at an hourly rate

As I write this post I am surrounded by piles of clothes, class notes, and flight information – items that fall under the category of “things I need to take with me to Knoxville”.  The Tennessean conference I will be attending in the coming days is one for Phi Eta Sigma, an honors society of which I am not only a member but also an executive board member.  When I agreed to take this trip less than a month ago I was focusing on the knowledge I would be gaining from meeting with other college students like myself, the advice I would be getting from listening to their experiences, and the ideas I would be getting that could help improve our chapter.  As I sit among this mess now, I cannot help to think, “Oh, I hope all this work is worth my time.”

We say these sort of things all the time.  “It was a waste of my time.”  “I don’t think it will be worth my time.”  And, what do they really mean?  Well, for a moment let’s think about it economically.  If every activity we participated in during the week were like a paying job for us, how much would that job have to pay to be “worth” the time and effort it took up?  Now consider the returns of those activities (particularly the social capital returns, such as experience, recognition, pride, etc. ) as an hourly rate.  Are your activities paying you enough to retain you?

I know how cynical it sounds, but for the past few days at least this has been my mindset.  When certain responsibilities of mine take up too much time and effort leaving me drained and demoralized, I feel like they are jobs for which I am being paid below minimum wage.  And, I think this is something we can all relate to.  After all, how many times have you skipped your assigned reading for a class because that professor never asks questions on it, and it only feels like a waste of time.  Or, perhaps you have gotten frustrated at work because you feel like you have been given double the work than was agreed to. 

My message tonight, despite what you might have thought, is not a cynical one.  Do not get stuck in the rut of feeling over worked and underpaid.  Everything, all the work and effort you put into things, will pay off.  And, even when you feel like you should be receiving more for your services, remember every cloud has a silver lining.  Will you look at that!  Not only did the message turn out non-cynical, it ended up being quite a bit cliché.

This week focus on the positives, when faced with feelings of being overworked.  Every experience yields lessons and take-aways.  Perhaps doing your class reading will clarify difficult points for you, and working hard at your job will keep you humble.  Whatever the activity, know that there will be rewards for your hard work if not sooner, then later.  As I finish up getting my things together for Knoxville, I am confident that the trip will not only help me to be a better executive board member for John Jay’s chapter, but it will also provide me with a mini vacation, some time away from NYC, and much-needed nap during the plane ride. 

Click here for your two minutes of procrastination.

the mini victory

In the past few weeks I have been trying out a new scheduling technique I read about, known as the post-it calendar.  Simply put, the calendar is made out of post-it notes with each day getting its own paper.  The purpose of the malleable calendar is that it’s easily changeable and rearrangeable, and I have to say it has worked for me. 

In employing the post-it calendar, I made the switch from scheduling by the week to scheduling by the month.  With this calendar (which takes up almost an entire wall of my room) I was able to plan out my school assignments, work hours, and other responsibilities through October.  (I am able to plan this far ahead because the calendar is so easily changeable.)  Thus, I have become even more organized and forward-thinking.  By being able to see what the coming weeks will be like, I have become more proactive.  I attack projects early to avoid crunch time later.  The result: an even more packed schedule.

Seeing the problems that may arise as the semester draws on, I have taken on the attitude that every bit of free time I have (which is next to none, mind you) is spent working on coming papers and assignments.  For example, I have been researching and outlining a paper for two weeks now that is not due until October 8th.  Why?  Well, two weeks before it’s due I have two cumulative tests and one week before it’s due I will be attending a conference in Knoxville Tennessee.  With working two jobs and keeping up with class reading, there simply will be no time to take on the 10 page paper in the weeks immediately prior. 

What am I getting at? This week I want to stress the importance of the mini victory.  In the middle of months of crazy schedules when the only light at the end of the tunnel is Thanksgiving (for which I will be working night and day at the bakery making sure all of Staten Island gets a pumpkin pie) we need to focus on the small wins to help keep us motivated.  By acknowledging the small accomplishments, we can feel good about the work we are doing and even feel confident about moving forward.  Perhaps there are 100 more things on the to-do list, but taking the time to celebrate the completion of the 101st thing can really boost morale. 

For me this week will be one of the toughest of the semester so far.  I will literally not have time to myself until Saturday night, and my sleep time is being seriously compromised.  What keeps me motivated and focused?  Well, today I finished all the reading due for my Thursday and Friday classes a day earlier than scheduled.  With five 300 level classes that is no small feat!  So just for a moment I am going to be proud of my mini victory, just for a moment I will forget about the incredible work load looming in the next four days, and just for a moment I will remind myself of all the hard work I do and how it all pays off.

