you usually eat a turkey and swiss wrap from Snackbar, try eating something else that you like. Maybe use a perfume, cologne or body spray that you haven’t used in a while.
- Rewrite your notes. This is not only a good study trick, it also helps you get your mind going to do that paper or read those pages.
- Eay healthy snacks. Although this one is easier said than done for most, it can be accomplished. Instead of grabbing a bag of chips or a handful of Twizzlers, grab a Cutie or a pack or two of fruit snacks. This helps keep your body active, and in turn doing tasks that need to be done.
- Take breaks between tasks. Although this may seem counterproductive, as when you need to do a lot of tasks, you think you shouldn’t stop. But taking breaks keeps the motivation going and isn’t as exhausting as going non-stop on multiple tasks.
This list doesn’t contain everything that can help with the slump, but it can act as a good guide and starting point to conquer the day’s to-do list. So, go and combat the awful slump, and seize the day!