I’m Michelle Callaghan, a first-year graduate student at Villanova University. This is our new column, “‘Cat in the Stacks.” I’m the ‘cat. Falvey Memorial Library is the stacks. I’ll be posting about living that scholarly life, from research to study habits to embracing your inner-geek, and how the library community might aid you in all of it.

So here we are – it’s midterm.

We’re all like, where did the time go? And we’re all like, why is there so much studying and writing to do? Can I please just procrastinate and consume hundreds of kitten gifs?

If that’s what you want, that’s what you’ll get. I’ve never been known to turn down a request for kitten gifs.

Observe: the kitten gif in its natural habitat. This kitten, like you, is being crushed by deadlines and projects. But notice how he slips free, and is shocked—nay, flabbergasted—when the mat rolls on by and he’s left unharmed. Like the rolling mat of doom, this week will pass. And if you work hard, so will you.

How, you ask? How can I survive this?

Strategy, of course. Plan your days, plan your hours. Hey, plan your half-hours. And if you can, squeeze in a mental health hour—even if you don’t get the full sixty minutes of relaxation, it’ll at least give you some wiggle room between studying, writing, eating, and hopefully…

Sleeping. Avoid the all-nighters with all your might. Twenty minutes of Reddit or Facebook here and there might seem like a fun distraction, but if the trade-off is a messed up sleep schedule, try to reconsider.

Because you have to take care of yourself. Remember mens sana in corpore sano? It’s more important now than ever. Groggy brains make groggy work. Frustration makes everything harder to accomplish. But if you get frustrated (and you probably will), don’t be frustrated that you’re frustrated. Be gentle with yourself, pause, and be hypnotized by Lil Bub.

Article by Michelle Callaghan, graduate assistant on the Communication and Service Promotion team. She is currently pursuing her MA in English at Villanova University.