How to ACTUALLY reset and recover for the term ahead

Embarking on a proper process of term recovery is vital to every student's success.

Published on the 01 October 2026 by Madeline Kahl

Madeline Kahl

A group of students chatting while sitting on Globe Lawn on Kensington Campus

Much like the five stages of grief, the five stages of term recovery are essential to ensure that you'll start each uni term refreshed and in the best possible frame of mind.

Let’s set the scene: After studying for 10 weeks straight, you have finally gotten home after your SATURDAY in-person exam. The light rail was an absolute trek and you are running on less than empty. You drop your bags, immediately beeline for your bed and take your first deep breath since flex week. Now what…?

Step 1: Grieve

First, you have to grieve. When the final marks come out, you have to understand they reflect a past, burnt-out you. Think of that tired soul and forgive them for inevitably procrastinating.

Accept that if you'd had more time, more sleep or more lecture slides, maybe this result would have been better. But what’s done is done. At this stage, there's no room or energy for any activities, so my best suggestion is to rot.

Some ideas include (but are not limited to):

Catch up on all your doomscrolling
Reply to your text messages (with more than just a heart react)
Enjoy some much-needed horizontal time
Have a shower
Eat a meal with all five food groups.

Step 2: Disconnect

From here, disconnect from all things university. To enjoy your relaxation and reset for next term, avoid the post-exam guilt-motivation trap.

Don’t open Moodle thinking you're going to make notes for all next term's Week 1 lectures. Trust me, trying to study through your break just fast-tracks the flex week burnout.

As much as it breaks my heart, it’s time to ban all things UNSW. No emails, no Moodle and no society Instagrams. Nothing. Put your phone on DND and enjoy the silence. This is truly imperative for the next stage.

Step 3: Relax

Now that we’ve decompressed, it's time to rediscover the joy in life.

No matter the results, you still put effort and energy into learning and that should be rewarded. Break that high-pressure cycle with some low-effort, low-energy leisure activities.

And hey, if you don't have any hobbies, now’s the perfect time to discover one!

Some of my personal favourites are puzzles, paint-by-numbers, thrifting, going to the beach and reading. And of course there is the foolproof method of just calling a friend to complain. Always works, trust me.

Highly recommend Mahjong if you want an addictive yet surprisingly simple game to take up all your time and competitive instincts.

Step 4: Reset

This is the planning stage. You’ve remembered that you have a life, time to start taking responsibility for it. This stage is about everything that you have been putting off because you’re “too busy” to focus on it. Set your life up for success, or at least your next term.

Whether it's cleaning out your emails, checking your tyre pressures, fixing that button that's hanging by a thread or donating those clothes you said you would drop off three weeks ago, now's the time to get all that personal life admin out of the way.

Step 5: Realign

Finally, you are all rested and reset to restart the lock-in - unless you're graduating (which, if you're reading this article, you probably aren’t).

If you didn't do as well as you hoped last term, UNSW has plenty of Academic Skills Support offerings to give you that boost where you need it

This stage is all about rediscovering your motivation and passion for your work. Go back to your vision board or resolutions for this year and let them guide you.

Now that you’ve done your life admin, it’s time to start next term on the right foot:

Find out where your new classes are
Clean out your uni bag
Put assessment dates in your calendar
Watch Week 1’s lecture (that may be asking for too much)

That's the guide. Hopefully you can go through these steps and remind yourself that uni is really about the process of learning. One term's results won't define the rest of your program. Good luck!

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