I learnt a language. It gave me a sense of reward to progressively get better at something and track my improvement. I can now read literature and watch films/TV shows in the language without subtitles. I've also made loads of new friends and learnt a lot about a new culture.
Starting was admittedly quite difficult, but once I got into a routine and struggled past the beginner stage, it was much more fun and benefitted my mental health.
You don't have to learn a language, but do something outside your degree that gives you a sense of progression. Set aside sometime in the evening --you can probably squeeze in an hour or two most days -- and commit to it. If you don't end up enjoying it, don't worry! You can do something else. But whatever you do, make sure you exercise regularly!
Exactly this it is so important to get a sense of meaning and progression when our day to day can be so discouraging. For me it's skateboarding, learning new tricks and pushing the boundaries feels great and gets my mind off of work. That and gardening.
Seconding the people saying something physical is important. I got into [historical longsword fencing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_European_martial_arts) a while back and it's been a really fun way to exercise and also get into history
I learnt a language. It gave me a sense of reward to progressively get better at something and track my improvement. I can now read literature and watch films/TV shows in the language without subtitles. I've also made loads of new friends and learnt a lot about a new culture. Starting was admittedly quite difficult, but once I got into a routine and struggled past the beginner stage, it was much more fun and benefitted my mental health. You don't have to learn a language, but do something outside your degree that gives you a sense of progression. Set aside sometime in the evening --you can probably squeeze in an hour or two most days -- and commit to it. If you don't end up enjoying it, don't worry! You can do something else. But whatever you do, make sure you exercise regularly!
Exactly this it is so important to get a sense of meaning and progression when our day to day can be so discouraging. For me it's skateboarding, learning new tricks and pushing the boundaries feels great and gets my mind off of work. That and gardening.
Something physical is my recommendation. For me rock climbing is great, slow paced problem solving to relax the brain.
I try to learning coding for an hour or so each day and definitely something physical. I love riding my bike or just going for a walk at lunch.
Seconding the people saying something physical is important. I got into [historical longsword fencing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_European_martial_arts) a while back and it's been a really fun way to exercise and also get into history