By Aislinn O Connor
It happens to us all. The mid-season burnout. Assignments are being submitted, the novelty of being away from home and with your friends has worn off and it’s time to knuckle down. To make things even worse, exams are creeping up on us faster than we would like. We all hate this time of the semester, its neither here nor there.
However, there are many things that you can do to help tackle that mid-season burnout.
Take some time for yourself
Take a mental health day – just one, treat yourself. You got this far in the semester, it’s just before exam time and you deserve it. You need to give your mind and body a chance to catch up with everything and recuperate. Now, don’t take it over the top and give yourself a mental health week, just take a day to rest, and, you know, buy yourself something nice.
A bit more sleep should do the trick
Even an hour more sleep can make all the difference sometimes. Instead of going to bed at midnight, why not try and go to bed one hour earlier? You can watch that episode on Netflix another day.
Have a good ol’ clean up
You’re midway through the semester now, it’s time for a clear out. Tidy your notes up and find a more creative way to study that will make studying a little less boring for you. Having a clean space and a creative way to study can be the something different that could just about help you avoide that mid season burnout.
Water
Look, I know, everyone always says “drink more water”, but it actually works. When I don’t drink enough water, I get dehydrated and tired. I burn out easily and that’s just not what you want for this time of year.
Plan, Plan, Planning
Just sit down for a few minutes and plan your day/week/month. This leads to having an organised head about when you’re going to the library and when you have ‘you time’. Avoid cramming around this time of year because it will just make everythig seem worse. Late nights and early mornings just won’t help your mid-season burn out. Another thing in this department that could help you is if you got yourself a planner – a small one, that you can just throw in your bag and take out whenever you need it.
And finally… if it’s not benefitting you, ditch it.
If those nights out are leaving you worse off the morning after, then forget it. There is no point wasting a whole day to a sore head and a sick stomach. If there is that one friend that constantly leans on you and pressures you into going out and not going to the library to study etc., then, I’m sorry, but you might want to take a break from them.
It is really easily to get burned out at this time of year and it’s inevitable that you will feel a bit burned out every now and then, but if you can follow some of these tricks, you can avoid feeling burned out 24/7. Best of luck!