The holiday season is upon us! Your calendar may already be filling up with events so how do you stay on top of your schoolwork when every weekend you have another Ugly Sweater, White Elephant, or Festivus party to attend? Managing your schedule during the holidays is no different than any other time of year when you have family obligations or weekends out of town but you may need to spend more time on the planning process. Here’s my advice for maintaining your grades during the holidays.
Update your calendar
This is the most important step you can take in managing your social schedule and homework. Whether you use a handwritten calendar or an electronic one, jot down every event – even the ones you aren’t sure you will attend. Keeping track of all potential holiday functions will help you to plan when you can and cannot work on your reading and assignments.
Don’t feel bad about saying ‘no’
Your course syllabus will let you know what you have coming up each week. If you get invited to an event the same weekend that you have a 20-page research paper due then you either need to do work ahead of time or politely decline the invitation. You may not like the idea of staying home on a Saturday night at first but in the long run, you’ll be glad you put so much effort into your work.
Take a break
Even if you’re working ahead so you can enjoy this week’s party, you should still take a few breaks. Get up and make yourself a hot chocolate, put on some holiday music and dance around the house, or go for a walk. Spending every second of your free time doing homework can might add stress to an already stressful time of year but taking yourself away from the computer will help you refresh and refocus.
What do you do to balance classwork and your holiday schedule?
By Madeline Kronfeld
Online Learning Tips, Special Contributor
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