Sunshine, deadlines and the art of not feeling guilty

There's a specific kind of guilt that arrives sometime in late March. The sky clears, your phone fills with plans, and somewhere between your reading list and your revision notes, a voice pipes up: Shouldn't you be outside?

I'm Lily, a postgraduate student studying Contemporary Literature, Culture & Theory at King's, and I've spent more than one sunny afternoon staring out of the library window, feeling like I was missing out on my own life. Turns out, I wasn't alone, and there are better ways to handle it than guilt.

The pressure isn't imaginary

Spring brings something hard to name but easy to feel: a cultural expectation to suddenly do more. More socialising, more activity, more making the most of it. When that coincides with assessment deadlines, which it almost always does, the result is a strange double pressure. You feel guilty for studying when it's sunny, and anxious about your deadlines when you're not.

What helped me most was understanding that the seasonal shift is physiologically real. Longer days increase light exposure, which the NHS links to improved mood, better sleep, and more stable energy levels. So if you feel different in spring, that's your body responding to genuine environmental change, not a sign that you should immediately overhaul your entire routine.

The catch is that this doesn't look the same for everyone. Some people feel a genuine lift; others feel restless, distracted, or overwhelmed as the outside world speeds up while their workload stays the same. Both are normal, and neither means you're doing spring wrong.

Small adjustments go a long way

Once I stopped trying to choose between revision and the season, things got easier. The goal isn't to maximise every sunny day: it's to let spring work with your focus rather than against it.

Moving my study spot towards natural light made a surprising difference. A window seat in the library, or taking my reading outside for half an hour, provided me with the necessary light exposure without abandoning my work. King's has outdoor spaces across its campuses that are genuinely worth using, even a bench with a textbook counts.

Building movement into breaks, rather than just scrolling, also changed how the rest of my study day felt. And spring makes this easier than any other time of year — the evenings are lighter, the air is warmer, and even a ten-minute walk between sessions feels like a genuine reset rather than a chore. A short loop outside resets concentration in a way that sitting still simply doesn't, and you get the fresh air and daylight your body is already responding to.

King’s BeActive runs free and low-cost activities throughout the term — from yoga to gym sessions — and even a single class mid-week can be enough to take the edge off restlessness without derailing momentum. 

The social side matters too. I used to either overschedule my weekends or cancel everything and feel isolated. What works better for me is one small, fixed plan (a walk, a coffee, an evening out) that gives you something to look forward to without the guilt spiral of a lost revision day.

You're allowed to study when it's nice outside

This is the thing worth holding onto: choosing to work on a sunny afternoon is not a failure. Assessment season is finite, and finding a balance that works for you matters far more than maximising every good day. Spring will still be there when you look up from your desk.

Work with your energy where you can, take the light when it helps, and know that getting through this season well is its own kind of making the most of it.

Find out more about staying well during assessment season through King's Student Services Online.