Five Beneficial Ways to Spend Your Time as a Graduate Student
Posted: May 26, 2021 | Author: Sayre Davis | Read Time: 3 minutes
As a graduate student, you are incredibly busy with your education. Finding meaningful things to do with your spare time is important and can help you get ahead in your academic and personal life. Along with the difficulties of finding meaningful activities, COVID may have limited your ability to spend your time too. Beneficial ways to spend your downtime as a graduate student include reading a book, visiting family and friends, finding a new hobby, treating yourself, or going on a self-discovery trip.
Read a Book
Reading always leads to a better understanding of others. There is no better way to live than by finding hope and common ground with those around you.
One of the most productive things you can do in life to further yourself is to read a book. Expanding your virtual bookshelf is a great way to help you kill time between school and other activities.
Reading books allows you to find a new way to help yourself escape from the busy life of a college student. Giving yourself an escape from life can help everyone find hope in moments of stress. As Lloyd Alexander said “Fantasy is hardly an escape from reality. It’s a way of understanding it.”
Go Visit Family and Friends
One of the greatest things that anyone can do to help themselves feel included and loved is visiting family and friends. Although COVID has made this difficult, vaccines and masks have presented us all with more options on how to do this. Family and friends may mean something different to each individual, but everyone has someone who loves them and there is nothing better than spending time with them. Making sure that through the stress and difficulties of grad school you have people who support you is essential.
Develop a New Skill/Hobby
Figuring out a new skill or beginning a new hobby has always been something that has intrigued the great minds. For example, Albert Einstein took to sailing to free his mind and to help him see the world not just from inside an office but from the waves. Your new hobby doesn’t need to be extravagant or glamorous like sailing, a simple new hobby or skill will do. If you are looking for an effective way to spend your time following in the footsteps of the world's greatest minds and learning something new may be your answer.
Treat Yourself
Finding ways to bring yourself joy is essential in life. Many times treating yourself to small pleasures can make a long-lasting impact on your wellness and mindset. Finding simple ways to treat yourself is not difficult to do and does not have to be costly. You may buy an item that was shown on a TikTok or find a simple meal that is inexpensive but brings you joy. Understanding that you can treat yourself with small amounts of little things that brings you joy will allow you to find joy in the little things of life.
Go On a Self Discovery Trip
Since the world is full of people with heaps of differences, understanding where you fit into it all is essential. This can be a challenge and the time to figure it out is never better than in your twenties to early thirties. One great way to figure out your place in the world is by traveling and experiencing new things. These trips have been taken in every capacity possible, whether it's living in a small cabin on the edge of a lake like Henry Thoreau, or floating down the Amazon like Mathew McConaughey. These trips have changed lives and even the world, so if you're looking for a way to understand how you fit in, this is it.
Despite the difficulties and stress that beset a college student there are still ways to find a sense of purpose and joy throughout the school year. Taking heed of these tips for activities can definitely help.
Produced by SUU Graduate Studies
SUU's Graduate School draws from a prestigious heritage and allows students to pursue a quality education. The master's degree programs offer students the chance to further their professional and educational careers on campus or online.
Tags: Graduate Programs
