As midterms are coming up, one thing to keep in mind is that the third-quarter slump is a very real thing. After that long, relaxing winter break, it can be hard to jump back into the long and rough high school journey. Starting harder content and getting prepared for exams at the end of the year while waiting for spring break, which is three months away, causes demotivation and slowly starts to impact your grades, lifestyle, and mental health. Here are some ways to prevent that from happening.
The first thing you can do to help with the overwhelming feeling of stress over school and other things is to stay organized. Staying organized will help create a system for deciding what to prioritize.
“It’s essential to have a system of organization, whether that be a calendar, a planner, or maybe even an app on your phone with reminders,” said Mrs. Mundell, the school psychiatrist.
Another important thing that will help you stay afloat is meeting attainable goals with realistic deadlines. This will help you move forward and complete things on time so that procrastination doesn’t become a problem.
“I would encourage students to set smaller deadlines, particularly on those things that are looming long term, so that they are at least making progress towards completion,” said Mundell.
One final thing that can help you successfully get through the third quarter is to do things like exercise or listen to music when you are stressed.
“Research has shown that listening to music and exercise can reduce anxiety, blood pressure, and pain as well as improve sleep quality, mood, mental alertness, and memory,” Said Mrs. Crandall, a Psychology teacher at OLHS.
While the third quarter can be tough, it is important to remember there are ways to make it less stressful and more fun. Counselors are always available to talk about things and assist with any problems you may find yourself in!
“I see students who are having some emotional challenges and challenges to their mental health,” Mundell said. “Because then the task seems so large that it’s hard even to know where to start and how to get it done,” said Mundell.