The easy part is over?

The stressful but less demanding part of the semester is over, but the mid-term has not yet arrived. In general, this is the least stressful part of the term and a lot of students are enjoying the light load. If every term ends in a nightmare of stress and exhaustion, now is the time to stop lying about and start organizing. Doing the work now will keep you from having a miserable term. If you like having one easy week followed by six or so increasingly miserable ones, by all means, keep doing what you are doing. If you are sick of that pattern, here are some tips:

Set a schedule now. You can use Google calendar or some other application to set up your seven-day week. Put in all of your obligations, classes, labs, work, travel time, and do not forget meals and eight hours of sleep, all of those things are non-negotiable. If you take an hour to get ready or like to work out or have practice, it all goes in. Don’t forget to include socializing with friends or watching a movie, or whatever you do to enjoy yourself.

Now you can start putting in studying time. Divide your work into three groups, required reading, research, and writing. Try to put in about two hours in each area then switch to another type of study. If you finish all of your homework but have more studying time scheduled, read ahead. You know things will get busier later, and if you stick to your schedule now, you’ll be able to continue seeing friends and watching movies even during mid-terms, because you won’t be catching up.