It’s that time of the year again! Just as the second half of the semester approaches, students are ready for a little break to stretch their legs and relax their minds. For some students, intersession is a time where they can catch up on their workload or catch up on some sleep – maybe even both. Whichever category you fall in, we have your back with three helpful tips to ensure you are using your time off wisely!
Assessing Your Workload
An important task each student should do before even thinking about sleeping in is assessing their workload. Intersession is a great time to make sure you are on top of your courses. Taking the time to assess and organize your schoolwork is a great way to ensure that you are all caught up with your lessons.
How Can You Do This?
Organizational Apps: An excellent way to start organizing is exploring different applications that offer ways to organize your assignments and tasks. Try looking for apps that are simple and have an intuitive user interface. Applications such as Trello, Beebusy, or SimpleMind Maps are easy to use and help students stay organized and improve time management.
Create a To-Do List
Keeping track of everything in your mind can be daunting. Creating a to-do list can help break down what you need to get done. If find your to-do list is overwhelming, try to break down your tasks into steps and construct a plan of how to tackle each step. Plan your work and work your plan, as the saying goes.
Set Aside Study Time
Now that you organized what needs to get done, set aside time blocks throughout the week where you can study and catch up on any missing assignments. It’s important that you keep to your schedule, as you want to cross off as much of your to-do list as possible before the semester resumes. You can set aside study time by creating meetings for yourself using Google Calendars, iCalendar, Outlook, etc.
Pro Tip: Do you find that you have tasks that are time-sensitive? Sort your to-dos by urgency. This way you can narrow down which tasks you need to start with and find what’s most important.
Creating a Stress-free Environment
With all the commotion of school, it can be difficult to keep your surroundings neat and tidy. A cluttered space creates corresponding mental confusion whereas a clean study area can boost productivity. To give yourself a mental boost and get that extra motivation to get through the rest of the semester, follow these steps to optimize and organize your space.
Jumping Into It
When your space is cluttered, you may feel overwhelmed and not know where to start. Try picking up three items and sorting those where they belong. If you continue this repeatedly, you will eventually get into a groove and end up organizing your whole space.
Digitize your physical notes
Physical documents take up room and chances are you’re holding on to them on the off chance you’ll need them. If you’re not up to typing out your notes, opt for scanning documents with your phone, using apps such as, Evernote, Good Notes, or Google Docs that are available for IOS and Android users. By digitizing your physical documents, you save on space and can quickly search through your documents conveniently.
Housekeeping
Take the time to ask yourself, are there any chores I am putting off? Make a list of the chores that you’ve procrastinated on due to your schoolwork and get started.
Here’s a list to start:
- Vacuuming/sweeping/mopping
- Washing dishes
- Changing bed sheets
- Doing laundry
- Cleaning the washroom/kitchen area
Have Fun!
Now that you have organized your schoolwork and your work/personal environment, it’s time to enjoy your intersession. Spending all day staring at a computer screen is draining. Now that you have some free time away from schoolwork, take the opportunity to try some of the many free activities available around Toronto during the winter, such as…
A Trip to the Art Gallery of Ontario
For students under 25, the AGO is free to visit and, for those 25 and over, Wednesday evenings after 6 PM are free with a pre-booked ticket. Visit Ago.ca beforehand to look at the current exhibitions and plan your visit with a friend!
A Stroll Through the Toronto Botanical Gardens
Toronto Botanical Gardens offers themed gardens with indoor and outdoor education at no cost. The garden is a wonderful attraction that is focused on plant education, display, restoration, and conservation. Visit Toronto Botanical Gardens to learn about one of Toronto’s landmarks.
Skating at Nathan Phillips Square
Be sure to dress warm and head out for a day of Skating at Nathan Phillips Square. The ice rink is located by the iconic TORONTO sign at City Hall and is open from 10 AM– 10 PM. Bring your own skates or rent a pair and skate away the stress of school while listening to music and getting some exercise.
60 Works / 60 Years
An ongoing event in the city is the Toronto Outdoor Art Fair- 60 Works / 60 Years. This event showcases 60 artworks acquired by the City of Toronto from the fair over the past 40 years. This exhibition displays interpretations of the city’s ever-evolving geographical and cultural landscape through the eyes of artists. Tickets are free at the door and the exhibition is open Wed-Fri 10 AM – 4 PM and Sat 11 AM – 4 PM.
Remember that intersession is a time where students are encouraged to catch up on work and have a moment to breathe and relax before continuing with the rest of the semester. Not every student spends their break the same, and so it’s important that students take the time to figure out how to use their time off from school productively, whether it’s organizing or resting. If you find that you’re feeling uneasy or overwhelmed during this break there are also counselling & student well-being services available at GBC to help you. Enjoy the break!
