How to NOT Overwork Yourself During the Holidays

As the days continually grow darker, the Christmas lights and decorations continue to go up, some of the most challenging months for students come to an end as the academic term draws to a close. Often it can be hard for students to not become completely overworked, trying to revise for exams they may have or even trying to stay ahead of the curve with their revision. However, going back into the new term stressed and overworked is never a good idea as it can lead to burn out and poor performance very early in the new academic term. Here are 3 tips that I recommend to avoid overworking yourself during the holidays:

Tip 1: Plan your study time

 Now, whilst this tip sounds fairly obvious, I will stress that this is one of the most important things to do just before the holiday so that you don’t end up feeling guilty when you are having fun and feel bored and resentful when you’re working.

One way that I find really works for me is dividing my holiday up into two halves. This usually means that for me the first half of my holiday is a complete break from any kind of work, it is focused doing fun activities and just generally giving myself the rest I need and deserve. If any work is done in this period, it tends to be light pieces of homework or revision, nothing too intensive, an hour here or there.

 I like to use the second half of the break to dive back into work, creating and utilising my study schedule which will include substantial breaks and rewards in it. During the break I particularly like to focus on topics that I may not have completely understood during the term and making sure I consolidate my understanding on topics across the board. Interweaving rewards and incentives into your study schedule, creates a great motivation to do work. Rewarding yourself with your favourite movie or activity after doing a few hours of work can really push you especially when having to tackle topics that aren’t necessarily your favourite.  

Of course it doesn’t have to be the exact way that I have describe it, you can have your study time at the beginning half of the holiday and the rest period at the end or mix it up a bit more – especially when dealing holidays that are longer than two weeks. As long as there is some balance, whichever way you measure it out is fine.

Tip 2: Switch up your revision techniques  

Sometimes the same old monotonous routine of highlighting and re-reading your notes, can be very tedious and often get extremely boring very quickly and can even be quite ineffective, meaning that lots of time is spent on actually revising, whilst the content is not actually being absorbed. Switching up your revision methodologies and techniques can be really helpful in making revision much more interesting and engaging.

If watching YouTube videos on the subject helps you, then use them, if creating posters and mind maps are better at helping you break down and understand large amounts of content then try those. Trying different learning techniques (hyperlink learning styles blog post here) could be really very helpful and could open you up to a new style that works even better than what you were doing previously.

Tip 3: Enjoy the festive season 

It’s okay to be a bit indulgent during this time period, be kind to yourself and take time to enjoy doing the things you love. Take whatever time you can to spend with your friends, family and even yourself; personally, I like to use the holidays to catch up on the tv shows I enjoy, read a good book and continue to make memories with my nearest and dearest. The academic term can be busy and full of noise, so take this time to enjoy the silence. Remember you’ve just come from a hard term, so give yourself a proper break to make sure that you can enter the new year and new term refreshed and ready to give it your all and be as organised as possible. And honestly, coming into the new year stressed, overworked and even more tired than when you left will not help anyone.

So congratulations to all the students who have made it through to the end of 2023, well done for working hard throughout this academic term and overall calendar year. You have endured those 6am alarms, persevered through those gruelling exams and laboured through head-scratching problem questions. If you reached your academic goals, that is absolutely amazing and even if you didn’t quite manage to don’t worry too much about it, the best thing about time is that every day the clock resets. There’s always room for growth and improvement, especially as a student. Take your rest as the year comes to an end and start to plan your next term and year so that you can be the best student you can possibly be.

Have a wonderful festive period and a happy new year!

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Written by K. Amoo-Peters