Everyone talks about managing stress during midterms, but what happens after?
Coming down from weeks of adrenaline, late nights and meeting deadline after deadline can feel just as disorienting as the exams and projects themselves. Here’s how to regulate, recharge and head into spring break feeling like yourself again.
1. Fix Your Sleep Schedule
Before you pack a bag or make plans, fix your sleep schedule! Between all the late nights, early mornings and maybe even some all-nighters, your body is probably thrown off. Most adults need at least seven hours of quality sleep each night to support brain function, mood and overall health. If that number seems like a distant dream, this is your chance to go get it! Go to bed earlier than you have been and leave your phone across the room. If you can, turn off the alarm for a night and let your body catch up on the sleep it deserves.
2. Take a Break From Screens
Your eyes have been staring at your computer screen for hours—give them a break, too! Try to spend at least an hour without staring at a screen. No browsing sites on your laptop or doomscrolling on your phone, just fully unplug!
Go outside, take a walk around campus (without being glued to a phone screen!), read a physical copy of a book, newspaper or magazine, journal, doodle, stretch or talk to a friend. When we stare at close screens too often or for too long, we can bother our eyes and keep our brains locked in “fight-or-flight mode.” Giving yourself some distance from your devices signals to your body that it can relax.
3. Move Your Body, but Keep It Gentle
You definitely do not need to go run a marathon after all of the mental work you just did, but some light movement after being stuck at the library for a few days will definitely feel good. Exercise has been proven to help you feel happier and cut down on the negative effects of stress on the body, so go for a stroll, stretch in your room or even put on a YouTube workout video.
4. Clean One Small Space
The whirlwind of midterms tends to leave clutter behind in its wake, and the immediate concerns of studying and schoolwork make cleaning the last thing on your mind. Cleaning your entire living space right after you finish your last midterm probably doesn’t sound like an ideal way to wind down, but you don’t have to do everything at once! Focus on resetting one area: your desk, your backpack or your email inbox. Going into break with a clearer, cleaner space makes it easier to unplug. If you want more tips on how to get organized, make sure to check out our story on spring cleaning tips!
5. Allow Yourself to Rot
Yes, rot.
Lay in bed and do absolutely nothing for a set window of time. Rest is not laziness, it is recovery. A planned pause now helps you head into spring break refreshed instead of exhausted but in a different location.
6. Do the Thing You’ve Been Putting Off
Start the show everyone keeps talking about, open the book that’s been sitting on your shelf collecting dust, attend that workout class you keep putting off or try the new coffee spot you still haven’t gotten to visit. Midterms put everything else on pause. Now that the pressure is off, this is your moment to actually do the thing (whatever that thing may be)!
The hardest part is past—you showed up, you studied and you made your deadlines. Now it’s time to let yourself breathe. You worked hard for this break, and it’s time to go enjoy it, Syracuse!
Written by Julia Seitz G’26, S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications