Self-Care Tips for the End of the Semester

​As the semester winds down with finals and the holiday break on the horizon, it’s safe to say that students are feeling all kinds of stress right now. Whether it’s worries about grades, waiting to hear about something you applied for, or whatever else, this time of year can be overwhelming for many. In this blog post, I hope to offer some helpful tips for taking care of yourself and ending the semester strong.
              First things first, I want you to pause, take a deep breath in, and exhale. I want you to take a second to think about this past semester and where you are in this present moment. We should be incredibly proud of ourselves for how far we’ve come in the semester! Yes, we still have to make it through finals, and you probably feel a sense of impending doom or like you’re going through a mid-midlife crisis right now but rest assured, YOU GOT THIS. Without further ado, here are some ways to engage in self-care and avoid burnout as you close out the rest of this semester.
-Try to stick to a schedule or routine that works for you. You don’t have to account for every minute of your day but having a simple outline of what you want to accomplish on a given day can make things more manageable and reduce how overwhelmed or anxious you may feel.
-Try to get an adequate amount of sleep. This ties in with making a schedule – if you try to wake up and sleep around the same time each day, you’re more likely to have better quality of sleep and achieve the recommended 7-9 hours of sleep. This is easier said than done but also try to limit screen time before bed, and avoid caffeine later in the day. Remember, sleep affects learning and memory so it is more important to get as much sleep as you can, rather than stay up pulling an all-nighter.
-Take breaks. Give yourself short breaks between blocks of studying to refresh your mind and cut down on screen fatigue. You can use the time to grab a snack, take a walk to get the blood pumping, or even watch a little bit of TV. Whatever you’re doing, be sure to take your mind off studying for the time being and enjoy your break. This will help keep you more focused and motivated during those chunks of studying.  
-Make sure you’re eating properly and staying hydrated. It can be easy to sit for hours studying and forget to eat or drink anything during that time. You have to feed the body to power the mind. Try to get adequate nutrition and avoid things like eating a bag of chips and calling that dinner (guilty!).
-Don’t be afraid to ask for help. It’s okay to lean on your support network for help, and if you don’t this kind of support available, there are resources such as Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) that can help.
              Hopefully some of these tips can help you with finding and maintaining ways to take care of yourself. Self-care is not something that you should just do during finals. It is important to take care of yourself the rest of the year as well, and building healthy habits and taking just a little bit of time out of the day to check-in with yourself can do wonders. I wish you all the best with finals and hope you enjoy your winter break!

Written by: Natalie Ly