It's that time of year where classes have officially moved out of the syllabus stage and every single one has decided to give an exam the same week. Organizations and clubs are popping off with activities and meetings for new spring members to get extra involved and your planner is probably running out of space for one more bullet point note. For some of us springtime means more time for an internship or a job, but in actuality, there's not much more time than fall - don't kid yourself. On top of school and extracurriculars you don't want to get lost in your friend group nor do you want to lose that spring break body you are oh so close to achieving, so what do you do?
Talking from experience, you push the life out of yourself and go home exhausted every day your body never fully achieving a chance to reenergize. If you aren't careful, you'll run yourself down, lose your mind and drop one of those prioritized components of your lifestyle. I know it's hard and it sounds like the worst option, but you must be able to give yourself a break.
Here are a few ideas of how to give yourself a break both mentally and physically so you don't burn yourself out too quickly this semester. No matter which part of your life you're taking on too much of one of these should work for you!
Take a bath.
Add Epson salt or bubbles, light a candle, drop in a bath bomb – whatever it takes.
Breathe.
A quick few minute breaks in between hours of studying can do wonders. Take a step back, stretch, take deep breathes and clear your mind.
Give yourself a day to sleep in for once.
The few minutes or hours will do you wonders even if it is just once a week!
Make a list of everything you need to wrap your head around and break it down into reasonable amounts for each day or each week.
This way you'll ensure some YOU time each week.
Skip exercise for a day or replace it with something less hardcore such as yoga.
You may think yoga isn't an exercise at all, but just try it it's harder than you think.
Remember it’s okay to act childish every once in a while.
Let yourself relax and laugh.
Stop texting and snap-chatting.
Or literally any form of communicating with the world through your phone for a significant amount of time.
Try a day free of whatever bad contents you insist on putting in it.
Whether that's alcohol, fast food, etc.
Go splurge!
Spend some money on whatever it is you desire from food to clothes forget about the cost for the day.
Lastly, cry.
It may sound like the worst option, but sometimes, just sometimes this is exactly what you need to release all tensions.
Try all of them or try none, but the latter isn't the right option for yourself!
man running in forestPhoto by 
