Ah Christmas. For many, the best time of the year, (however if you’re a Grinch it might be that time of year full of being cold and everyone being ridiculously cheerful, that’s fine too) a time for gifts, family, food and fun. However, for students this is often a time thwart with the looming deadlines and exams that ‘joyous’ January brings with it. (Oh January, why must you exist) However, never fear-  Anna with some advice is here. Here are my top tips for enjoying the Christmas holidays without falling behind with your Uni work.

First of all-Plan

Now I know this may seem terribly obvious, but organising your time is key to having fun and having a well deserved break; whilst still staying on top of things so you don’t panic come January when the exams hit. A good idea that I would recommend, is to try to make some kind of rota or revision plan, and decide what you’re going to do on each day. It might be a good idea to give yourself a full day off every now and then, maybe revise two or three days, day off, revise, etc.

I would also recommend doing little and often rather than leaving it all to the end to do in a blind panic. Doing even just half an hour everyday is going to take the weight off when it comes to January, just a little bit every day can help you stay on top rather than sinking under a mountain of work. Breaking things down into small chunks also helps to keep you from being overwhelmed. If you look at all the work you have to do in one go, it will probably make you panic, have a breakdown, and you’ll end up hiding in a duvet sobbing along to Christmas songs and stress eating mince pies. However- if you divide the work up into small, easily achievable sections, before you know it you would’ve gotten through so much of your work without even realising- voila! No breakdown. (However you can still stress eat mince pies, nobody is judging you) So yes- do little and often and you’ll be able to have a fantastic break without leaving all your work till January and regretting all the decisions your December self made. (I do hate December Anna, she often makes life so hard for January Anna)

 

Second of all- Relax

Now I know this also may seem incredibly obvious- but sometimes we need to be told obvious things in order for us to do them.  You need to relax. I repeat- Relaxation is important. The Christmas break is a really important time to recharge ready for exams, and even though you need to revise- you also need to relax. You’re not going to do well in your exams if you’re sleep deprived and stressed to the max, and you’re also not going to be able to revise effectively unless you’ve had some time to wind down. This is especially true if you’re a first year, it is so important to have a break when you’ve just had the most roller coaster few months. Starting University is exhausting and it’s so important to relax so your brain can recharge.

I’d recommend properly relaxing. None of this guilty Netflix watching when you know you should be working so you don’t actually relax and end up more stressed (we all do it). Timetable in a time for you to do something fun and Christmas themed. Watch some Christmas movies with the family (I recommend the Grinch), bake some mince pies (I like mince pies can you tell) go for a nice walk in the cold then come back and warm up with some soup and cake. Try and actively do something that’s not work, and get out of the house, so when you go back to revising again you actually feel refreshed.

Finally- Don’t let the stress ruin your holiday

It’s so easy to let the stress of upcoming exams completely consume you. Especially if you’re a final year and you’re in the middle of your ‘this determines the rest of my life’ crisis. But my key piece of advice would be to not let it ruin your break. You need to recharge, it’s not fair on your brain to continuously ask it to work, sometimes you just need a break. Stressing about upcoming exams is normal- but try and use your December to relax, rest, and prepare for the new year. Obviously stay on top of your work, but try and relax too. You don’t want to get to the end of your Christmas break and regret wasting it because you spent the whole three weeks panicking and having a big stress. Feel free to panic in January if you like, but I wouldn’t recommend that either.

So to summarise, eat lots of food, sing lots of carols, open all the presents and did I mention eat all the food?

Have a great Christmas 🙂