There are always times during the week where we just want to give up. You either got a bad grade on a paper or you have no motivation to study for a test. Whether you like it or not, you know you will regret it later on if you don't study for the test. The challenge is finding ways to keep yourself in the game.
1. Prioritize the most important stuff.
If there is a big test coming up that you aren't ready for, work on that first, no matter what other things you have going on. Whatever grade is worth the most is going to make the biggest impact, and suck a lot more if you got a bad grade.
2. Take study breaks.
To keep yourself sane, you need to take little breaks throughout your day. That could be either grabbing coffee with a friend or watching a few episodes of a TV show.
3. Find time for a workout.
Even doing an intense workout for 30 minutes will make you feel better. I know it is hard to build up the motivation to workout, but you just need to think about how good you feel after. That feeling will last with you for the next couple hours and get you through a sucky week.
4. Find time for yourself.
In college, you are always surrounded by people, which can be a good thing, but also sometimes you just want to be alone. You can still be surrounded by people, but if you are by yourself in Starbucks or at the library, it can help you find peace and a sense of being by yourself.
5. Live in the now.
It is very natural and normal for people to look forward to the next break of school, or whenever their big exams will be over. If you keep looking in the future, you will never get to enjoy the present. When you are living in the present and going through a hard time, the only thing that will help you is to stay in the present and work it out. This will help when the problem ever reoccurs.
6. Focus on the positive.
It is easy to let the little things bring you down, like a bad grade or a hard class. Focusing on the negative things in your life will only bring you down. The only way to feel better is to look at the positives in your life, and then the negatives will seem like nothing.
7. Don't fall behind.
The only thing that is going to make you more stressed about school work, is if you are way behind on studying. It is the worst feeling to feel helpless in a situation like that, prioritizing your work will help you not get in that situation.
We have to enjoy these four years, because before we know it we will be graduating. Being a second semester sophomore, I can account for how fast that year and a half went by. I now understand why juniors and seniors would always come up to me last year saying, "I wish I was a freshman again".
