It's about that time of the semester: six weeks left before finals. The workload is picking up, and the motivation is going down. Fast. I think I'm officially burning out.
Somehow I forgot that this happened to me in college, though I'm sure it did. Now, in grad school, it sort of blind sighted me, but I should have known it was coming. I have absolutely no desire to write a paper on comprehensive sex ed (even though it's interesting), read my epidemiology (even though I have an exam coming up) or edit my video interviews for my health journalism class (even though my final project is due in a week and a half).
I would be perfectly happy spending the next six weeks in sweatpants, snuggled up with my dog on the couch watching HGTV and catching up on Grey's Anatomy (I have class on Thursday nights, which totally ruins my TV schedule). If baked goods were involved, even better.
But alas, my sex ed paper is still due this week. I still have an epi exam. My journalism interviews aren't going to edit themselves. So I'm trying some things that have kicked me into gear (at least a little bit) during the two-thirds semester slump in the past:
To-do lists. I'm a big list person anyway, but when I have a lot going on without the motivation to match, I start The Mega List--absolutely everything that has to happen. Because crossing things off feels so good. And yes, I'll admit to adding things to the list after I've already done them and immediately crossing them off, just for that satisfaction. I bet I'm not the only one who does that.
New activities. School happens in semesters: academics, extra-curriculars, even community stuff, as everything revolves around a class schedule that will change in less than four months. That's standard student mentality. But mixing that can help recharge me. Mid-semester, I got involved with a student-run free clinic and am starting to work on a spring 5K for global malaria awareness and prevention. And planning for this year's Twin Cities World Refugee Day celebration is picking up soon. Sometimes that busy feeling--even if it's from something not school-related--is enough to get me moving on everything.
Run! Literally. When I get stressed or energy-zapped or both, I work out. Hard. Even if I have no desire to do so. But once I'm a mile in, cruising through the park, I'm glad I'm there, not thinking for a second about school and know that by the time I get back, I'll be down a few hundred calories and a lot of stressing out. And up some vitamin D, since it's 73 and sunny in Minnesota in November--that always helps!
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