The February Falls can be viewed as the period between Winter and Spring Break in which students are susceptible to struggling with motivation and grades. Potential factors for decreased motivation include seasonal effects, working consistently with only the weekends to rest, and adjusting back to school expectations after Winter Break. Anxiety and depression are already present mental health issues that some students struggle with, and the winter months can increase the prevalence of these issues. Motivation to do homework, attend class, and maintain high grades can be affected by mental health issues or just exhaustion from constant expectations from school. So even though the winter months are about 1/4 of the year, this is why it is termed the ‘February Falls’.
When it comes to persevering in the February Falls, there are a couple of steps that students can take. The first one is recognizing if you are struggling with motivation in school, or even in contexts outside of school. It’s important to recognize this and reassure yourself that it’s okay to take breaks in between periods of work. Research has shown that taking breaks throughout work has an overall increase in productivity.
The second step is to self-reflect on your goals. This can be getting an A in a difficult class, performing your best in an extracurricular competition, or even just keeping your head out of the water until summertime. Everybody’s goals are different, but that doesn’t mean that the value of those goals is going to be different.
It’s also important to recognize when professional help is necessary. For some students, they might experience a decrease in motivation which can lead to difficulties with completing homework. However, some students might have a more severe experience, such as anxiety or depressive disorders. Professional help can give these students access to therapy and medication if necessary, and help these students establish their goals and strategies to accomplish them.
So as we are approaching Spring, it’s important to take care of ourselves and our loved ones. Students are not the only group of people who are experiencing stress during the winter months. People who are employed, volunteer, or work from home for their families are also able to experience this phenomenon. Let's be grateful for Spring, look forward to Summer, and enjoy each day at a time!
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