Ways To Boost Your Energy

It’s not unusual to feel drained during the winter period as a student, with the combination of cold weather, short days and encroaching deadlines often bringing on a seasonal slump in energy. However, there are plenty of ways you can help boost your energy during this season, and they don’t involve blowing your student budget either!

Food

Something that is guaranteed to bring you a huge sense of comfort when you’re feeling drained is a hearty meal, and as things get colder a hot meal can really be the most satisfying thing in the world. What I would recommend is taking the time to make something in a large batch such as stew, a pasta dish, curry or chunky soup. Not only are the ingredients often affordable, but by making a larger amount you can freeze/refridgerate your leftovers so you have ready-made meals for a week or more – this makes is really economical! Also this type of cooking is great fun to do with friends and loved ones!

Company

When your energy is depleted, something that is very common is for you to feel isolated in your slumped state, so hanging out with friends and family can really help combat that potential loneliness. You don’t even necessarily have to plan some huge event, you can do somwthing as simple as go for a walk, watch movies, chat/gossip, cook, bake, obsess over fandoms and Tiktoks, or even just stay warm and nap! However you want to spend your time is up to you, all that matters is that you’re with people you love and who make you happy.

Reading

Reading is an incredibly wonderful and therapeutic thing you can do if things around you seem overwhelming or draining. I personally love delving into a completely different world when I feel like things are getting on top of me, and more often than not we all have books on our shelves that we either haven’t read in ages, or haven’t read at all! You can of course buy new books if you want to, but if you can’t afford to then there out countless literary journals and magazines who publish issues of poetry and prose online for FREE! The Lincoln Review, the university’s own literary magazine, is a perfect example but there are hundreds more out there too!

Little Steps

When you lack energy big tasks and chores can seem overwhelming, so if you can only manage little things then that is 100% okay. Pressuring yourself to do masses of work or cleaning or other tasks will only make you feel more drained, so it’s important to pace yourself and do things in little increments so you don’t get burned out. A few little things you can try include:

• Waking up half an hour earlier than normal
• Going for a short walk (even if it’s just once up and down your street!)
• Getting into fresh clothes (even if you decide to go back to bed in them!)
• Doing some light stretches
• Making a to-do list/weekly plan so you’re more organised
• Keeping your curtains/blinds open for natural sunlight

If you feel however that doing even the simplest of things is too much, then the University is here to help and support you. You can contact The Student Support Centre either by e-mail at studentsupport@lincoln.ac.uk or by phone at 01522 837080, or you can contact Student Wellbeing by e-mail at studentwellbeing@lincoln.ac.uk or by phone at 01522 886400. Drop-in times and other information regarding these services can be found at https://studentservices.lincoln.ac.uk/service-information/ and I would really encourage you to get in contact with them and talk to someone if you’re feeling low, because someone will absolutely be able to give you the help and support you need!