Relax, recharge and reflect — Joyce’s Career Tip of the Week

Spring semester classes, finals and graduation ceremonies are over. Whether you are a continuing student getting ready to start a summer internship or classes, or a new graduate about to start your first professional position, I hope that you are able to make the time to relax, recharge and reflect.

If the stress of finals and the excitement of graduation managed to negatively impact the amount of sleep you were getting, I hope that you have found the time to catch up. If you haven’t yet, be sure to schedule time for sleep in the very near future.

You’ve worked hard over the past academic year. It’s possible, if not likely, that your energy has been drained. Use this time to recharge! Whether you do this by spending time in nature, working out at a gym, tinkering on a project (that doesn’t have a deadline), hanging out with friends or whatever you may choose, re-energizing yourself is critical.

Finally, take time to reflect. Ask yourself some questions and go deep within to find the answers.

Are you pleased with the work you did? Do you need to make any changes to study methods and/or the amount of time you need to study? If everything turned out great, note what you did so that it can be repeated.

Are you thinking about what you’re going to do after graduation — even if that is years away? And if you are, what are you doing to ensure that you will get to where you want to be?

Are you trying lots of new things so that you can learn more about your interests and abilities?

You have the opportunity to design your life! Are your decisions in alignment with your aspirations?

How are you doing with balancing time for study, work, campus involvement, your health and fun? Those challenges will always be with you. Even though each of us has 168 hours in a week, we are all different. How we choose to — and need to — divide our time is determined by our own individual style, abilities and values. Do you need to make any changes?

Finally, have you been so busy doing everything you have to do that you have not had the chance to do whatever is most important to you? Sometimes, that happens. By reflecting on what is most important and meaningful, we are able to step back, make some adjustments and make sure we are heading in the right direction!

 

Joyce Donahue is a career counselor in the Fulton School Career Center. She is a nationally certified career counselor and holds “Master Career Counselor” membership status in the National Career Development Association.