Don’t throw your papers in the air just yet.

The holidays have officially begun, but to make the most of the month off, you should be thoroughly refreshed. 

How can you enjoy yourself when school work is still spread across your desk, practically begging for your attention? Your backpack is ready to go at the front door, playing tricks on your mind. The post-stress of leaving the house with your school bag doesn’t go away overnight. How can you leave the house under these strenuous conditions?

School still lingers in the air. Wouldn’t a candle be nice? Take the steps to guarantee your vacation is school-free, but more importantly, stress-free. 

Declutter

Your physical space is sacred grounds, especially when trying not to think about school and focusing on the other aspects of life that matter to you. Your environment should be filled with holiday spirit, instead of the pseudo-cubicle office space it’s become over the past four months. 

Step one to making your area a happy place is to go through all your papers, work materials and miscellaneous items lying around. If any of them are related to school, it’s time to throw them away or store them. A few questions you can ask yourself to help decide what to do are:

• Will I look back on this to help me with my future assignments?
• Will I need this for my portfolio or resume?

Many students make the mistake of throwing everything out. Odds are, a lot of the work you’ve done this semester will be helpful to look back on for the next, either as a reference point for some research you’ve already done or to see how far you’ve come in improving.

If you decide to keep certain documents, it’s time to store them. 

Neatly organize your papers into a binder labelled for the semester or classes and store it away in your desk, a closet or even under your bed. Anywhere it’s not visible to keep your peace over the break. 

Even if you don’t have any papers, it’s equally important to put away any other work materials that you’ll want to keep for the next semester. Yes, that includes your backpack.

Clean

Spring cleaning is overrated. End-of-semester cleaning is where it’s at. Decluttering your workspace to fully embrace the winter holiday is only part of building a home instead of an office. 

This is also the best time to do a deep clean to feel fully comfortable and free from all obligations. You’ll also have the time and energy to do it, which you probably won’t have starting either Jan. 5 or Jan. 12.

After decluttering, wipe everything down, mop, sweep and vacuum. Do whatever you need to do to have a fresh area all to yourself. It may not seem like much, but having a clean room, apartment or home will give you a sense of calm and accomplishment while taking in the lemony fresh air.

Digital clean up

Similarly to physical decluttering, don’t delete everything from your laptop. Ask yourself the same questions above, then organize everything into folders and sub-folders, ranging from semester to classes, so you’ll be able to find everything easier when you need it. 

Something underrated when decluttering your digital space is reorganizing and deleting bookmarks. For four months, our student brains have curated our computers to make school life easier. For the next month, however, this is the last thing we want to think about.

Go through your bookmarks and delete everything you’ll no longer need. Those 23 websites you’ve favourited for that very specific research paper probably aren’t going to do you much good other than blocking out your view of Netflix in the bookmarks tab. 

The same goes for your digital calendar or to-do lists. You’re finally free!

The last thing you’ll want is to go on your computer to shop, play games or go down the proverbial YouTube rabbit hole and see your computer full of school apps and files.

When they’re neatly tucked away, it makes everything easier to navigate to get to the fun part without seeing something school-related. 

Prep

Part of resetting after a long semester is doing your part to ease into the new one seamlessly when the time comes. What can you do? Clean out your backpack, research to see if you’ll need anything specific for an upcoming class, then top up on whatever it is you’ll need, a.k.a., get any shopping out of the way. 

It also helps to do a bit of investigating into what each class will be about. Sometimes the title is a giveaway. However, it’s always useful to know the professor’s teaching style and what the main focal points of the class are by doing a simple Google search. 

After the prep is done, congratulations, you’ve done all you can do and can begin the cozy winter season.

Mental refresh

Taking a physical break from the hustle and bustle of school is the easy part. It’s the nagging thoughts that keep us from fully enjoying the present moment. 

All of these notions put together, statistically speaking (using the math I made up in my head), will give you the best opportunity to utilize your break to the fullest. 

“Out of sight, out of mind” is what we’re aspiring for here. By putting everything away, work will be the last thing on your mind and you’ll be able to focus on what’s valuable to you. This is the start of a prosperous journey toward fulfillment and much-needed recovery.

Taking the extra step of cleaning your home and preparing for next semester has amazing practical qualities, but it also serves your mental health.

By knocking these tasks off your to-do list, you’ve effectively decluttered your mind as well. There are fewer tasks to worry about or meander over while you bake holiday cookies.

Resetting the clock on burnout and coming out refreshed will make next semester a great one. You’ll have nothing to stress about until the first day of school!

Feature image courtesy of IGNITE.

Feeling tired? The guilt of taking breaks when everyone else is busy shouldn’t ruin your winter break.

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