3 Tips To Recover From End-of-Semester Stress
By Jody Bell
My eyes were burning – they were red, sore, and mildly crossed as I peered at the pixelated screen in front of me. I swear I could barely even read let alone produce another 1,000 words on the history of Mesopotamia. Yet, I took another swig of ice cold water, popped another stick of gum in my mouth, and closed my eyes, visualizing the end of my finals like a red finish line that I was just a few feet away from. So close, just one more test and then the freedom of winter break and 3 weeks of no classes.
I don’t think I showered in about 2 days, and my hair was intertwined with the hair tie that has been pulled into a tight bun for far too long. I’ve been laying in bed for at least 8 hours a night, but I would be lying if I said I was asleep for that whole time – academic stress kept me awake, and unfinished work left me physically restless.
Two painstaking hours later and I was done. I broke my eyes from the white screen of the Google Document in front of me, read over my novel of an essay, and clicked the orange submit button. Done with exams. Finally.
If I had the energy, I would’ve physically jumped up and probably danced – it felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders! But I couldn’t manage that – instead I slumped down into my chair and let out a horridly exhausted sigh. I felt like I could melt into my chair, and all I wanted was to lie in bed, relish in my fatigue, and turn on some Netflix. My eyes drifted to the unfinished bed to my right – somehow it was even more appealing with blankets strewn everywhere.
But, as I approach my senior year of college, I now know better than to immediately retire into rest-mode; staying in bed for days after these periods of intense stress somehow only manages to make fatigue worse. Instead, I’ve learned about something called active recovery.
Without getting into the nitty-gritty psychology of this, think of two people after a stressful day at the office: one who comes home to scroll on social media on the couch, and one who goes out on a walk and leaves their phone at home. Both forms of recovery are valid – the first is something called passive recovery – where you are relaxing your body but flooding your mind with stimulation. The second is active recovery – where you move your body but try to unplug your mind a bit. After the stress of midterms, finals, or a long workweek, we crave the mental stimulation of passive recovery as a way to escape – but in all honesty what we need is active recovery.
This form of recovery will help give your body the movement it has lacked, while giving your mind a break to recharge. After many periods of cramming for AP exams, midterms, finals, standardized tests, and more, I have a pretty set routine on my active recovery – hopefully it can be helpful to you as you recover from similar stress and get ready for a fun winter break!
1. Limit Mental Stimulation
After submitting a big assignment or test, my gut reaction used to be reaching for my phone to text friends, check Instagram, and see if I got any Snapchats.
However, doing each of those activities floods your brain with stimulation – after working on a demanding assignment that’s seriously not helpful. Instead, try to keep your phone plugged in or out of sight as you stretch, say hi to family/roommates, get a snack, and overall just take a moment to breathe. When I first started doing this I honestly hated it, I felt as though my brain was going 100 miles a minute, and suddenly, it just stopped and had no other information to process or react to – I craved TV, my phone, any form of media consumption. However, after practicing this a few times, I noticed that after about 20 minutes I didn’t crave that stimulation – my brain slowed down and I was actually in a more sustainable headspace and truly recovered from the intensity of my work.
2. Work on Mindfulness
You may have heard of mindfulness before – it has plenty of different interpretations, but overall it's the ability to be hyper aware of the details of your environment that are routinely overlooked.
Mindfulness helps you stay grounded in the present moment, and heightens your appreciation of many aspects of your life you may take for granted. Whether it’s taking a moment to appreciate how the sunlight hits your bedroom curtains during sunset, or the little indent your family dog leaves on the sofa from lying there, these little details have potential to bring you so much joy if you intentionally notice them. Plus, these forms of mental stimulation are a better alternative to your TV or phone if you are trying to unplug and find active recovery.
I would recommend taking a few walks in the days that follow your exams and trying to notice/describe little aspects of your environment. It may sound easy, but true mindfulness is actually quite hard to achieve, and only found through practice.
3. Move and Nourish Your Body and Environment
While this one may be obvious, it is arguably the most difficult and important part of active recovery.
You may need to recover some sleep right after your exams, but make sure not to stay in bed too long! Even getting up to tidy your room is a great place to start when it comes to moving your body – plus, if you’re anything like me your room is a mess after a few days of academic stress. You probably haven’t been prioritizing movement or healthy foods if you’re getting essays done and studying nonstop, so consider the period after these assignments as a time to pay back your body for getting you through your work even after some neglect. Go on a walk/run, do some yoga, eat nourishing food, and make sure you’re drinking tons of water!
It took me a while to craft a routine for my post-exam recovery – so feel free to customize your approach and see what feels right. Even if you don’t feel incredibly exhausted, practicing active recovery while you're still in high school/college is a great way to build healthy habits for the future that will prevent more issues such as burn-out.
If you have any questions, want to talk, or even have an idea for an article, feel free to reach out to me at jody.bell@girlswithimpact.com
Jody Bell, 20 is Girls With Impact’s Editor in Chief and a program graduate from Greenwich High School. Girls With Impact is the nation’s only online, business and leadership program for girls 14-24, turning them into tomorrow’s leaders, entrepreneurs, and innovators.