I realized something a little while back. I realized that I had broken a record. Not nationwide or anything but my own personal record.

I had never felt so burnt out on school so early in the semester. I mean sure, spring break is just around the corner, but I had just started taking midterms! I keep thinking that if I go on like this I will either become a homework half-assing zombie or I won’t even make it back from spring break. I figured that I should probably fix something.

Except to fix something you need to know the problem first. I asked myself, "Why the sudden urge to be done with everything?" As I meditated on this I looked around at my messy house and kindle with multiple unread books — I realized I was living my life for school and pushing off anything that might make life actually enjoyable.

I look at an interesting book and realize that I won’t have time to read it because I am an English major which means I have multiple other things to read for class.

I will add that to the list of things to read for Christmas, spring, or summer break.

I look at people who are going to the gym and think, hey I want to get fit. Then I think about going to the gym the next week and how I should spend that hour for school instead and then have extra time later for the husband. I’ll just start working out in the summer and then get all the gains.

Then friends are going camping, hiking, skydiving, bungee jumping, ghost hunting, or just plain having a barbeque and suddenly alarms start going off in my head saying, "DANGER DANGER ASSIGNMENTS MUST BE COMPLETED NOW OR YOU WILL HAVE A BREAK DOWN LATER." I say that I will catch them next weekend. That doesn’t even include all of the genuine bonding moments with the husband and me that consist of reading together or showing each other our Pinterest pins before we go to bed.

Take away hobbies, health and fitness, friends, and simple bonding moments and what do you have? NOTHING. You have become that homework doing zombie. How do you fix this? I haven’t figured out all of the ways to enjoy life but I have some thoughts that have made me more of a functional human that actually enjoys life.

I get up to go to the gym at 5 a.m. in the freaking morning. I feel great because I am actually getting muscles on my little stick-figure-drawing of a body and I would have been sleeping that time anyway. Also, with some major caffeine boosts, I can work on homework early in the morning and have time later in the day to clean, experiment with crockpot recipes, hang out with friends or actually spend time with the person I married.

If you are stressed and have realized that your life is becoming that of a homework zombie then try something out of the ordinary! Wake up before the sun is even out. Delete an app that you think is pointless but, out of habit, always click on it when you don’t want to do homework.

There are ways to enjoy life even if you are slammed with school or work or both. Let’s not continue with this zombie epidemic.