the roadmap

Everyone who has ever taken a long road trip knows that you do not simply and quickly arrive somewhere.  A trip takes planning, it takes packing, it takes time, and it takes patience, but most of all it takes mapping.  When going on a long road trip it is always important to think beforehand where you are going and how it is you will get there.  Which streets will you take?  Are there shortcuts that could cut the ride in half?  Is the journey worth your time?  Resolutions like the ones we talked about last week can be very much like road trips.  Goals that we set for ourselves mean very little, if we do not know how we can realistically accomplish them.

If you’re like me you have an ever-growing list of things you would really love to accomplish, and these things can range from professional goals to silly ones like a monster list of books to read.  Whatever your goal may be, it can sometimes seem daunting, and that is precisely why resolutions are hard to tackle.  I should warn you now that this post is not a “how-to” on keeping resolutions.  This week is more of a “I’m working on this” post, but hopefully it can be just as helpful.

In my mind there are two kinds of resolutions: those that are have a clear-cut path and those that are more abstract.  For example, my resolution to read more books this summer is a clear-cut resolution.  I have a list of books that I have been meaning to read, I will dedicate time everyday solely to reading, and with time I will cross many of the books off of my list.  As long as I stick to my schedule, this resolution will be kept.  It is quite simple, as you can see, to reach a goal like this one.  In my opinion this type of resolution is easy to keep because it is trackable.  Consider the other kind of resolution, the one that is more abstract.  Take for example here my resolution to live a more globally conscious lifestyle.  This can mean a million different things; it is extremely hard to track progress.  It’s also very easy to put off because there is not definite way to measure it.  Last summer items on my to-do list like this one were the ones I found hardest to tackle, and thus hardest to finish.

This summer I am taking a much different approach to this second class of resolutions.  Instead of simply writing “Live a more globally conscious lifestyle” on my to-do list, I have created a tree diagram.  In the middle I wrote my over all goal, but then branching out of this goal I listed five ways in which I am going to accomplish it, such as, “continue working with Echoing Green,” and, “be more eco-friendly.”  Each of these branches branches out further, like for example under, “continue working with Echoing Green,” I have written, “Work five hours a week from home,” and “Keep up with news on Echoing Green Fellows from around the world.”  In this way my goal of being more conscious of global events and social change becomes a very concrete one; it is easy to schedule and measure my progress. 

Being able to take abstract resolutions and put them into tangible goals makes it easier to see where it is you are going and how far you will need to go still.  This week do not only think about what you would like to accomplish this summer, but think about how you will get there through concrete actions.  This seems to me to be the only way to ensure that you will reach your desired destination on schedule.  Click here for your two minutes of procrastination.

summer resolutions

Every December the 31st people gather around their television sets with family and friends to watch the ball drop and make New Years resolutions.  To be quite honest, I never really understood the tradition.  Sure with a new year comes a blank slate and the chance to start over fresh, but in my opinion we can start fresh whenever we want.  In fact it’s a lot easier to make a change, stay positive, and be successful when it’s sunny out rather than when it’s gloomy.  Why not, then, make a summer resolution instead?

While psychologists have actually proven that people are in better spirits when it’s sunnier and warmer, I am not basing my proposal for a summer resolution solely on the weather differences between January and June.  Think about it.  In January you have a month at the very most to work on your resolution before school starts up again and the chaos of everyday life comes back.  In January there is the taunting thought of the year to come with all of its responsibilities and uncertainties.  In January there is pressure, as everyone else makes their resolutions as well.  In June, however, you have a whole three months to work on your resolution without the distraction of school and all the extra work it entails.  In June you are carefree, released from the grips of academia to enjoy a nice vacation.  In June there is no pressure, just relaxation and time for reflection.

According to surveys, each New Years thousands of people make the resolutions to lose wight and find love.  I bet you could guess that these are not the resolutions that I had in mind for the summer, though if you did pursue these there would be no harm.  What I have in mind, however, are more productive resolutions.  During the summer there is more time to think about the journey you have taken, consider what it is you are working towards, and refocus yourself and your goals to better fit with what you want to achieve.  The summer is also a great time to think about the next steps you will be taking come the fall and the following spring.  Do you want to go to law school or grad school?  Or do you want to travel for a year?  Do you need to take the LSTAT or the GRE?  Should you start studying now?  The summer is also a great time to catch up on things you have let fall by the waste side.  Maybe there were a few scholarship opportunities to which you have been meaning to apply, or maybe there is an organization you would love to work for come the fall to which you should send a resume.  The summer is a great time to think about all of these things and make up a game plan for how to get where you want to go.  Why not make it your resolution to get focused?

The summer, I have found, always seems to slip away so quickly we barely get to enjoy it.  Make this summer productive with a resolution, whether or it is a resolution to get focused.  Why not read those books you have been meaning to, catch up with those friends you have not seen in a while, and decide if you are going to apply for graduate school?  Now is the time to start working on these things, not those gloomy days of January.  Click here for your two minutes of procrastination.

summer fun list

It’s that time of year again, the time when we rush to wrap up the end of the semester so we can bask in the summer sun.  I know well that as we take our finals the only thing on our minds, as college students, is the wonderful break the summer promises.  And since I blogged extensively last summer about the importance of a summer to-do list (see here and here for a refresher) to ensure that you make your summer is a productive one, I think it might be more helpful to blog about a different type of summer scheduling project – the summer fun list.

