Here’s exactly how to stay sane during summative season

The title of this article, I will admit, is pure clickbait. Because if you know a fully functioning method for staying sane during the entire summative season, then my God, Oxbridge seriously messed up when they rejected you. I have spent the past three years trying to hack summative season and be completely stress free, and let me tell you now: It is point blank impossible.

However, that is not to say there are not a fair few tricks I have learned to manage the insanity and to stop yourself ending up at the cathedral on a Friday night at 7:42 pm contemplating your existence and begging God to keep your head screwed on. So here are six tips that might just ease the load.

1) Structure – but not the soul destroying kind

Most of us try to make some kind of master plan for when we are finally going to lock in and become productive academic weapons in the Billy. But I think a lot of us are slightly guilty of overdoing it. The last thing you want is for your essay or coursework to feel more like a chore than it already does. Summative season is long. Burnout in week one is not the strategy.

Yes, maybe cut back on nights out. But do not say no to everything. If your friends are going to a pub quiz, go. Enjoy time that has nothing to do with work so that when it is time to clock in, you actually can, because you have rested, you have laughed, and your brain has had space to recharge. Also, when stress hits, many of us pull a full snail move and retreat into our shells. Do not. Your friends are going through it too. Talk things out. Sit together and work. Body doubling genuinely works. Sometimes just suffering collectively is half the cure.

2) GET. CHANGED.

In first year especially, I was guilty of trying to complete summatives in pyjamas, sitting in the kitchen, or worse, warm and horizontal in bed.

We all tell ourselves, “This time will be different.” It will not.

You will get distracted. You will open one innocent video, maybe “easy salads to take to the library,” and two hours later you are deep in a rabbit hole watching completely pointless look-maxing videos with Clavicular, wondering how on earth the algorithm thought this was what you needed.

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If you insist on staying home, get dressed as if you are going to the library. And most importantly: PUT. SHOES. ON. I do not know the science, but something about wearing shoes convinces your brain you are going somewhere important. Even if you are just in the dining room, it becomes infinitely easier to lock in.

And do not abandon your normal habits. If you run, run. If you have a skincare routine, keep it. Summative season is not the time to reinvent yourself; it is the time to protect the routines that keep you stable. If things get overwhelming, try a quick reset: Run cold water over your wrists or behind your ears. These spots sit near major arteries and can genuinely calm your nervous system down.

3) Have something to look forward to

This applies beyond summative season, but it matters especially now. If your workload is heavy, plan something each week that you are genuinely excited about. Maybe that is getting dressed up for a date. Maybe it is Sunday jazz at Fabs. Maybe cooking dinner with your flat. Maybe even a chaotic walk to the farm behind prison Cuth’s. The point is simple: Give yourself a reason to reach Friday.

4) Romanticise the hell out of it 

Become an academic weapon aesthetically. Candles. Playlists. Dramatic energy. The whole thing. And while we are here, bizarre study discoveries are real. For reasons I cannot explain, Disney songs in another language work wonders. Part of Your World in Russian has some sort of supernatural property because every time I listened to it, my brain locked in like rent was due. Your brain loves ritual. Lean into it.

5) Feed your brain – literally

Your brain works best when it is organised and fed. Pack snacks. I, for one, became obsessed with air fried chickpeas with sweet chilli. Crispy, healthy, and so good that I roped three friends into my chickpea game. Also meal prep if you can. Have easy food ready so stress does not turn into skipping meals or surviving purely on caffeine and vibes. When your body is running properly, your brain follows. You probably will not stay perfectly sane during summative season. None of us do. But sanity is not about eliminating stress; it is about managing it well enough that you still recognise yourself by the end.

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