When the holidays are over, it can feel like a challenge to get back into the swing of a new term.
The end of a fun festive break can sometimes leave us feeling rather flat, lowering our mood, our productivity and our enthusiasm for study. If so, we need to take action to orientate our thinking for the new term, and to generate the motivation to get on with things.
Here are some ways to ease the transition and bring some sparkle into the new year.
The right way for you
Some people need novelty and a sense of challenge to inspire them into the new year, others find the start of term too much of a jolt so prefer continuity, structure and small, reassuring steps. Recognise what you need and make wise choices that suit you.
Keep it kind and easy to manage
Start the year with good self-care. Don’t be pressurised into feeling everything has to be bigger and better in a new year, if that doesn’t feel good for you at this time.
- Find the sweet spot.
Find that balance between ambition and overwhelm. Give thought to whether you are erring more towards one or the other, and the impact of that on you.
- Be kind to your feelings.
Don’t pretend they aren’t there. Aim to create space for more positive feelings to take root, too.
- Choose New Year Resolutions with care.
If you like to set New Year resolutions, select just one or two that inspire you and that you have a good chance of achieving. Avoid resolutions that involve too great a leap forward from where you are now, and that could be counter-productive, leaving you exhausted and disappointed. Plan for success.
Plan more good times
It is natural to want the best parts of a festive holiday to continue. Whilst the holidays can’t last forever, we can keep some features alive, even if in a different way.
Whatever the most important highlights are for you, consider some ways of building similar aspects into the next few weeks.
Click the arrows to discover some ways to plan more good times.
Plan a great meal for you and your friends within the first two weeks of term, or for a fun meal out together at the weekend. Use this as an opportunity to develop your creative cooking skills and enhance your social life.
Look up supermarket websites for loads of easy recipes.
Maintain contact with people you hadn’t seen for a while. Arrange to link up more in the short term to exchange news; make it a regular date in your diary.
Arrange to meet in person at some point within the next few months. You don’t need to wait until next year.
It is good to have downtime. In your diary, plan at least a half day every now and again when you can just do whatever you want, without feeling guilty.
Find some structure
If you are feeling lost, homesick and overwhelmed at the start of term, it can be hard to know where to begin.
Planning more structure into your day and week can help with seeing steps ahead, and bring a sense of reassurance that you are doing something and don’t need to do everything at once.
1. Use a student diary and planner
It will help you organise your time and to see that organisation in concrete form in front of you.
2. Plan use of ‘empty time’
If time is hanging heavy, decide on a new activity or plan to meet up with others, or to talk with a relative or friend back home.
- Embrace the time for relaxing, exercise, meditation or treating yourself to a good book or film.
- Use some of that time to read something that gives you a head start on a topic you will cover this term.
3. Recognise the accomplishment
Put a tick next to completed actions, so you give yourself a sense of things moving forward. At the end of the day, go through all the things you did do and/or can cross off your list.
4. Break ‘impossible’ tasks into smaller manageable sections
Plan each section into your diary so you are clearer about what you need to do and when you will do it.
Set yourself a new personal project
Planning ahead can be really energising, especially for projects relevant to our own interests.
A personal project can be anything, from planning a future holiday to taking up a new language to setting yourself new goals for your study this year.
Clarify your purpose.
What will you gain from undertaking this project?
Envisage the endpoint for your project.
The clearer it is, the easier it is to follow through, and then achieve it.
Create the diary space.
Map out into your diary when you will be spending time on your project and related actions.
Find cheerleaders.
If relevant, include others in your project. Motivate others to keep going with their projects and let them know how and when they can help you to stay motivated too.
Set yourself a study challenge
Address head-on any reluctance to return to study.
There isn’t really time to waste during term, so it is best to find ways to stimulate your interest as early as possible. Setting yourself a challenge provides a focus for your energies and provides a new angle that generates its own interest.
More from Bloomsbury
Hear from other students about the Unexpected joys of university in some of our videos, to get you back into the student spirit.
Save as a student!
Remind yourself of ways to look after your finances as you return to study with the article: Manage and protect your money
Editor's highlights
Get work done
How do you deal with feedback from your lecturers?
What is the writer's stance?
