Hopefully, your spring break was a relaxing vacation from all the stresses of UC Berkeley. If it was, chances are it’s going to be hard to be a student again. You got a taste of a relaxing time, and it’s difficult to stress and work hard on your studies. With a little more than a month of school left, however, you really should be a student again. Here are some ways to ease back into your studies.

Start with something easy

The easiest way to get yourself to start school work is to begin with something that requires low energy. Whether it’s a reading or a mindless worksheet, as long as it’s school work, it should easily get you in the flow of working again. Also, think about starting something low energy when you would usually do work. That way, your habitual work schedule should get you in the mood to do work.

Go to class

A good way to get back into the headspace of a student is to go to class. Paying attention in class can immerse you in your school work, which is another low energy way of getting you into the flow of school. This will also prevent you from having to learn all the material on your own, probably right before the midterm. Cramming isn’t something to look forward to, so why not ease yourself in with the professor as your guide.

Make a schedule

Keeping a schedule for when you’ll get your work done is the best way to brute force your way to completing all of your assignments. Giving yourself hard deadlines will help you get everything done without needing you to be motivated or in the mood. It isn’t the most pleasant way, but if you can’t get motivated, this might be your best bet.

Get things done

Sometimes, the difficulty isn’t in getting motivated — it can be in staying motivated. Making sure to get things done should keep you motivated to do school work. It’s hard to stay energetic after working for a couple of hours and not having finished a single thing, making your workload look daunting. If you make sure to get things finished before moving to the next thing, you’ll be able to see how much progress you’ve made — providing you with some motivation to complete the rest of your tasks.

Study stuff from before the break

Another productive way you can feel like a student again is to study material you covered before the break. That way you’ll have continuity from before the break to now. It won’t feel like you have to start from scratch. Instead, you’ll be picking up from where you left off. You’ll also study some of the stuff you might have forgotten over the break, which is useful in its own right.

Hopefully, these tips will help you feel like a student again. Remember, you can ease yourself into your school work — just make sure to get everything done. This semester will be over before you know it. You might as well work hard for this final stretch.