3 Things to Do Over Reading Week to Make Your Life Easier

Posted on Thursday, February 16th, 2017

Ah, reading week. That break in mid-February where everyone jets off to a beach, ski hill…or part-time job in Ottawa. Those five blissful days may seem like the perfect time to relax and forget that school exists, but Reading Week is actually a great time to get yourself set up for the second half of the semester.

Schedule your week

It sounds super lame and it’s not at all spontaneous, but making a schedule for your week off will save you that Sunday night panic when you realize you haven’t accomplished what you hoped to accomplish.

Scheduling your days in advance has a few really strong benefits. The first is that you’ll give yourself enough time to do the work that absolutely needs to be done before you get back to school, so you don’t have to panic about it. You can set goals, like assignments you want to complete and summer co-op placements you want to apply for. Checking these things off your to-do list will feel awesome.

 

The second benefit of scheduling your week is that you get to see when you’re free to meet with friends, family, or Netflix. By scheduling both your work time and your leisure time, you guarantee that you’ll get a little bit of both.

Your first step is to make a calendar that has all your upcoming due dates listed. Pull out those syllabi from the start of the semester and track when your tests, projects, and assignments are due. Working backwards from those due dates, you can start to clearly see when you need to start working on things. Build some time for those projects into your Reading Week and get a head start on the rest of your semester.

Start a Planner

You may have heard about the craze sweeping Pinterest called bullet journaling. It may not seem like a huge deal, but keeping an agenda is one of the keys to organizational success.

 

Take a look at your calendar and the amount of time you’ll need to complete your tasks on time. Stick reminders in your agenda that those due dates are coming up, so nothing catches you off guard. Get yourself organized for the rest of the semester’s workload, and you’ll find that your stress levels start to drop pretty dramatically. When you get back to school, you’ll have a planner already built to make sure you stay on top of new assignments as they’re announced.

Get on top of the rest of the projects you have this school year and you can approach the next few months with a balanced attitude.

Treat yourself

If you’re the kind of person who likes to be super organized and on top of things, Reading Week can seem like a great time to work, work, work. But student burnout is a very real thing, and it’s important to give yourself a break.

Downtime, it turns out, is as important as sleep. When you’re daydreaming and resting, your brain is going crazy with electrical impulses, subconsciously solving problems and coming up with epiphanies. If you deny yourself that downtime, you’re not allowing your brain to exercise properly.

 

Going to a new place, exercising, and engaging in simple distractions encourages the brain to relax and fire those neurons that lead to better problem-solving and creativity skills.

So, this Reading Week, allow yourself the chance to have fun, go outside, and daydream. You’ll be doing yourself a favour in the long run, and come back to school on the 27th ready to succeed for the rest of the semester.

Are you an Algonquin College Co-op student looking for some guidance over the break? Contact your co-op coordinator for help with resume and cover letter writing, job hunting, and more. If you would like to learn more about the co-op program, please visit our website at https://www.algonquincollege.com/coop/, connect with us at coop@algonquincollege.com or call us at 613-727-4723 Ext.7623.


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