When you start your spring break planning, begin by writing about how you feel right now. Taking an inventory of your stress levels will help you know more about yourself. Self-knowledge can help you gauge what you should – and shouldn’t do – over spring break.

Depending on your stress levels, you may just need to relax for a couple of days before you can start thinking about what would help your mental health the most. If you’re totally burned out and exhausted to the point where you just need to sleep – then sleep!

What does “truly relaxing” actually mean? Well, it means taking a real vacation from work or from school. That means intentionally choosing to ignore your work or school duties. As much as you can, limit your exposure to (and your thinking about) work or school-related tasks.

You may want to prioritize spring cleaning during your spring break. Because clutter is proven to have a negative effect on mental health, removing clutter can give you a mental health boost. However, don’t clean so much – or worry about cleaning – that it takes away from the relaxing nature of your spring break.

For anyone who works in intensely people-focused jobs you may need to spend your spring break mostly in solitude to help you reset. On the other hand, if you’re an extrovert and you work primarily on your own take time over spring break to connect with others.