As we ease into fall, LM students face an all too familiar feeling: the November slump. As the ever-diminishing buzz of excitement associated with the start of school fades, and classes ramp up, many find themselves fighting an overwhelming lack of motivation. Homework becomes daunting, tests approach all too quickly, and the promise of holiday breaks leads to students easing off—even when their workload does not. As teachers attempt to fight the downward slope in student motivation, we are left wondering, what exactly is the November slump?
Every high school student knows the feeling; it’s a Tuesday evening. You have four hours of homework, and you haven’t had a single moment to yourself to recoup from an extensive day. At the start of the year, you found yourself excited to get things done after school. During the onset of spring, you find motivation in the warm weather and extended daylight hours. However, the early sunsets of fall coupled with the cold weather make you want to crawl into bed and take a nap. Statistically, you are not alone. Students across the country feel a lack of motivation during colder months. Associated with oncoming seasonal depression and increased melatonin production at earlier hours, cold weather tends to mean less productive students. The promise of holiday breaks only fuels the decrease in motivation that is so palpable amongst the LM community at this time.
Adding to this, Lola Widjaja ’26 shares “I can’t get anything done knowing that it’s almost Thanksgiving and winter break. As soon as we hit the middle of November, I really have to force myself to get work done. It definitely doesn’t help that I have to do my homework hours after the sun goes down.” Exemplifying the struggle of being productive far past the time it feels appropriate to be doing work. Shared in an article by The Guardian, the seasonal depression correlated with a lack of student motivation is age-old, with high school students sharing that their “concentration is shot to pieces,” demonstrating the extent to which the same issue exists, even outside of the LM community. In a study published surveying South Carolina high schoolers in 2021, 29 percent of students voted that winter (November to February) was the time they struggled the most in school, finding the least external motivation to get work done. Surveyor Sydney Salata went into great depth to explain Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), a mood disorder associated with colder seasons that close to 7 percent of students suffer from. During the times of year that SAD traditionally takes place, students produce lower quality work, earn lower test scores, and face an overall dip in productivity.
Although the November slump appears to be unavoidable, there are still ways to combat its effects. Whether done by creating consistent routines, scheduling things to motivate work completion, or allotting specific times throughout the day to recoup, seasonal depression and the lack of motivation that comes with it are not inherently unwinnable battles. Adding onto this, Kalina Rauer ’26 shares, “I can definitely feel myself being less motivated in the winter, so I try and get all of my work done as soon as I get home, just so I don’t end up pushing it off until the last minute. I also try to make plans with my friends on the weekends so I can have something to look forward to every week, even if I have a lot of work.”
At the end of the day, our polarized seasons are unavoidable, but the negative connotations associated with colder months do not have to be quite so bad. While there are ways to find yourself buried in an avalanche of work, struggling to get it all done, there are also preventative ways to keep yourself on track. Make sure you are taking proactive steps to avoid the immemorable struggle of the November slump and setting yourself up for a good winter season.
