Busy studying

Hey! Long time no see. I’m back in Stockholm and back to school. I thought I would have time to relax as soon as I got home, but as you probably have noticed by now the tempo in school isn’t so forgiving. It’s like I’ve forgotten just how much work and mental focus studying actually takes. Working and studying is completely different. Even though working takes a lot more hours out of your schedule, university have the annoying effect of never really letting you relax, because there is always something you should be doing right?

“They tend to stack up don’t they….”

I just wanted to say, if you feel a bit overwhelmed with your studies already, don’t get discouraged, I think it’s perfectly normal. I still get completely overwhelmed after 4 years, but hey – it’s working out quite well even so. Things actually do tend to work out even if it doesn’t feel like that when you’re in the middle of it.

So is there something you actually CAN do during these periods of chaos? Yeah, probably a bunch of great stuff, so I thought I’d list some of my own methods:

• If you’re stressed out by an assignment, work on it with other people. Sharing the struggle with an especially tough problem makes the whole process both easier and more fun.
• Just do it. I tend to stack up small things when I have a lot to do, for example “I should really send those e-mails”. At that point, I somewhere just say to myself, “OK that takes half an hour to do, I’ll just push through”. It usually feels a lot better afterwards.
• I small dose of procrastination. When I’m stressed, I start cleaning my apartment. This is surely procrastination, but I actually need it. I have difficulties focusing when I have clutter around me. Removing annoyances can make a huge difference.

And just a reminder, it’s not the end of the world if you fail an exam. Exams can be retaken with good results. Last semester I got an F in a course on my first try and managed to get an A (!) on the next. Hang in there!

/Sofie