The average Marist student has a lot of things on his or her plate. Between school, sports, and other extracurricular activities, how do we do it all and still enjoy ourselves? We are constantly going from event to event, and then when we get home, we shower and fall into bed. Doing this day after day can be stressful, so how can we manage our busy schedules and still be in a good mental state? 

Marist teaches us how to work hard and manage our schoolwork, but it can be difficult to find a balance that doesn’t leave us totally drained. So, I have some suggestions. Take an hour, at the very least, for yourself, every weekend. Do something that makes you happy and brings you joy. Watch a movie with your family, walk your dog, read a book, or even just relax in bed with your phone. I promise that if you take at least an hour out of your busy day to just unwind, it will change your mindset, and leave you feeling so much better.

It can be good to power through the stress of our weekly tasks, and sometimes, it is best to just take time away from our busy schedule to do something that will allow us to decompress. That way, we can re-energize and still have the motivation to keep going, to keep moving forward, and put forth our best effort in everything that we do.

In addition to getting more sleep, which I’m sure we could all use, it’s important that we have downtime to do whatever we want and relax. So, if you just take some time every weekend to relax, you will be refreshed for the week ahead.

Do something that makes you happy and bring you joy!