Mid-semester Stress: Here’s How I Got Back on Track

At the beginning of this semester, I was determined to make my last semester of college as productive and efficient as possible. I would finally achieve all my physical, mental, and emotional goals, which varied from exercising more consistently and clean eating to better focus on my studies and no procrastination.

I even took it a step further and started to use different organization tools to aid in my quest of the “new year, new me” mentality I had. From inputting every deadline of each of my classes into my planner, to utilizing timers for each assignment, and even giving my mind rest to elongate my focus as much as I can. I did everything I never had the discipline to do before this point. Or so I thought.

Then the midpoint comes.

Slowly but surely, the energy starts to fade. My morning workouts started to become less and less frequent. Procrastination grew more and more familiar as my assignments were turned in either right at 11:59pm or two days later. My diet shifted from fruits and veggies to Poptarts and Five Guys.

I just have one question for all of us who have been here before: What happened?

Given this is my last semester of undergraduate, one could say that “senioritis” is the culprit. This energy shift could be attributed to a general sense of the mid semester blues, where you can’t even keep up with the days nor the assignments of your classes. One could also say the pandemic plays a role in negatively affecting our ability to operate with the stresses of school in some sense of ‘normalcy’. 

To be completely transparent, I’m not sure which one is affecting me the most.

While I am still learning how to succeed over the obstacles of this draining part of the semester, here are a few things that I have to keep in mind:

1. Remember to breathe! Me being my hardest critic, it can be so difficult to give myself grace when I know I can do better. Without balance, that constant criticism can and has played on my self confidence for years. Breathing is an action that plays as a reset – it stops me from continuing down a path of negative thoughts and allows me to redirect that energy into encouragement and self affirmation. 

2. Prioritize what really matters — and worry about the rest later. Why stress yourself out checking off thirty errands off of your to do list when you only need to do three of them? Holding yourself accountable to your day to day operations is admirable (Congrats sis, you’re adulting!). However, it can be easy to fall into the ‘everything is important’ mindset and allow for overwhelm to consume your headspace. For example, at the beginning of the semester, I put together a handful of basic goals that I wanted to accomplish before May. Once that is done,  I write down specific details or obligations that need to be done every day in order to meet said goal. Trust me, it is much easier to focus on the actions that get us closer to meeting our goals than to work aimlessly and waste energy towards something that does not propel you into the next season of your life.   

3. In all things, do your best with what you have that particular day. Don’t be afraid to give yourself grace! Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither are the changes needed to order for you to get through the semester. Give your all each and every day and go to sleep knowing that your efforts were enough. 

All in all, stay true to the course! It can be easier to succuumb to the mixture of emotions that halt you during the mid-semester blues. But fear not! Not only are you not alone in this process, but you also have the ability to keep fighting and expect better outcomes because of your behaviors.

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