If you're not from Stony Brook University, you are probably already familiar with the concept of fall break. Fall break is essentially an extra two days off in the middle of fall for students to relax and regain their bearings on things after having gone through a turbulent first third of the semester. Here at SBU, we've never had fall break before and even though it's really amazing having all this time in the middle of fall, I feel as if I've become a couch potato (in this case, a dorm room potato) within a matter of hours.
It would be amazing if fall break was synonymous with no assignments, forget your troubles, and be free, but unfortunately, that is not the case. Assignments are still on the radar; they're far away, of course, but they are still looming rather threateningly in the distance. As much as I have tried to get things done, the amazing weather and the sheer amount of fun things I could be doing, as opposed to doing school work, is very overpowering. It's a miracle that I've found the willpower to write this article, so I'll probably use that as my excuse for productivity for a while.
It's easy to make jokes about procrastination and lack of time management because everyone relates to it so well. Getting a project assigned to you at the beginning of the semester to be finished by the end is no different from being assigned it the night before it is due. However fun it may be to joke about, procrastination is a seriously underrated problem that can often lead to failure in the academic sphere. And for what? Being unable to manage one's priorities? Out of all of the reasons for failing, procrastination is above some of the worst.
As important as it is for one to relax during breaks, it is also equally important to not shut down completely. Before fall break started, I asked a number of people what their plans were for this new tradition that the school was starting and a majority of them said sleep and nothing else. Assignments were not on the horizon, they simply wanted to rest for four days and that was all. That sounds really amazing, especially during this fast-paced time of year, however, it is unbelievably important to remember that school is still going to exist once fall break is over.
Some tips to stay productive during this overwhelmingly relaxing time would be to set up a reasonable time to wake up each day (turn off the 7 AM alarm for your now nonexistent 8 AM class), remember to get your three meals (sure, you don't have a whole day worth of stuff to do anymore, but you still have to eat), and make a schedule (don't do all of your assignments at once, but now that you have the time, balance them all out so you're finished by the end of break). Enjoy your fall break, but don't procrastinate on the important stuff!
