Beating the Mid-Semester Slump: A Gentle Guide for Getting Back on Track
At the start of a new school year, it’s easy to feel like you’ve got everything lined up. You’ve got your calendar set, your highlighters ready, and a list of goals for how you’re going to stay on top of your work this time. September feels fresh and full of motivation. It’s easy to imagine that, with just a little effort, this semester is going to go differently than the last one.
But then October rolls around, and things start to slip.
This is what a lot of people refer to as the mid-semester slump, and if you're in it right now, you're not failing; you’re just a human trying to figure out how to balance your ideal goals with what is feeling possible in the moment.
Let’s talk more about what’s happening, and how you might take some steps for getting back on track:
What’s Happening Now:
The honeymoon phase is over. September felt fresh and full of promise. But by October, reality hits: deadlines arrive back-to-back, motivation dips, and life throws its curveballs.
Idealism meets overwhelm. You started strong, maybe too strong. Those ambitious plans from September can clash with regular-life demands, and slowly, the energy fades.
Stress shows up differently. Procrastination may be catching up to you. It may be harder to say no to social plans than you expected. What seems like laziness could actually be an overloaded nervous system trying to keep up. There may be a combination of things that are making this semester feel harder than what you anticipated.
What’s Next?
It makes sense if you feel disappointed and frustrated that you have not been able to keep following your September goals as consistently as you wanted to. One thing that often happens when setting goals is that we set them based on what we ideally want to happen, not what actually feels possible once we are in the situation. So in September before we start classes and are feeling hopeful about what we will be able to do, we base our goals on how we feel in that moment, rather than fully considering how we might feel when we are in the thick of it. So then once we have gone through a few weeks of the semester and the newness has worn off, it is harder to keep up with the goals we created earlier.
A key to working with this is to base goals on how we are likely to feel during times when we are struggling to meet those goals. This may be a new semester, but you have been in school before. What has the middle of the semester looked like for you? What typically has gotten in the way of being as productive as you would like to be? Maybe instead of telling yourself it won’t happen or you’ll be able to push yourself through (a common a well-intentioned idea that often does not work in practice), how about we try to think of ways to work with that part of yourself and create goals that are more realistic?
Here are some tips:
Start small and smart. Pick one or two priorities that feel doable. For example, instead of aiming to write three papers in a week, aim to spend 30 focused minutes twice a day on research. The general idea is to try to identify tasks that you can reasonably expect that you will be able to follow through on given other things that you have going on internally and externally.
Add space for life. Block off time for rest, socializing, chores, or just transition time between classes. Treat it like an essential part of your academic success. You might have a goal to work on assignments in the hour break that you have between two classes, but how likely is it? If it isn’t likely, is there something else you can do that is productive during that time, or do you just need that time to be a break?
Use short check-ins. Weekly snapshots are more helpful than beating yourself up over everything you haven’t done. Ask: what went well? What tripped me up? What do I need this week? How can I work within my needs and limits to help this week go better than the previous one?
Consider how you work best. Do you work best by having one long four-hour work session, two 2-hour work sessions, or several half-hour ones? Consider this when you make plans for getting things done, and try to work with your natural patterns rather than trying to push yourself into creating new ones. There isn’t anything inherently wrong with any way of working; it just means you have to make space for that in your life, and that’s okay.
How Therapy Can Help
Therapy can be a really helpful space to figure out what’s going on underneath the slump. Is it perfectionism? Burnout? Depression or anxiety that’s getting louder now that the pressure’s on? A therapist can help you explore that in a way that’s kind and not shaming.
Therapy can also give you tools for managing the stress of school, making realistic plans, and holding yourself accountable without being harsh. And if you’re feeling discouraged, therapy can be a place to remember that this version of you is still worthy of care and support, even when things aren’t going the way you hoped.
A Final Thought
It’s really normal to hit a wall partway through the semester. The newness has worn off, and the workload is catching up. The dip you might feel in motivation is not a sign that you are failing; it is a normal part of going through the semester. But it doesn’t have to stay that way.
What’s one thing you could change this week to make life a little easier?
