The Inevitable Slump

Liyi, Engineering, Class of 2025 - Nov 18, 2024

Nothing has come more naturally to me than the title of this blog. In contrast, it seems like doing anything else has suddenly become a lot more difficult. Yes, the inevitable slump—after pouring all my energy into assignments, midterms, labs, and projects, I simply do not have the energy I once did, when I was bright and starry-eyed in my first week.

Many of my classmates feel the same way. The period after reading week was brutal, getting slammed with assignment after assignment and test after test.

And, at the very end of it all, I got cooked on a midterm that I studied my best for, which really knocked me down when I was already falling. So, here we are, in a slump. I feel a bit funny because my first and second blog posts this semester had some intense foreshadowing and situational irony (I was too enthused in my first blog and, in my second, became a schoolwork-churning-robot. The natural progression ended in burnout). Where do I go from here?

There are lots of different ways to get back in the groove, but even finding the motivation to try and do this is difficult. Sometimes it is much easier to rot in your room and ignore all your problems. Now, I know rot has a negative connotation to it, but I consider it the necessary first step of crawling out of a slump.

  1. Rot: Treat yourself like a 5-year-old who had a long day at daycare and is on the verge of tears. Do what you need to process the intense time you’ve had and be kind to yourself. Forget about everything else and just focus on you. Go to the gym, play video games, watch Netflix... whatever you want.
  2. One small win: When you are done rotting (and you’ll know you’re done when reality melts through the haze and your brain starts firing more neurons to do something), just do a singular thing. One small win to achieve. Whether it’s making the bed, doing one problem of a problem set, stretching, or washing a singular dish. Do something easy and count it as a win—because it is! Be proud.
  3. Treat yourself: Yay! You achieved something in step 2. Good job. You should do something nice for yourself as a reward. Perhaps a new seasonal item from CoGro (this is not a sponsored ad)?
  4. Rinse and repeat: Repeat steps 2 and 3 and soon you will have achieved multiple small wins! As you knock simple things off your to-do list, your brain releases dopamine, which causes positive feelings. We then attribute positive feelings to repeating the processes, meaning that we will have more motivation to do more things. (I can attest to this; I can feel myself slowly recovering from burnout as I complete more of this blog).
  5. Reflect and prevent: Take some time to reflect on why you are in a slump—was it a result of your study habits? Time management? Or simply out of your control because your course scheduling was just a bit too harsh? After reflecting, adjust from there, and note what you could do next time to prevent burnout. SASS has some wonderful resources and events.
  6. Have more fun: There are weekly events on campus (pasted below from The Pulse’s November email) that will pull you out of any slump!
  1. Tackle a big task (which is just multiple small tasks, which you already know how to do): After you feel recovered and rejuvenated, try to set up the environment around you to study. Whether that’s picking up an iced coffee and snacks or heading to the basement of Douglas, immerse yourself in a study mindset. You can complete one or two individual small tasks and then break up any big tasks into little ones and start knocking them off your list.
  2. Now you’re back in action, woohoo!

If I recall correctly, every single year I’ve talked about burnout and read someone else’s blog about burnout. Being in a slump is a universal experience, and I am 100% convinced my most recent experience will not be the last. What is important is that we learn how to take care of ourselves, so the next time, when the inevitable slump happens again, we can quickly recover and get back on our feet because we’ve been here before.

For me, after my midterm and lab, I took a shower, put on my comfiest pajamas, and sat in bed and read for the rest of the evening. Today (November 5th), I did my skincare routine and cleaned my room. Tomorrow, I’ll go to the pier and pet some dogs at Mitchell. I’m trudging along, slowly but surely.

Let’s keep our heads up, there are only a few weeks of classes left.

Best of luck,

Liyi

 

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