It’s that time of the school year. Midterms for the spring semester have wrapped up. Spring has hit the calendars but not the weather. Spring break is over and there are two weeks until Easter break. I feel like I’m trying to drag myself through the mud, pulling myself to a brighter future that I just can’t see yet.
I like to call these particular few weeks of the season “the pre-spring blues.”
I’ve been trying various activities and exercises to boost my energy levels, and I’ve finally narrowed it down to the consistent few that always brings me a little bit more joy during my day.
Add exercise to your morning routine.
Fordham University’s lovely Ram Fit has become a solace for me in times of depressed turmoil. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been an athlete. No longer being part of a team sport was difficult for me to grasp at first, but I slowly became a fan of working out alone.
I split up my week into five days at the gym with two days of rest. On the days I work out, I try to go right when the gym opens: 6 a.m. This is a great way to start my day — I walk to the gym in the last of the night light and I come out of it sweaty with the sun shining. Another benefit of this is that the early mornings are when Ram Fit is the least crowded, so I don’t have to fight for equipment!
It’s difficult to get out of bed when my alarm goes off at 5:45 a.m., but ultimately I do, and anytime I don’t, I feel significantly worse than I would if I just got up and went to the gym. Therefore, I highly suggest making time to pump some iron into your morning routine.
Work in areas with natural sunlight.
Libraries are peaceful and coffee shops are lovely, but I find myself feeling drained whenever I work in these environments during the season of the pre-spring blues. But Fordham’s neverending construction project brought our campus one great thing: the McShane Student Center. One of the sections of this building is a walkway with tables. This walkway has glass instead of a roof, allowing a skylight to illuminate the tables that sit below it.
The problem with these few weeks of winter/spring is that the weather is quite… unfavorable. It is highly unlikely that I’ll be able to spread out a blanket on the grass and do my homework outside, so the skylit McShane walkway will have to do for now.
In fact, I am sitting in this walkway right now as I write this. If we want specifics, I got here at 9:15 a.m. and it is now 1:25 p.m., and I have not once felt the urge to crawl into bed and binge “Shadow & Bone” season two in complete darkness.
No matter where you live or what work you may be doing, spending time in a room with natural light is a quick and easy remedy to the lack of time we can spend with nature outside. Read a book, eat your lunch, write a blog post about the things that make you happy — doing anything with natural light at your side will boost your mood immensely.
Don’t isolate yourself.
I feel as though every self-help article anywhere, no matter the main topic of discussion, will have “don’t isolate yourself” as one of their suggestions. And while we have all heard this before, it is every bit true as it is cliche.
The more I remove myself from the outside world, the more I fold into myself. My thoughts begin to wander and I can’t focus on work. I lose touch with people and don’t know how to get it back. I make myself every bit sadder seeing how others are always surrounded by others on social media. But I have to remind myself that I am making myself feel this way.
Another reason I love sitting in the McShane walkway is the abundance of people around me. I see friends constantly walking to and from the cafeteria. Sometimes, I’ll run into someone I know and they join me at my table, conversing with me as we both do our homework. Even if I don’t see my friends, I get to people-watch and eavesdrop — two of my favorite pastimes, if we’re being honest.
This is one of the reasons I love New York City. No matter where I go, I am constantly surrounded by people. I may not know them, but the knowledge that there are other people outside of my own little world is enough to make me appreciate the life I live.
If I confine myself to my room, I lose this love for people. I lose my appreciation for life and love and happiness. So, while I would love to sit and do nothing in my room, dragging myself out is a surefire way to bring back my admiration of humanity.
The pre-spring blues are a difficult time for us all, but finding small joys within the repeating days can tie us over until the weather gets warm. For now, I’ll look up at the rain-covered skylight and hope to see the flowers bloom soon.
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