BEATING MARCH MADNESS!

March: In many ways, this is the most challenging month of the term. But first: about that Reading Week. I hope you had time just for you. If you’re like most students, you also had academic work planned. If you’re like most students, you didn’t get it all done! Now, take a moment. What went better this Reading Week than the last one? And endorse yourself for the effort, for the change. Even if you procrastinated, even if you didn’t get as much done as you had planned, compare your effort this term to last term’s reading week, and note the change. 

Back to dealing with March Madness: The challenge is that this is the month before the final week of classes, the month where it seems like everything has piled up–too many deadlines too soon, too much catching up to do, so much is coming so fast! 

How to deal?

Prioritize

Take a breath. Scope out what needs to get done by when. Revisit your goals–are they realistic? Prioritize them in terms of which goals are most important over the longer term. Attending to the course that you need to pass to get off probation is likely more important than polishing a full AI-choreographed animation for a group project. Acing the course where you hope to enlist the prof on your doctoral advisory committee may be more important than getting a 4.0 on the medical ethics exam.

Take the long view. Take the total view.

Chunk

Then, focus on one week at a time. You’re like the long-distance runner. Once you know the track, you can only run one lap at a time.

Chunk your projects. Chunk your time. Sketch out your work to the end of the term. Plan what needs to be done each week and focus on that week’s tasks. 

At the end of the week, plan and focus on the next week.

Maintain

Like the long-distance runner, you need to keep the pace–the right pace. Health is critical for the runner, and for you as well. Get enough sleep. Eat well. Get outside regularly. Stretch.

Reinforce and Reward

Part of maintaining is staying motivated. This may be the time to plan small rewards for the completion of projects and for getting to the end of each week: small rewards, but rewards that mean recognition to you that you hit a targeted accomplishment. 

And it’s always time to reinforce for effort. Sometimes it is an effort to do the seemingly simplest insignificant act–but not doing that act can keep us from being who we want to be, doing what we really want to do. It could be emailing a group project partner. It could be checking on the availability of a resource. It could be (I kid you not!) getting off the couch and sitting down at your desk.

Review and Revise

At the end of each day, review the day. Watch for the guilt trap and endorse when you catch yourself beating up on yourself. Instead, endorse for the effort you did make!

Then look ahead to the rest of the week, and reschedule where necessary. 

Rinse. Repeat.

You have made it this far through the term!!! You can make it through March Madness!

Check in with me to brainstorm and plan for your particular situation: [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.