I used to be part of 10 society committees, simultaneously. Emphasis on the ‘used to’. I’d spend every waking moment in one of three places: the club on its mandated student nights, the library, or at some sort of committee meeting. I thought this was the norm because everybody else seemed to be decorating their CV and LinkedIn with bright, colourful, and illuminated experiences of committees, internships or grad jobs. And I was determined to maximise my Cambridge experience, squeezing every precious second out of three years of intense academic vigour. Socialising was not socialising for me, it was simply to repel any chance of experiencing FOMO. Looking back, I realise I was terribly miserable during this time.

“It feels as though Cambridge has a constitutional requirement to make you weave in and out of traffic, both physically and mentally”

You really can’t escape the hustle and bustle of Cambridge. Have you ever been on King’s Parade on the weekend? The busyness is so unavoidable, that I’ve now made it a rule not to go to town on a weekend (one of the many perks of hill college status). It feels as though Cambridge has a constitutional requirement to make you weave in and out of traffic, both physically and mentally. There’s so much to do, that at some point you have to slow down or be forced to stop. 

In being so busy I didn’t have a second to think or dwell or reflect, so I forgot to think or dwell or reflect. Life was going so fast, it broke every speedometer of human functionality and landed me in exile for half a term, which I spent at home in second year. In all of this I learnt that, whether I was there or not, Cambridge was still happening. How’s that for FOMO? 

After my short-lived exile, I really studied the art of slowing down. You have to realise Cambridge is not reflective of the entire world. The closest you get to that is LinkedIn and how everyone is ‘pleased to announce’ anything and everything they can. Personally, I’m pleased to announce that I did my laundry and food shop on the same day. Taking your foot off the accelerator and placing it on the brake feels daunting. In those moments of doing less, or god forbid, doing nothing, thoughts of bottoming tripos and failure swim around your brain. But, if anything, it’s made me more productive. You can’t run on nothing. By being so busy, it exhausts you and leaves you needing to slow down and fill up the petrol can before driving on. 

I think I’m losing the spin of this car metaphor, especially as someone who can’t drive, but simply put, being so hectic and busy, will only cause you to burn out. And if you’re reading this, thinking you’re a busy person and you’re coping just fine, that’s excellent for you, but maybe, just maybe it will catch up to you at some point. 

“Personally, I’m pleased to announce that I did my laundry and food shop on the same day”

The eight weeks of term, that manage to feel like eight hours and eight years at the same time, can leave you feeling like you don’t quite know how to slow down. The most important thing is sleep. I’m not reinventing the wheel here, but without my eight hours, I’m awful to be around. Self-reliant on caffeine, sluggish and snappy, I don’t want to work or do anything. Even if I pull an all-nighter, I’ll try to get those 480 minutes in and just wake up late. It makes me more productive and ready to work the next day. 

Eating properly is so important. There’s so much variation in the kitchen facilities between colleges, but eat an actual meal. Even an easy-peeler from Mainsbury’s will push back any chances of acquiring scurvy. The longer you work on very little, the worse the crash will be. 

Finally, spend time doing things you enjoy, not because it’ll give you a CV boost, but because you actually love it. You can still be well-rounded even without 10 committee roles, trust me. If the work feels too much, ask for a week to reset. It’s so dependent on your DoS and your tutor, but my college is usually very accommodating regarding extensions or making the time up at the end of term. If you think there’s deeper-rooted issues at play, speak to someone. Seriously. Slowing down isn’t as easy and simplistic as you may think, there’s a real art there. But I know you can master it.

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