Coping with Mid-Semester Mania

If you are feeling overwhelmed with classes, tests, quizzes, and homework, join the club. We have officially hit Mid-Semester Mania (patent pending). This is the time where everything is due, but time feels like it is flying through the sky and there is not enough of it in the world to finish all your work. For those of you who are not feeling this, I applaud you because that means you are either really good at keeping up with work or keeping calm. I, however, procrastinate – a lot. So, I thought I would bring you some tips and tricks to try and make your Mid-Semester Mania a little easier to handle!

                                                                                                        Self Care
Self care is one of the biggest things to help reduce your stress. While self care is usually associated with taking a break, having a day for you, and trying to relax, there is another part of self care that people tend to forget. Self care is most importantly the act of being kind to yourself. This isn’t only when you’re doing good. Self love and kindness needs to be present even when you feel like everything is falling apart, or worse – feel like everything is falling apart because of you. I struggle with this, but when you are kind to yourself, it makes doing work a lot easier because your brain is focused on adjusting and learning rather than shaming. 

That being said, breaks and time for yourself are still important. Make sure that you are taking breaks during your work time. A great way to do this is the 50:10 method, also known as the Pomodoro method. Fifty minutes of work with a ten-minute break and this break is for whatever you want it to be. You could send out those emails you’ve been meaning to, sit and watch TikTok, read for pleasure, anything! These breaks help your brain rest, which is essential when you want to actually retain knowledge.

                                                                                                        Clean Up
I did not know how much cleaning the area around you can help clear your mind. When you are feeling stuck, take a look around you. Is there trash and clothes everywhere? Do you feel surrounded by clutter? Is it even just a little messy and distracting your brain? Take a break and clean. The other day, I was trying to do work and my room was awful. So, I paused the work and got the majority cleaned up. This helped immensely. Then I let my breaks be dedicated to fixing and cleaning up surfaces. By the time I had finished an essay, my room was almost spotless, just needed a good sweep. Every time I cleaned a surface, the better the essay got. I know it sounds silly, but I swear it has helped me every time I feel stuck.

                                                                                             Ten Minute Pity Parties
If you are feeling like you need to cry and feel out everything, do it. Take the ten minutes and feel everything you are feeling. If you don’t allow yourself to feel the stress and anger and sadness out, it will bottle up and combust. So, take your time to just feel. I set a timer for ten minutes and let myself cry about everything that’s been bothering me, or I’ll rant to myself (it sounds a little crazy, but sometimes you need to). When the timer goes off, I wash my face and shake off the bad feelings, literally. I’ll shake it out like you would after stretching, and then I’ll sit down and get back to work. Reaching out to a friend to vent can also be beneficial for this method. 

                                                                                                    Take a Shower
This one is a little odd, only because actual washing might not actually be required after all. When you’re feeling overwhelmed or tired, letting the warm water (or cold, if you prefer) run over you can help loosen up thoughts and ideas, letting them flow too! Not only will you emerge fresh and clean physically, but fresh and clean mentally too. It also lets your thoughts roam on their own and maybe create a new idea. Blast music and scream sing in the shower just to release tension, if need be. If you’re tired, make sure to make your room a little chilly and take a hot shower. The hot shower allows your body to give into sleep a little bit, but once you walk into your room, it wakes you up. Put on clothes and then sit at your desk to finish whatever you needed to finish. 

Disclaimer, these are things that work for me. This does not mean that they will work for everyone but it’s always worth a try. Maybe one of these works, maybe another doesn’t, maybe a combination is the best thing to ever happen to you. Whatever the case may be, I hope your mid-semester goes over smoothly and the rest of the semester shapes up!