During the holidays, no one wants to think about studying. That is understandable. It’s a “break”. But, sometimes a situation occurs where holiday studies is necessary or it is advantageous to take that down time to get caught up or even get ahead! In this post we will consider a few situations when studying over the holidays or break occurs.
Reasons for holiday studies
- You have fallen behind and this a time to get caught up
- You have some project, assignment, exam that is due after the holidays
- You want to get ahead. E.g. lab prep, readings, project work, exam prep etc.
I’m sure there are many other reasons why someone would studying during the holidays or break but these are a few of the more common ones I’ve seen or experienced myself.
Next, how can you set yourself up for actually getting studies accomplished over the holiday period? This is tough because during the Christmas and New Years season, it is very hard not to get caught up in the festivities. Everyone, family friends, community, everything is about the taking a break, having a fun, parties, eating, socializing, nothing really conducive to peaceful study. In this situation, you really need to set aside time for yourself to get done what you need to get done. Let’s consider some strategies to accomplish your goals during the holiday season.
Strategies for studies over the holidays
- Be realistic – On paper everything looks possible but in reality, life is not black and white, things happen and get in the way. For example, if you are planning on doing some studies over the Christmas break, make a routine and factor in family commitments and social activities. For example, family dinners and get togethers on and around Christmas eve and day. Any sort of social activities like parties and New Years Eve and Day events. Holidays prep and shopping before, after and during. Get confirmation of dates and times for these activities and stick to it.
- Let family, friends and those close to you know about your studies – Studying is a lot like a diet or workout plan, you have to get everyone on board so let friends and family and those close to you know that you have some studying to complete by the end of the holidays.
- Make a schedule – Once you have these family and holiday commitment dates, locations and times, schedule them into you calendar. Then start carving out realistic times for personal study around those holiday commitments. A few hours each day, except on the Statutory holidays are what I would suggest for holiday study. Do not try and do it all in one day or one weekend. It won’t work. There is just too much going on to remain focused for an extended period of time. I would suggest choosing a study time that does not attract the most traffic in your home. If possible, change your setting for study. Go to a library, coffee shop or somewhere away from the holiday chaos to study. For example, first thing in the morning or late at night.
- Make mini achievable goals – For each study session, set small, achievable goals for yourself. This will make the sessions more focused and give you a sense of accomplishment and progress when you meet that goal at the end of the study session.
- Reward yourself – Once you have completed your study session for the day, go and enjoy to the fullest the rest of the day, your break and being with your friends and family.
- Stay on track with your schedule – There will come a time during the holiday break when it’ll be very easy to procrastinate and find reasons why you can study later and not keep to your schedule. For example, you’ve eaten too much and it’s so much easier to stay on the couch; too much partying and fun make everything seem possible including getting all your studying done at the last minute!; offering to help more during the holidays. While it is a season to give, it is also a good time to learn to set parameters around how much you give of yourself.
At the end of the holidays, you will or will not have achieved the goals exactly as you set out for yourself at the beginning of your holiday studies. If you got any studying done at all and achieved even one goal, you are one step ahead of where you ended before the holidays, that is a success to be proud of. This will be an asset to you when the term resumes.
