Three steps to build yourself a raft

Spring break is over. You’re back on campus and facing the last few weeks of spring term. Transitions can be hard – especially when they are from a place of leisure and fun to one of stress and hard work. Being jolted from a week on the beach to getting ready for the final push of the term is brutal.

Are you feeling overwhelmed by everything which still needs to be done, by the impending crunch of finals week, by making productive summer plans, or by changes which are going to happen at the end of the term? Are you smelling spring in the air and itching to get away from the classroom and your books and outside into the sunshine? Spring fever is real! Are you having trouble getting back into the mental space of school and work after your week off?

Ease back in

What are you doing to ease yourself back into college life after your week off? Did you catch up with friends you hadn’t seen while you were off campus? Have you set some self-care goals for yourself for the rest of the term to ensure that you are eating right, exercising and getting enough rest so you can perform at your best in your classes? Did you ask a few friends to form a study group or to exchange notes to help prepare you for the final weeks of class? Did you set some goals for yourself for the next few weeks to keep yourself on track for the rest of the term? Were you strategic about your re-entry or did you (and this is going to be the most popular answer) jump right back in head-first and start churning through the daily slog of emergencies and due dates like you were never on break at all? Yep, I thought so!

Building the raft

Strategic planning is a lot like building a raft instead of treading water. Treading water is sustainable for a while, but it gets exhausting quickly just like keeping up with your classes by getting your work done hours before it is due and living in a constant state of crisis will wear you down. Building a raft allows you time and space to rest and breathe just like preparing for large assignments and final exams weeks in advance gives you the chance to approach college from a position of security rather than one of relentless stress.

We do not make a conscious choice to live a state of emergency – it just happens. But we can make an intentional choice to stop living in chaos and start planning ahead instead. I know strategic planning feels like something you don’t have time for. You have deadlines, you have assignments, you have commitments, you have exams to take and books to read and papers to write – you don’t have time to take stock of where your work in the first half of the term has gotten you or to look ahead to more than the next few days. You are struggling just to keep your head above water; you don’t have the time and energy to build a raft.

Nobody wants to be on the verge of drowning or under the constant pressure of looming deadlines, but how do you get out from under the constant threat of impending deadlines and get ahead? Surprisingly, it doesn’t take much extra time to be more strategic. I bet you can complete the three steps below in less than an hour. Taking that hour to plan ahead now will likely actually save you time in the long run since you will be so much better prepared and will be working under so much less stress. When we work under stress, we are nowhere near our most productive and creative selves. Everything we do takes longer and results in work of lower quality when we are frenetically trying to meet multiple deadlines than it does when we are calm and focused.

Step 1 –Look Back

Take a look at what you have already done this term for each class. How well have you done so far? How well do you need to do on the remaining assignments to achieve the grade you want?

If your grade is not what want it to be, schedule some time with the instructor to ask what you can do to improve it. Is there extra credit available? Are there any assignments you did not complete which they might let you submit late? Are there concepts which you still don’t understand which they can clarify for you?

Ask where you should focus your effort for the rest of the term to maximize the impact of your effort. If you and the instructor determine there is no way for you to achieve the grade you want, consider discussing exit strategies like withdrawing from the class. Ask about the financial ramifications, effect on your eligibility for graduation and impacts on your GPA before you make any decisions.

Step 2 – Look ahead and make a plan

What still needs to be done in each of your classes for the rest of the term? Are there major assignments coming due in the next few weeks? Are there final exams to study for or final papers to write? What personal obligations do you have for the rest of the term?

Make a list of action items for each of the major commitments which needs to be done before the end of the term. Break your larger assignments up into smaller pieces to create multiple milestone progress indicators for each big project. Continue to do this until the pieces are small enough that they are not intimidating. Completing these milestone tasks on the way to bigger goals will help you to stay on track, keep you focused on what is important, and give you a sense of accomplishment.

Step 3 – Schedule it

Get out a calendar (digital or otherwise) and start scheduling these milestone tasks into your days. Start with the due date for each commitment and work backwards through your action item list asking yourself “what is the latest possible date I can have this step done without feeling stressed?” Add each step to your calendar with enough time to complete it before that latest possible date you set for having it done.

Make the due dates for each milestone task as non-negotiable as those set by your professors – don’t put them off until they become an emergency. Set deadlines for yourself and enforce them! You’ll thank yourself finals week when you are floating down a lazy river on your raft and everyone around you is gasping for air in the water!