Before Thanksgiving break, it’s tempting to turn off your brain and leave a lot of matters for the week after. But if you do this, you’re missing a big opportunity to take care of some small but necessary things ahead of the final stretch (and final exams).
In the following article, we’ll be pointing out the “small but necessary,” and we encourage you to take each one as seriously as possible. Getting this stuff covered ahead of time will put you in a prime position for your final month before winter break.
While this is written with college students in mind, it also can apply to high school students as well. Now let’s begin!
1. Do Your Thanksgiving Dinner Pre-Cleanse
First thing’s first. You’re going to eat a lot of food on Thanksgiving Day. Like, a lot. And the bigger your family, the larger the meal’s likely to be. You could try fruitlessly to eat a “normal” day’s worth of food, but the temptations are just too great.
What’s a person to do? Embrace it, but plan ahead. In the days leading up to Thanksgiving, take in smaller meals. Leave calorie surpluses in excess of one or even two thousand calories. You might try fasting through one or two of the three meals you normally eat. Add exercise to the mix. Drink lots of water. Keep this up for two or three days, and you can have the Thanksgiving Day blowout without packing on the pounds.
Besides, with nine more items on this list, you’re going to be plenty busy so food is not always at the forefront of your brain.
2. Pack Up Your Non-Emergency Items
“Emergency” may be a strong term. What we mean by invoking it here are the things you won’t need for the next month of your life. Since you’re likely going to be hitting the books pretty hard for that last 30 days, it’s important you put away anything that might be classified as a distraction.
Things like video games and movie collections can get in the way. They’ll need to move anyway. So why not do it now? Make a list of any and every item that draws your attention away from your studies. Then, bring them home with you for the Thanksgiving break. You won’t have to think another thought about them up to and including moving day, and you’ll be able to focus on the things that demand your TLC.
3. Examine Your Schedule
Take a little time to plan ahead. Look at your schedule so you have a clear idea of any projects that may be due in the final weeks after Thanksgiving break. Starting early will give you the chance to work out a timeline and any action items in the days ahead.
4. Arrange Your Work Plans
If you have a job and you don’t want it to interfere with your holiday time, then you need to make sure you’ve asked for the time off in enough advance that you’re not leaving an employer in the lurch.
It just takes a little careful planning — something we would start a month ahead of time so there is plenty of time to get the days off that you need. If deciding to quit your job, do it with a minimum of two weeks’ time. This gives the employer enough time to seek and interview qualified candidates before your departure date.
5. Cut Off Unhealthy Relationships
Bad relationships are like a millstone hung around your neck with the express purpose of having you thrown overboard and sinking to the bottom of the ocean. They suck out the happiness, the hope, and the dreams that you have for yourself.
Of course, that doesn’t make the other person bad. It just means they’re bad for you. And that doesn’t necessarily have to mean bad romantic relationships. It could be cancerous friendships or any other interaction you have to endure routinely. Use the before Thanksgiving break time to dissolve that communication tie. Then, try not to resolve it when you come back.
If done correctly, it will vanish on its own.
6. Continue (or Start) Working Out
What better time is there to crush your workout routine, or to actually start one up, than when you are in the throes of overeating. The average person consumes around 4,000 calories on Thanksgiving Day. That’s a full pound of weight. If you don’t do something to burn that off, it can initiate a downward slide that leads to more weight gain, bad habits, and health issues.
Take advantage of the extra time you’re going to be away from school, free temporarily from the obligations that await in your final weeks of the semester. If you’re intimidated, start small by getting out and doing the level of exertion you’re comfortable with. You can always up your game from there.
7. Do Not Oversleep
There is going to be a temptation to sleep in when you have a little time off, but don’t do it. Get up in the morning. If you have to, take a nap later in the day. Here’s the reasoning for that.
A longer break like summer or Christmas gives you the luxury to “splurge” with your sleeping patterns and still get back on course before school starts up again. With Thanksgiving break, you only have a few days to “work.” Don’t break good habits when you still have so much time to go before the semester is over.
So resist the urge to slack off before Thanksgiving break. Plan to stick with your routines. You’ll be glad that you did when the following Monday rolls around.
8. Develop a ‘Finals’ Plan
You have a mission when you return from the few days off that you’ll receive. That mission is to study, prepare, and ace your finals so you can graduate. Before Thanksgiving break, you should be looking at your schedule and determining what finals you have to take, what they will entail, and how you should go about studying for them.
Once you know the quantity, you can count the number of days until those final exams are given. This will help you avoid procrastination and “cramming” as much as possible. Always a good idea!
9. Get with Your Study Buddies
While you’re doing your schedule, it’s probably a good idea to check in with your fellow study group members. If you have any finals where you plan to meet, make sure you’re giving each other enough time to work so the information has a chance to “soak in.”
Furthermore, don’t just show up cold to the study group session. Treat it like you have a homework assignment that needs to be done and study what you will be discussing on your own. Make note of the questions that you have — the things you still find confusing. This will help speed things along and ensure that your group focuses on the points of difficulty that need to be addressed.
10. Do a Grades Assessment
The last thing you’ll want to do is a grades assessment. You probably know what we mean by that, but just to be clear: what score will you need on your finals to get the grade you desire, and that is possible, for the class?
One test may not be able to bring a D up to an A, but it could be feasible that your D could become a B if you do well enough. What will that score need to be? Crunch some numbers so you can know exactly how hard to study between now and exam day.
Make the Right Moves Before Thanksgiving Break for a Smoother Holiday
If you’re reading this before Thanksgiving break, try to incorporate the suggestions we have shared. If you have some of your own, feel free to leave them for us in the comments section. Thank you for coming back to 4Tests day after day, and may you all have a happy Thanksgiving!
Aric Mitchell's work appears regularly here at 4tests.com and across the web for sites, such as The Inquisitr and Life'd. A former high school teacher, his passion for education has only intensified since leaving the classroom. At 4tests, he hopes to continue passing along words of encouragement and study tips to ensure you leave school ready to face an ever-changing world.