The take away this week is DO NOT GET BOGGED DOWN.  At the risk of sounding cliché, celebrate the little things.  Who knows, a mini victory might give you the last push you need to cross the finish-line of a much bigger victory.  Click here for your two minutes of procrastination.

blisters

A great opportunity can sometimes be like a pretty high healed shoe.  At first glance you want it, and you know it would look great on you (or your resume).  You become excited about having it and showing it off.  You want it and work hard for it, and for a while it fits in great.  After some time, however, you come to realize that it wears a little.  Sometimes it can be an annoying (by giving you blisters), and it can slow you down.  You find yourself complaining about it, all the while you love it. 

What am I getting at?  When I started blogging in February, I was excited to have such an amazing opportunity.  I was full of ideas and inspiration, and I had so much to blog about.  I put it on my resume, talked about it on interviews, told my friends and family, and put links to it on my Facebook.  I read other blogs to get a sense of what mine should look like and I researched other bloggers and the topics they post on.  For the first month or so I made as much time for blogging as I could.

As you can imagine my excitement has faded a bit.  With each post blogging has become more imbedded in my routine, it has become something on my schedule, and it has become something I have to do.  There are weeks when I am so busy I can barely find time to sleep, weeks when I have nothing to post about, and weeks when I just don’t feel like writing.  Regardless, I know that I must post something, lest my blog become dormant for so long that I lose readers.  No matter what my excuse is, I know in the back of my mind that I must make the effort, commitment, and time to post. 

I know that this may come across as a complaint, but my feelings are quite the contrary.  I love blogging, I love the blog I have established here, and I love being able to use it to help me in other areas.  Not only is my blog a nice addition on my resume, it is a great conversation piece on job and scholarship interviews.  I can also talk about it with professors, classmates, and friends.  It has helped me in my writing, as I continued to write all summer and thus do not need to adjust back to writing for school in the fall.  Blogging has also helped me with my scheduling.  By addressing scheduling techniques, pitfalls, and stories each week, I am bettering my own strategies.  I research this topic, one I am not always fond of but one that always rings true to me.  Ultimately, my blog has opened many doors for me and become a great resource.

My point this week is that when we take on a new responsibility we are initially excited about it, but we can come to loath it.  While it is okay to feel this way, it often leads to procrastination and loss of productively.  It is a good idea to keep in mind all the things you love about the responsibility and all the things you do get or can get out of it.  Feeling like something is worth your time and effort can often be a driving force to get it done.  So this week try to think positive about those tasks that can sometimes feel like a nuisance.  Most of the time you will find that you enjoy them after all.  Click here for your two minutes of procrastination.

the day planner, a master reference

With these first couple weeks of school I think we can all say that our work load has increased.  Reading, writing, and just going to class take up huge chunks of your schedule, and more work looms ominously farther on in the semester.  We all know this if not from experience, from the first day of class when every professor went over the syllabus. 

Ah the syllabus, a consolidated piece of paper with all our assignments for the entire semester – how convenient.  There is no need to constantly ask our professor what reading is due next class or when the final paper needs to be turned in.  All of that information is provided; what a wonderful invention.  Wonderful until it’s Sunday night and you worked all weekend and want to quickly check what you need to do for the four classes you have on Monday.  Wonderful until it gets crumbled in the back of a folder or you cannot find it.  Wonderful until you forget to check it often enough and you fall behind in your assignments.

My main goal in every scheduling technique I use is efficiency.  If it doesn’t maximize productivity, it’s not worth my time.  So as you can imagine this syllabus thing has been bugging me since freshman year.  My solution: the day planner.  I have posted about day planners before, but this week I want to stress the importance of having all of your information in one place.  By taking an hour to put all the information from your multiple classes’ syllabi into your planner, you are creating for yourself one reference out of five or six.  Now, isn’t that efficient!

Another perk of consolidating your syllabi is that you can put your class work alongside other classwork as well as miscellaneous tasks.  By having all of these things in one place, you can note trends and scheduling problems.  For instance in the month of October I have a midterm on the same day an eight page paper is due.  By seeing this, I know in advance that I need to write my paper at least a week early to provide myself with study time.  I can also noted what days I will be working, what days I will be free, and other task I might not have thought of had I been referring instead to my syllabus. 

When researching a paper don’t we all wish we could find the information all in one place?  Well, when it comes to scheduling it really can be that easy.  By consolidating every to-do list, list of due dates, and calendar you can make for yourself a master planner for reference.  This makes it easy to stay current with assignments, to plan ahead, and to keep on top of multiple classes and commitments.  So take an hour to put all of your information in one place and you will be surprised at all the time you save.  Click here for your 2 minutes of procrastination.