Exeter students: Here’s how to balance uni work and actually enjoy the Christmas holidays

As the Christmas holidays approach, managing your time productively during your first long break from Exeter Uni can feel challenging.

Exams and deadlines are waiting after the holidays, so here are some ideas to help you balance your uni work while still enjoying the festive season.

Planning

Before you leave Exeter, it’s worth sitting down and planning what you’ll be doing at home, mainly workwise. It’s especially helpful to do this before you leave the uni atmosphere and get distracted by your dog who you’ve not seen in months.

Being away from uni probably means your usual routine of classes and society events disappears, leaving you with a lot of time to do nothing. Creating a routine will not only help to get things done but can also ensure you don’t feel overwhelmed. Establishing clear goals with clear priorities will make managing uni work at home a lot easier and help you use your time productively.

Keep in touch

Talking to people is the best way not to lose your mind. Go home and reconnect with family and friends; spend time with them and discuss your plans for uni work.

Saying your plan out loud to people who are actually around can help to keep you accountable, making sure you get work done because they want to spend time with you. It can also help to curb any guilt you might feel for focusing on uni rather than family from time to time.

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Don’t forget to talk to your uni friends too! They completely understand the stress of uni work, so motivate and support each other when it gets tough.

Stay positive

It’s very important you motivate yourself with positive and healthy thought patterns. Motivating yourself based on nerves or a fear of failure can result in burnout and definitely won’t help you to enjoy your Christmas holiday.

Working from a genuine desire to do well or enjoyment for your subject will help studying go faster and let you spend more time resting at home. To help with this, create a positive and motivating study space for yourself at home.

Get the candles you can’t light in your accom going or commandeer your kitchen table. Or instead, take a winter walk and discover some lovely local places to revise at.

Take space for yourself

Taking care of yourself should always be the priority. There’s no denying that uni can be incredibly stressful, so why not block off some days as non-uni days? A few days where you don’t touch your textbook or laptop and do any activity possible to take my mind off uni, allowing yourself to properly relax.

Maybe do a cosy Christmas craft, play a board game with your family or catch up with an old friend. Make sure that every day you do something you want to do, whether that’s something you do all the time at uni or never get the opportunity for.

Try to productively enjoy yourself and rest as much as you can within your schedule, avoiding doomscrolling so you don’t feel like you’ve wasted your holiday!