Written by: Afrin & Charlene Wang
It’s been three weeks since the new semester has started and we are guessing that your days are now filled with new modules and a never-ending list of deadlines. The deadlines and tests can be stressful and exhausting. However, a new semester means a fresh start to managing the packed schedules. Here are five tips that you can implement to ensure that you power through the semester efficiently!
1. Get enough sleep
According to the National Sleep Foundation, students are recommended to sleep at least eight to 10 hours every night. On the other hand, this is not the case as the majority of students sleep for just six hours every night, based on the National Center for Biotechnology Information survey.
One way to get the right amount of sleep is to avoid using your handphone before sleeping. When you are using your phone, blue-wavelength light from your phone screen suppresses melatonin, which lets your brain know when to sleep. This shows that the habit of using your phone before sleeping poses a negative impact on your sleep cycle.
Getting sufficient sleep contributes to a student’s overall health and well-being. Sleeping for at least eight hours will help you to stay focused, improve concentration and academic performance as well. This will help you to be more proactive in class.
2. Organise your time
Looking at all your assignment deadlines in one shot can be very daunting. Instead of squeezing all of the daily school assignments inside your head, buy a planner and write everything down. If you prefer the digital way, another alternative to plan ahead for your assignments is to use planner apps. Some free planning apps are Todoist, iStudiez & Power Planner. Planning ahead for all your assignments will help you to easily see what you should focus on first as there is a brief overview of everything.
Mobile phones and laptops have become an essential part of our lives in this day and age. However, it is also crucial to plan how much time to spend using mobile devices and social media. Not only can they be distracting, but too much screen time can cause eye strain, headaches and anxiety.
Thus, planning a simple schedule can help you stay on task and put your mind at ease!
3. Making a playlist
Did you know that listening to music helps to release dopamine in your brain, and helps improve your mood and reduce anxiety? Having a back-to-school playlist with all your favourite songs can help fight back-to-school jitters and put you in the right frame of mind for the new semester.
Most mainstream music streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube Music are excellent at helping you curate playlists. Spotify recommends similar songs to the ones already in your playlist and even has an “enhance” feature that automatically adds new songs. If you want to listen to an already curated playlist, simply typing “back-to-school” in the search bar will bring up dozens of ready-made playlists. You can even add in keywords like “Kpop” or “R&B” if you’re looking for more genre specific ones.
In today’s modern world, listening to music has become a norm and brings about a plethora of mental health benefits. Thus, having a playlist to welcome you into the new term is a definite must-have.
4. Go in with a positive mindset.
“The greatest glory in living lies not in never failing, but in rising every time we fall.” – Nelson Mandela.
You may have had some regrets in the previous semester, be it academic-wise or just in general. Going in with a positive mindset that the new semester is a fresh new slate for you to work hard, and make up for any regrets you may have had in the new semester.
While having a positive mindset seems like a no-brainer, many people struggle to do so. Below are some ways you can practice having a positive mindset.
- Practising positive self-talk.
- Have a rational voice in your head to help you tell yourself positive messages and reinforce positive thinking.
- Focus on the good things.
- When people are in a tough situation, they tend to only focus on the negatives and completely ignore the positives. Try to focus on the positives, despite how small or insignificant they may seem.
- Find humour in tough situations.
- While taking things seriously when needed is a definite must, finding humour in a tough spot can be a way of coping, improving your mood and raising your self-esteem.
- Spend time with positive people.
- How you act and feel are heavily influenced by the people and environment you are surrounded by. Try to spend time with positive thinkers, as it will help encourage you to be more positive as well.
5.Having an open mind.
Similar to the previous point, since it’s a brand new semester, trying new things that you did not dare or could not do in the previous is a massive plus point.
You’re only in polytechnic for three years, don’t pigeonhole yourself to the same group of people. Instead, try to seek out new experiences, gain new insight and learn a new thing or two as well.
You can do that by joining a new CCA and meeting new people, or talking to classmates you did not talk much to in the previous semester. It is better to step outside your comfort zone and meet new people, and expose yourself to different views.
Making an effort to consistently follow these tips will prove of great benefit to you this semester. Always remember to never give up no matter how difficult this semester gets. We really hope these tips to manage the new semester are useful to you. We wish you the best of luck!
