We’re young and college is supposed to be the time of our lives. Socializing, joining clubs, parties, you name it. But it’s okay to say no.
As we near the end of the semester, exams and projects start to ramp up, classes have drained you for weeks, you may have joined clubs that take up a good portion of your free time and homework might be spanning late into the night. All of these things are stressors and through social media and friends, we have been taught that the weekend is the time to let loose and “partying your worries away” has become the norm.
Taking a step back from your weekly cycle of “work hard and party harder,” you may start to realize that partying may not be a stress reliever, and it is actually adding more stress onto your life.
Weekends are supposed to be your time to decompress and prepare yourself for the week to come, but it’s hard to do so when you’re constantly distracting yourself from reality.
FOMO, or “fear of missing out,” has become a commonly used word on college campuses, especially when it comes to the party scene. Taking one peaceful night to yourself may be disrupted by simply checking social media and seeing your peers having “the night of their lives.”
This may tempt you to get yourself off the couch or out of bed, slap on makeup and a cute outfit, then hit the town, dragging your social battery down even when you don’t realize it. This ultimately affects your physical and mental health.
Running your social battery into the ground can cause you to feel more exhausted and leave you walking back home after a long night feeling unfulfilled and possibly regretful.This isn’t to say that having fun is bad for you, but recognizing when your mind and body are telling you that you might need a break is important, and your future self may thank you for actually acknowledging it.
Even one weekend of staying in can help you recharge and feel like a new person ready to conquer the school week ahead. Here are some ideas to help you recharge for the weekend and treat your mind and body kindly.
Self-care night
It’s a Friday and you just finished what felt like the longest week of your life. Instead of pregaming and going to the frats, maybe this weekend try going on a Target run to grab a face mask or two, your favorite snacks and even a new pair of fuzzy socks.
Get into your comfiest pajamas, light your best smelling candle (if your building allows it) and put on that new Netflix series you’ve been meaning to watch (or watch Gilmore Girls for the fifth time).
It might not be the crazy Friday night plans you’re used to, but you will be thanking yourself later for this ultimate self-care night.
Baking Night
For months you’ve been scrolling through Tik Tok and Pinterest, saving recipes that maybe one day you’ll have the time to make. Well, now you do have time to make them. Revisit that “foody” Pinterest board and pick out one or two of the recipes you’ve been dying to make.
Compile a list of the ingredients and take a quick trip to the grocery store, then when you get home put on your comfort playlist and get to baking. You’ll make some great food, learn a new recipe or two and hopefully, your apartment or house will smell like fresh baked goods. Who could ask for a more comforting night?
Cleaning night
Every week your laundry may pile up and your room, the bathroom, the kitchen even your backpack gets messier with the constant excuse of “I just don’t have time to clean” or the empty promise of “I’ll get to it this weekend.”
Take this time to throw in a load of laundry and while that’s going, break out those Clorox wipes, Lysol spray and put on your best cleaning playlist. Taking a simple hour and a half to get your life in order can make you feel better and make it easier to keep up with the cleaning in the future.
Do not disturb
This one may be hard, but if you find yourself obsessively checking Snapchat and Instagram stories throughout the night, put your phone on “do not disturb.” This will hopefully deter you from getting FOMO and ultimately going to a party you didn’t even want to originally go to.
If putting your phone fully on “do not disturb” is a bit much for you, on iPhones you can create a “personal focus” setting, which allows you to choose what kind of notifications you do or don’t receive. This has really helped me stay off of my phone on my nights in.
journal
Odds are you read this article for the validation of it being totally okay to stay in on the weekends, and in turn, you may have uneasy feelings because of the social pressures of college party life.
Take this time in on the weekend to get that journal out and write your feelings out. Allow yourself to feel emotions, but make sure you don’t feel ostracized for not going out. This is supposed to heal, not hurt.
Writing may help you unlock a thought or two you may have never thought about or tried pushing away. This weekend in may help you find a part of yourself that you wouldn’t have found by going out.
Don’t always hold yourself back from being social, but it’s very important to read your mind and body, listening to when it may need a break before you break.