It is no doubt that stress increases as the school year goes on. The excitement of meeting friends has gone down, and motivation is lost within the mountains of homework you have. Your assignments are calling for you, but you cannot bring yourself to do them or else you will be stuck in that endless loop of stress again. Well, what can you do?

First, drop that assignment, and take a short break. Make sure this “short break” stays a short one, which is no more than around half an hour. In the meantime, you can eat a snack, talk to someone, or do something similar. You can go on an electronic but try not to do anything too engaging such as playing video games or scrolling through social media; otherwise, you will be stuck doing that. After, you should get back to work.

Personally, my biggest challenge is getting off my phone. I cannot seem to put down my phone and start doing my work. It is a constant struggle; I would rather laugh at videos or something than do actual work. To solve this, I try to stay away from my phone. Unfortunately, this method has setbacks: what if I need my phone for something crucial? Thus, I have come up with my own method: a timelapse. When I cannot get off my phone, I start a timelapse of myself doing my work. This allows me to receive notifications and do my work at the same time. In addition, I will not be able to go on my phone due to the ongoing timelapse. While this may sound strange, it works for me.

Now that brings me to another point: you need to find what works for YOU. What can you do to help yourself? Everyone is different, so you must find your own method. One may function better with a steady work ethic, while others may function better with spontaneous bursts of energy. One may try to come up with a positive way to motivate themself, while others may need to hear straight up facts about failing. Either way, you need to try your best. It is all about that mindset after all.