Law School Winter Break: How to Actually Relax

As winter break comes to a close, I thought it would be appropriate to share how I handle winter break–and try to really treat it like a break. While some students may take winter term classes, others don’t, and winter break isn’t usually a time for internships/externships, so many people may find themselves bored or stressed.

As we have learned, law school grades take a long time to be released. It can be aggravating to have to go almost the entire break without knowing how you did in your classes. The best advice I can give on this issue is to distract yourself! It’s out of your control, and stressing about it while you could be relaxing won’t do you any good.

Another issue with winter break is figuring out how to truly relax. From my own experience and what I’ve heard from others, people take time to themselves and allow themselves not to do anything for about a week, and then they start to go crazy. While it is nice to sleep in as long as you want and do absolutely nothing, personally, I tend to go stir crazy and feel guilty for not getting anything done. What I do to prevent this is to have a to-do list for every day; it doesn’t have to be long or even have difficult tasks. I find that getting a few small things done every day such as cleaning, exercising, and running errands makes me feel like I’ve accomplished something for the day. It also gets me out of the house and switches up the environment. I make plans with family and friends since I don’t get to socialize as much during the semester. Of course, I make sure to set aside plenty of time for myself so I can reset physically and mentally–that’s what winter break is for! I usually pick a few activities that I enjoy to do over break like puzzles, for example.

Ultimately, everyone needs something a little different to be able to relax. It really comes down to resetting to prepare for spring semester. For me, this means not thinking about school until the last possible minute and just enjoying myself over break. Make sure to take time for yourself and treat yourself!