New Sem, New Me!

The second semester is upon us, alongside our resolutions for the new year (majority of which wouldn’t hold up, let’s be real here). As we brace ourselves for another grueling semester, we should reflect on everything that happened during the first round of online instruction and find ways to make it better not only for our grades, but for our well-being as well. As a college student who found herself at a loss sometimes due to the sheer amount of work and stress, here are a few things I think we could do better this time around:

Do more, stress less

Procrastination is a tricky habit to lose. What often happens is that we stress over the task while scrolling through social media, and end up not having done it despite the hours of stress it already cost us. A better route would be getting the task done as soon as you can, and then taking the remaining time you would have spent stressing out about it otherwise to actually relax and rest. This semester, maybe try scheduling time to get the task done as soon as it is announced by your professor. This is especially important if your deadlines tend to clump together and you’re left with a huge pile of work with no valuable personal time to unwind.

Stick to your schedule

If you felt overwhelmed and that you had no “me-time” last semester, try creating a schedule this time around. Block off certain hours for you to efficiently get your work done, and set aside some personal and family time for your enjoyment. Once the schedule is made, you then get to the hard part—actually sticking to it. This will take a lot of discipline but will definitely pay off in the end.

Take better care of yourself

Last semester was brutal. Towards the end, many of us looked like zombies. Some lost a lot of weight, while many gained a few unhealthy pounds from stress eating. You might have found yourself cooped up in your messy room for days on end, leaving its confines only for bathroom and food breaks. All these are indications that students have the tendency to neglect their personal needs to meet the deadliest of deadlines. Perhaps this is one area we could all work on this coming semester. Take care of yourself, particularly your physical and mental health.

Some ways of doing this would be taking time to make sure your working environment is clean and comfy. Try not to skip any meals, and make sure you discipline yourself when you’re itching for a binge at three in the morning. Respect that your body needs ample rest to function properly, then actually get some rest instead of poking fun at your dark circles. Leave your room to interact with your family or pets, and set aside personal time doing things you actually enjoy.

These may sound idealistic, but they cover pretty much the basic needs of a healthy person. We have become so used to working ourselves to the bone that we sometimes forget what needs versus wants are. When your basic needs are satisfied, you’re more likely to give tasks and people your best.

Take notes in class

When your camera is off and your professors cannot see what you are doing, it is extremely tempting to doze off or do something else while attending a lecture. No matter how much we say we would pay attention, this usually does not last for the entire class. What’s difficult about this, given the whiplash-pace some professors like to take, is that a lecture missed is a lecture lost forever. I, for one, always told myself that I would go back to re-watch the recordings, but honestly, I rarely did.

If you are facing the same problem, try taking notes while you are in class. This will force your mind to stay alert during class, and will actually help you understand the lesson better. This is also to ensure you don’t miss any important announcements while your head is up in the clouds. An added advantage to this would be having actual notes by the end of it—we all know mental notes are as good as forgotten.

Check on your friends

In the race to submit requirements on time, we often forget to ask our friends how they are doing. Times are hard, and mental health problems have plummeted since the onset of the pandemic. Remember that even your strongest of friends could be facing something that you are not aware of. It would serve us well to create a norm of checking in on one another regularly.

Reward yourself

When the deadlines are done and your goals achieved, remember to reward yourself—be it in the form of an ice cream or a fun activity. This is a good practice to minimize your chances of getting burned out. When all you see is a never-ending list of things to do, you can very quickly lose morale and drive. Make a habit of rewarding yourself for getting through even the smallest and dreariest of tasks.

Surely, there will be lapses in our efforts to cope better. However, we should keep in mind that our failures today will not discredit our previous work. What matters is how we call ourselves out and redirect our paths to reach the goal.

LAYOUT BY: Cristine Joie Q. Bacud

PHOTO SOURCE(S): Canva Contributors