BALANCE: GETTING THE MOST FROM READING WEEK

/in /by

With midterms largely done, you are at the midpoint of the term. Reading week is a time for (a) acknowledging you’ve stayed the course with a meaningful reward and (b) setting the scene for continuing to keep your head above water. 

Reading week can be the antidote to getting crushed by March, where assignments, papers, presentations, quizzes, labs, readings, and lectures cascade into the weeks before finals. Sure, this probably doesn’t mean party for eight days (unless you are really, really, really ahead on everything). Note:  This does NOT mean study and write papers for eight days.

You can do everything–but everything within reason. Getting the best of both R&R and academic prep during reading week means taking hold of the week at the outset. Take time tonight to prioritize what is most important to get done this week in four areas:

  • the reward you’ve been promising yourself once midterms are done,
  • R&R,
  • course work, and 
  • life’s little routines that you don’t want interrupting March, such as taxes, office cleanup, and car maintenance.

Prioritize those areas in that order. When you know your reward is scheduled, it will be off your mind as you tackle the challenge of deciding what’s most important for R&R and coursework.

Next, jot down the tasks necessary to handle your priorities, such as booking time at the spa, setting up collaboration with project members, and visiting family. 

Then schedule your tasks in pencil. You will likely find that without regular classes, you need to design your own routine. Take into account your own biological clock for when you are most alert and when you are less focused and better off spending the time doing busy work, such as taxes and car maintenance. Allow for self-maintenance. Be prepared to adjust and adapt. Life happens. Everything takes longer. You fall off your bike. You get back on.

Now, decide your reinforcers for each effort you make in attending to tasks. A stretch. A walk. A breath. Tea. Time with your pet. A pomodoro-limited TikTok session.

And plan a reward for the last day of reading week to acknowledge your effort in making a balanced reading week work for you. Pin a reminder of this reward where your eyes will run across it from time to time this week–on the fridge or on your calendar.

That’s it. Prioritize. Plan. Schedule. Execute (reinforce). Adjust (reinforce). Reward.

With a balanced reading week behind you, you will go back refreshed, recharged, and re-energized, ready to bring on the final lap! 

And connect with me to plan for the final crunch! [email protected] 

The information in this blog cannot take the place of support from your own mental health professional or community health resources. Reach out to them. And IF YOU ARE IN CRISIS PLEASE DIAL 911.