Along with the beautiful white winter snow and the excitement of the approaching holiday season comes the dreaded winter slump.

It’s getting to the point in the semester where everyone just wants it to end so that we can go on winter break. This time of year, there are several things that can help beat this feeling. 

When the weather gets cold, it becomes harder and harder to get outside. Just a little bit of movement for the day can help to boost your mood and get your mind away from the stress of homework and finals. You can walk on a treadmill or the recreation center’s indoor track. This way you can still take walks but can stay away from the dropping temperatures. 

Another thing that can help with feeling unmotivated is using a point reward system. With finals week approaching, break up your study days into increments. Once you master studying a chapter or a concept, reward yourself. Eat a piece of candy if you read a certain amount of pages of your textbook or grab a Starbucks drink on the way to the library. This helps associate positive things with studying and will help motivate you. 

Committing to study dates with friends is a great way to hold yourself accountable. If you are studying alone, sometimes it is easy to skip out on your initial goal of completing a set amount of tasks or meeting your goals for the day. Going with a friend or working in a public space helps to hold you accountable for getting work done.

There are study rooms in the library that are perfect to reserve for you and your friends. Grab some coffee, snacks and chargers and grind out some homework together. 

If you have spare time, it’s never a bad idea to get started on assignments in advance. This will help you in the future. You won’t be as stressed when it comes down to finals week. Doing an extra few minutes a day of assignments or quizzes will help to cut down on the time you will need to spend on them when finals week is approaching.

Take a ton of breaks, even if they’re short. Let yourself have time for hobbies and non-school-related activities.

Most students are already feeling burned out from all of the school-related stresses that have occurred so far this semester. If you push yourself beyond your limits, it will be hard to get motivated again.

Do not work yourself into the ground – make time to hang out with friends, workout, take a walk, read, cook dinner, just do something to get your mind off of the stresses of college. 

Lastly, give yourself some grace.

You have made it this far into the semester. Be proud of yourself. You have done a lot of hard work to get to this point of the semester, don’t let yourself fall short.