It’s the start of a new week and you know what that means, seven more days of studying, stressing, and way too much hot chocolate in my system. Right? *BUZZER*

Awesome Monkey’s Tip That You Should Remember Even If I Have Made No Other Impression On You: Work like a Captain, Play like a Pirate.

When you have worked long and worked hard, even if you’ve achieved nothing except stress and frustration, give yourself a break! I’m not talking a quick bathroom break or a dash to the kitchen to refill your coffee mug, I’m talking step away from the textbooks and go mingle with the world. Or you can start off by telling a wandering snail your college woes, baby steps, baby steps. Point is, there is only so much you can study and only so much you can cram into your brain before it implodes. Give yourself time to relax! Watch a movie (I highly recommend Hotel Transylvania – Had me choking on popcorn and slapping the best friend too often asking “DID YOU SEE THAT?! HAHAHAHA!” Needless to say, she was not pleased. But we both loved the movie!)

Or curl up on the couch and spend the whole day alternating between reading the book that’s been collecting dust in your Barnes & Nobles’ bag and refilling your plate of sloth-approved snacks.

All I’m saying is be nice to yourself. Don’t work yourself to the edge of exhaustion and then get annoyed at yourself when your brain fails you in the middle of class and you don’t even remember what day it is. You have limits and there is a thing as working too hard, even for a college student who’s failed a class and needs to double her work ethics. Always give yourself a break, a day if possible, to just do anything but think about work and college, a day to be free, to do anything that you want to do, a day to not set that alarm and just sleep in. A day to recharge, and chances are, you’ll find it much easier to focus when the next day rolls around and it’s back to making nice with the textbooks. Your body will thank you.

So, after all that’s been said and done, what have I done today? The answer: nothing, and many things, depending on how you look at it. I have not touched let alone started my midterm presentation, nor have I done any of the assignments for my weekend classes. However, I have (finally) caught up on my QC Blog posts (not a bad priority list, eh?), caught up on the latest news from my favorite artists (*insert fangirl spazzing in 3..2…*), caught up on a new show that I kept missing all season because I could not for the life of me ever catch it while it was airing on TV (I’m a couch potato who spends more time sleeping than actual couch potato-ing), requested a new book from the library (do you realize it’s been months since I read an actual novel?! I can feel my inner bookworm self withering away-YOU SHALL NOT DIE), AND finally was able to hear my mom burst into the house saying “let me guess, you spent all day in front of the computer and didn’t even bother to pick up the broom-oh, the floor’s clean.” That alone, right there, is the sound of success.

I wish you all a wonderful week with a day of relaxation thrown in there for sanity’s sake. Until next week!