Getting Refocused After Vacation

So you finally got a week off school where you stayed up all night every night, went out with your friends, and let all of the worries of school fly away.  Maybe you even had a fun sleepover with your sister and your dogs. (Like I did, and I even have photographic evidence!) Then, after your vacation flew by, you're back in your dorm room, dreading having to get back to school after a week of fun.  How is it possible to focus on homework when your mind is stuck on that last night at home with your friends or that fantastic vacation you went on with your family?

Here's the bottom line- the first few days after any vacation are probably going to be awful.  You're going to be tired, unfocused, maybe behind on your schoolwork, and possibly left with a huge pile of dirty laundry to do.  There's also a really good possibility that you're going to be tempted to skip a few classes to catch up on your sleep.  Don't do it- I promise you that it's not worth the extra hour of snooze time and that it will only cause you to be more stressed out about the amount of work you have to do.

Then what should you do?  First off, try to get back to school with enough time to unpack your stuff.  This seems like a small thing, but it's really hard to get around to your homework if you have piles of stuff left-over from your vacation laying around.  

When you're finally re-organized and physically ready for school to start, it's time to get mentally ready.  There really is no sure plan for this, except to take a deep breath and dive back into the books.  To stop yourself from going completely insane, try to at least schedule something fun that you can look forward to for the upcoming weekend or, if its really that awful of a week, start your weekend on Thursday.  (See my last blog entry for fun ideas for early weekends.)  However, most of all, try to get all of your work done during daylight hours so that you can use your nights for sleeping and catching up with the friends that you missed during your vacation.