Nicola
The title of my March 18 blog comes from one of my favourite songs The Vamps – Halfway There. More than ever it rings true for me and a lot of people around me. As a third-year History student, this is the big year, the one which really counts and the one with a dissertation to complete.
Sometimes we all need some motivation and a way to get us through deadline season or times when things are going brilliantly. For me, that’s thinking about what I have to look forward to or reflecting on the distance I’ve already come with my work. Let’s be real here; it’s March, I’ve already handed in some parts of my work and made progress on almost all the other ones. I’m a known worrier, I always fear I’m behind schedule, kick myself for not sticking to my to-do list daily and in turn forget to look after myself and my own well-being. It’s a bit of a vicious circle and one people (including myself) have tried to get me out of.
However, something I have learnt is to surround yourself with happy things and events to motivate you through the tougher times. For instance, me and my flatmate have made ourselves comfort boxes full of everything we love; photos, bath stuff, favourite foods, colouring books and memories etc. Whenever we get stressed or need to reward ourselves over deadline period we can dip into the box and take something out to give us a little bit of light relief or a break from it. Working is great, but working too much can be completely counterproductive. If you know me you’ve probably seen me talking about The Vamps UK tour which is taking place in April/May. Slotted perfectly around deadline season it’s my sole motivation for pushing myself through the huge workload that has been thrown at me. I get to see my favourite band just before my dissertation is due to be handed in and a nice amount of times after and the day of my dissertation hand in I’m seeing Ed Sheeran with my best friends so that’s pretty great I can’t lie. Luckily for me, my flatmate and I do the same course modules meaning we have the same deadlines and the perfect excuse to celebrate/plan with each other to do things to get ourselves through the stressful period. We’re food lovers which mean a whole lot of lunch dates will be on the cards before, after and during the deadline season, who doesn’t love food?
I feel like life has slowly been put on hold thanks to all my deadlines quickly approaching. After a brilliant few days off for my 21st birthday, it was straight back to uni and hello the feelings of guilt when I even take some time off from doing uni work. FYI: Taking a break is healthy, I’ve now learnt this after having poor sleep and stress headaches from trying to push too much into a day. I’m definitely my own worst enemy and my biggest critic, maybe one day that’ll change.
If you’re also in the midst of deadline season or another equally as stressful time hang in there, we can do this. I believe in us. Even if you’re not making as much progress as you’d hope to, any progress is progress especially if you just remember to keep on moving forward one mile at a time.
