By Nathan Kim
Rut: a habit or pattern of behavior that has become dull and unproductive but is hard to change
As we are reaching the midway point of the semester, it’s easy to become unmotivated and exhausted from the ever-increasing pile of work. I know that for me, I’m finding it harder to get up each day and consistently keep up with balancing my school life, social life, and personal life. It’s a constant battle to not feel burnt out and keep on working hard each day, but I’ve tried to combat this by utilizing some methods to regain that drive again and get out of this rut. Here are three ways you, too, can escape that feeling of being stuck and unable to move forward.
- Take a walk outside and observe your surroundings
You’ve probably heard of the concept of mindfulness, but for me the purpose of taking a walk is to clear your mind. It’s best to do this without thinking too much about where you’re walking or how long you’re going to walk. Walking in nature and listening to the ambient sounds of your environment is a surefire way to heal your body and your mind. This helps you to clear your head and take a step back from the burdens of life while appreciating your life as it is in that moment. As you walk around, you should simply observe what’s happening around you and let your thoughts pass by without dwelling on them too much. After your walk, you will be able to return to your work feeling refreshed and hopefully less stressed.
- Clean your physical and digital clutter
We all have things in our lives that need some cleaning. It can be rather therapeutic to set things back into their places and to tidy up your life a bit. At first, it might seem overwhelming to take on such a large task, but approaching messy situations in a step-by-step fashion is the best antidote to a chaotic life. For physical clutter, it starts by putting one item back in place. For digital clutter, cleaning your cluttered email inbox might be a good start. Cleaning gives you another opportunity to not have to think about other appointments in the future and engage in some introspection on how you’re feeling about your life in general. It’s important to have an organized environment because that is the location where you will be doing the majority of your work at.
