So you are officially home for Thanksgiving Break and let me guess – your backpack, withholding the book you have to finish for that final English paper you have to write next week, along with those Spanish notes you promised yourself you would leisurely look over, is tucked away, unopened, in the corner of your room where it will hauntingly remain for the remainder of your vacation. No, no, no, my fellow collegiette – that was last year. This Thanksgiving you are going to eliminate the backpack blues by being academically proactive while having a fun-filled break at the same time – here’s how!
Step One: Open The Backpack
This may seem like a no-brainer, but truth be told, many students are more than capable of going their entire break without even one look at their backpack portal, back to the stress of school. The longer you put off opening it, the more unneeded stress you cause yourself. You may not have that much work to complete in there; but by putting it off, you allow your imagination to run wild, and come Sunday night, you have no clue what is in store for you work-wise. Avoid this common occurrence by opening your backpack the second you get home and lay out all of your books out on the floor of your room or your desk. This way your work is visible and more likely to get completed in chunks throughout your long weekend rather than frantically the night before you head home; or worse, on the ride home…
Step Two: View Page Here
While this point may be obvious to you too, many collegiettes (if they do get their books out) stop there and do not actually end up getting anything done. It can be a daunting task, trying to find that starting page in your history book, or the grammar page in Spanish you are supposed to absorb. However, the same moment you open your backpack, my advice is to open up your books to their correct page numbers as well. This is a proactive step in the right direction because you will be able to truly see what needs to be read or written and be more likely to actually do it any time you walk into your room and eye it. The fear of exactly what you had to accomplish over break is gone, you know what you have to do, and can now do it efficiently at your own proactive pace.
Step Three: Analyze Your Workload
Count how many pages you have left to read in your book for English and divvy up a certain amount of pages of reading to be done per day. A great way to get reading done is right before you go to bed, for example. This way your reading time will not interfere with your family time and you will have a plan of action. Knowing how much reading you have to get through, and dividing it up efficiently, decreases the likelihood of you having to charge through the whole novel on your last day of break. This logic can be applied to your history reading or your accounting homework too. Dedicate a certain amount of time to it per day and do it.
Be consistent, proactive, and determined to withstand the dreaded backpack blues. With these simple tips, I can assure your backpack will bother you no more. Have a Happy (Proactive) Thanksgiving!