The end of the semester is nearing. Finals are quickly approaching, and Thanksgiving break is just two weeks away. Fortunately, we are on the home stretch; unfortunately, we are reaching that time in the semester where there is no motivation to be found.
Professors are constantly reminding us that we are more than halfway over with the semester, and that really decreases motivation. We are just living the days waiting for a break away from homework, due dates, and exams. Our schedules are getting busier and busier and we are living for the day to go home, stuff our faces, and leave school behind.
The mid-semester slump has some key symptoms associated with it:
1. Immediately after waking up, you calculate the hours until you can nap.
No matter how many hours of sleep you get, you still wake up exhausted. The only thing you have to look forward to is the next time you get to crawl back into your comfy bed and sleep.
2. Writing a paper consists of making the heading and title, and then taking a break.
It's the little things that make you feel achieved. You only wrote the title and yet you feel like you have accomplished so much that you deserve a break. That is just fine; the world should celebrate the little things more.
3. Your “studying” turns into just staring at your notes hoping something is absorbed.
Unfortunately, it has been proven that "passive" studying really does not count for studying. You are not going to absorb much from just looking at the words you wrote down. But hey, a college student can dream.
4. You live in comfortable clothes.
You go to sleep in sweats, wake up in those sweats, put a different shirt on and some shoes, and you are ready to go. This can be done with leggings, hoodies, shirts, etc. The possibilities are endless.
5. You procrastinate even worse than you already have.
Procrastination is an epidemic, and also an extremely hard habit to break. When you are already naturally a procrastinator, with motivation, having a lack of motivation, exponentially increases the level of procrastination that can be reached.
6. You find yourself snacking mindlessly.
You do not even have to be hungry, you just find yourself grabbing your favorite snack food, and somehow that food is now in your mouth.
7. Writing notes in class is physically painful.
You physically do not have the energy to move your hand across the paper. Gripping the pen causes hand cramps, and your fingers feel as if they are not even attached to the rest of your body. The muscle memory to hold a pen is gone and it just keeps slipping out of your grasp.
8. No matter how much caffeine you consume, you still feel like a zombie.
It does not matter what time of the day it is, coffee or caffeinated products are just not working. You could have a cup of coffee and energy drink and it still feels as though you have gone through the day without any caffeine.
9. Getting ready in the morning consists more of you sitting in bed staring at the wall than it does actually getting ready.
You plan to get dressed, eventually, but right now sitting up in your bed staring off into the distance having an internal debate with yourself whether class is worth it or not is the priority.
10. Lastly, you identify with most of these and realize that you too are stuck in the slump.
It is okay to admit you are in the slump. Admitting that you are in a problem is the first step to fixing it. The motivation will come to you, eventually.
