The end of the semester is rapidly approaching, and it is easy to get lost in the chaos of these last weeks. With finals to be taken, moving out arrangements to be made and last minute experiences to be had, it can be hard to find time for yourself and easy to find yourself burnt out. Here are some tips and tricks on how to avoid running yourself dry while making the most of your time left.
Prioritize
When you’re faced with what seems like a million tasks and an impossibly short amount of time to complete them, it is important to prioritize what you need to get done. This is especially important at a school like Tech, where students are constantly bombarded with countless opportunities. If you’re graduating, you may choose to dedicate more time to searching for jobs instead of focusing on other aspects of your life such as extracurriculars. On the other hand, if you are a first-year student looking to put down roots, it may be important for you to prioritize being involved on campus.
What you prioritize is heavily influenced by your own values, so make sure you know what you want — separate from outside opinions. When you distinguish between what is important to you versus things you may just be doing for the sake of doing, you will find that you may have far fewer things on your to-do list than you previously thought.
Plan
Planning out your tasks and setting times for them is often half the battle. When you have what feels like an infinite amount of things to do, scheduling out when you are going to do it can help remind you that there are, in fact, enough hours in the day to finish all the work you have.
How you actually organize tasks can vary greatly and depends on what you find the easiest. For some people, using a physical planner or calendar can be helpful for actualizing; for others, software like Google Calendar or Notion provide a more dynamic and high-tech option. Whatever you choose, as long as it helps you visualize what you have to do and when, it works.
Perspective
It can be easy to feel like everything is life or death, especially when you are taking exams that are literally called “finals.” However, it is important to put things into perspective. A bad grade on your final will not be the end of your life and neither will the job interview you messed up on. Without perspective, it is easy to put so much pressure on every task you have to do. As you approach the finish line, every task may feel decisive; things like turning in a homework assignment, can feel like the difference between success and failure.
While a little pressure can be a good motivator, too much can harm you. You are not defined by the results you produce in the last few weeks of the semester, but rather as a sum of all you have done. Take time to step away from your work, and remember that life will go on regardless.
Even though finals season is often universally regarded as the worst time in a college student’s life, it is a great opportunity to work on dealing with stress, both internal and external. However these next few weeks go, be proud of all you have accomplished and all you have done to even reach this point. Finish strong, Jackets!