Traveling is the best and, don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love it. But sometimes it’s important to go for a staycation. I know what you’re thinking; stay home all vacation? But hear me out. There are some benefits you’ll get on a staycation that you might not get on an exciting and bustling trip.
Get Some Much Needed R&R
Let’s face it. You need a break. You deserve one. And sometimes it’s great to explore a new city and spend your vacation trying new foods, experiences, and more. But other time you need some R&R. You work hard, so it’s inevitable that you need a bit of time off. Use a bit of your time to recharge, and you’ll find you go back to school and work at an even higher level than you were before.
Try to fit activities into your break that you find relaxing such as taking a bubble bath or starting the day with yoga. When you dedicate some time to flushing out bad thoughts, you help both your mind and your body to deal with any other stressors in your life. This can be especially important coming off of winter quarter finals. You’ve been pushing yourself to finish the quarter. This quarter has been like a dive into a deep pool. You’ve been holding your breath, and now that you’ve reached the end, it’s not only time to breath, it’s time to recover. Give yourself the chance to do just that by factoring rest into your spring break.
Save Up for The Summer
Summer break is amazing. But it’s also expensive. If you want to travel, see concerts, go out, or anything else, it’s going to cost money. So why not use the shorter (and colder) spring break to save up so you can have the best summer break yet.
You can help yourself by setting a budget. Consider the large-scale items you want to be able to pay for this summer (such as travel or activities you can pay for in advance). Can you pay for all of these items now? Will you be able to by the time they roll around? If not, it may be the time to reconsider some of your spring break activities. Identify which activities (both in the spring and summer) are most important to you and budget around those. You don’t want to miss out on something you were dying to do in the summer just because you spent your money on something you didn’t really care about in the spring.
Take Some Me Time
You may be a social butterfly, but sometimes it’s important to recharge away from your friends. When school is in session, it can be hard to find some time alone to just do whatever you want to do and recharge your social energy. That’s where a staycation comes in. Sometimes a night in binging Netflix with popcorn and cozy pjs is the best thing you can do for yourself.
Often, we don’t even realize the impact prolonged social exposure can have on us, because it’s fun to hang out with our friends. Taking a bit of “me time” to reset your social clock can help reduce stress, increase productivity, improve concentration, allow for self-discovery, improve your relationships, help you balance life and school, and more. So make sure to fit in a bit of time for you.
Bring Your A-Game Next Quarter
We all have our limitations and they differ from person to person. So, make sure you’re working to identify when you’ve hit yours. If you push yourself to your limits during the quarter and then keep going during the break, you will burn out. Being kind to your mind and body will help you recover so you can come back swinging and do your best work the following quarter.
School is a lot like running a marathon. You push yourself as hard as you can to make sure you hit the finish line. But when you get the end, you wouldn’t immediately start a second run, right? You need to give your body time to rest and recover before you can go again. Otherwise, you’ll start your next race at a disadvantage. You want to do everything you can to set yourself up for success. And sometimes that means identifying when you need a break.
