The winter break is packed with many celebrations and spontaneous catch-ups with friends. This makes for a great time, but also gets you used to a lack of structure or planning. It’s always fun coming back to school feeling rejuvenated, and seeing your friends who also went back home for the holidays.

The relaxation of the winter break is much needed, but it’s important to apply that relaxation to buckling down — and not being stagnant. It can be hard to transition from break mode to school mode, which is why we’re here to help.

Here are the things you can do to help yourself get back into school mode after winter break:

1: Create a Routine

The best way to transition back into school mode is to create a routine, and stick to it. No more waking up at noon and having breakfast at 2 — okay, maybe on weekends. During the school week, making sure you are sticking to some kind of routine is key to getting your mind and body back into “school mode.”

Making sure you wake up, shower, have breakfast, go to class, and schedule in school work time may sound boring, but it’s imperative for success and not getting bogged down by being in a winter break mindset.

2: Acquaint Yourself With Class Syllabuses

The class syllabus is a great thing. It’s a bird's eye view of all the lessons and assignments you can expect during the year. It’s well worth your time to sit down with the syllabus from each one of your classes to review and maybe even plan ahead. No one likes the surprise of having two essays due the same day -- review your syllabus to see not only what’s happening in one class, but to compare the timelines for all of your classes to better prepare for the school year. Start your semester right by planning ahead and getting exciting about what you will be learning throughout the remainder of the school year.

3: Dedicate Some Time To Be Your Downtime

We know that it is hard to have all your time open only to suddenly have it all occupied with school things. To make the transition easier, don’t pack everything into your schedule at once. In fact, block off some you time to watch maybe one episode of a show before bed, or block off a couple hours in the middle of the day to grab a bite with a friend and get school off of your mind for a little bit,

4: Purge Your Apartment of Spring/Summer Items

Having all of your spring/summer items in your apartment can make it hard to transition into this part of the year. Do a purge, clean up and give yourself a fresh slate! Nothing says winter semester more than doing a clean, and getting inspired to get organized for the second part of your year.

5: Use a Planner

Especially because you will have tentative dates for assignments in your syllabus, use a planner to start filling out your months with your deadlines! This way you can pre plan when the best time to start on certain tasks will be.

6: Do a Grocery Haul (Or Make a Grocery List)

Don’t start the second semester with nothing in your fridge. Get started on the right foot, head over to the grocery store on your own-- or with a parent -- to fill your fridge with some healthy snacks (of course some indulgent treats), and some other items to help you meal prep. It’s important to eat and stay healthy during the school year -- a fact so many university students know, but forget.

7: Clean up Your Laptop

You probably don’t need the notes that you took last semester if you are done with the classes, so do a big purge of your laptop. Clean it out to start the new year fresh, with empty folders you can fill as the year goes on. It’s a lot easier to stay organized when you're not dealing with the mess that probably surfaced on your laptop from last semester’s notes. If you want to keep your notes handy in the case that you may need them, move them to a harddrive so that your actual laptop can be a clean slate.