As those of you who have been following my blog for a while now (I know there’s got be at least one of you haha) may know, I keep ongoing lists of things that I wish I could get to during the semester, but just don’t have time to tackle.  One of these lists specifically is my monster book list (you can check out a post about this list here), a list of books I wish I could read that has been piling up for years now.  As a part of my summer to-do list last year, I set the goal to read at least 5 of these books.  Though I was only able to read 3 of them, I also ended up added on quite a few.  Needless to say the list has gotten much longer and more intimidating over the past year, as I have felt more and more guilty for neglecting it.  So I find myself in somewhat of the same position as last year with the desire and intention to attack this list, but feeling apprehensive about my ability to do so effectively.

With the scheduling knowledge and experience I accumulated over the past year I am making the concerted effort to take another stab at the monster list this summer.  This year I am going to take my own advice and attack this list more systematically.  Last year I picked 5 books from a list of about 20 and made it my goal to read them all.  I did not, however, set out a plan of how I was going to go about doing so, how I would know if I was staying on schedule, and when exactly I would do the actual reading.  This year I am applying some general anti-procrastination techniques to my plan of attack, techniques that can help anyone attack a fun list in a systematic way that promises efficiency…

1. Plan the list.  Having a list is useless unless you can find time each day or week to work on it.  Last summer my list floated around, and I haphazardly crossed things off sporadically and chaotically.  This year I plan to read on my commute (a 2 hour commute from Staten Island to the Bronx and then back, which promises plenty of reading time for me) at least 4 out of the 5 days I will be traveling.  This will ensure that I think about my list and my progress on a daily basis.
2. Be realistic.  Setting the goal to read 20 books this summer is just impossible.  With so many things going on (including a summer internship, summer seminars and cultural events through my Watson Fellowship, Phi Eta Sigma events, friends, and trying to keep my sanity), I just will not have the capacity to read that much.  However, by approximating how much time I will have to read each day, I can estimate the number of pages I will be able to read in a given week.  If I count the number of pages in each book, I can easily calculate how many books I will be able to read during the commute to my ten-week-long summer internship.  With some simple math I am setting the reasonable goal of 10 books.
3. Keep at it.  In the middle of a hectic summer it’s easy to get discouraged about lack of progress.  It’s also extremely easy to get sidetracked or to procrastinate.  Keeping your list in a place where you will see it daily and committing yourself to completing the realistic goal you set will ensure that you work towards it.  Even if you don’t finish your list in one summer, crossing a lot of things off of it is sometimes just as rewarding.

This week and next week, as we finish up term papers and finals, think about creating a summer fun list for yourself.  It doesn’t have to be a reading list like mine; perhaps, you’d prefer making a list of theme parks to visit or restaurants you’ve been meaning to try.  Whatever it is you decide to accomplish this summer, remember to make it a point to schedule it into your day-to-day routine so that you keep at your list steadily over the course of the summer.  Don’t procrastinate!  Click here and here for your two minutes of procrastination.

getting in the zone

If you were to ask me what I have planned for tomorrow, I would not be able to hold back a smile.  Tomorrow I am taking a major break from school and work, from reading, researching, and writing papers, from studying and preparing for finals.  Tomorrow I am going to spend the day relaxing and enjoying this beautiful spring weather we have been having.  If you are about to accuse me of procrastinating, let me stop you.  I am entirely ahead of schedule on all of my assignments and tests, with plenty of time to spare.  How did I get here?  I scheduled it, and then I “got in the zone.”

I posted a few weeks ago about backwards scheduling, a technique in which you start at the due date of a project and schedule a little work for each day moving backwards towards the present.  I owe much of my free time now to this scheduling technique, as it ensures that you will not be overwhelmed by mountains of work, because it breaks that work down for you into smaller increments over the course of time (Click here for a more detailed look at backwards scheduling).  While I will say that this helps immensely around midterm and final season, there is another technique that can help open up some free time amidst the chaos of the end of the semester.

Though I refer to it most often as “getting in the zone,” I have also heard people refer to this technique as “buckling down” or “putting on the blinders.”  Whatever you would like to call, the idea of this technique is to take a task, block everything else out, and just work on it until it is finished.  For a better illustration think about what it’s like to pull an all-nighter because you have a paper due early the next day.  You work steadily with little to no breaks or distractions to finish the assignment as quickly and as efficiently as possible.  Now think of that same example just during the day and without the looming deadline.  You may think that the fervor with which you worked before will be diminished without a fast-approaching deadline, but I have found that when you promise yourself a long break with the completion of the task you come to work just as hard.

“Getting in the zone” can be a lot harder than it sounds, especially with procrastination tools at your finger tips.  The best way, I have found, to block everything out is to go into things with the right mindset.  Be strong and tell yourself that you are not going to procrastinate no matter what.  Log out of Facebook and Youtube.  Turn off the television and the music.  Tell your friends you will text them later.  Make the committment to finishing the task, and then focus.  This takes practice and determination, but if you can train yourself to work steadily on something for hours you will become a much more efficient student and worker.

As the semester winds down and we approach deadlines at an alarming rate, make things easy for yourself.  Instead of taking a week to write a paper because you are constantly distracted and procrastinating, block everything else out and write the paper in a day.  Being able to master this process may take some time, but if you start now you may just be able to manage a vacation day before the end of classes.  Click here for your two minutes of procrastination.

double trouble

Have you ever realized that the phrases “double-booked” and “double trouble” are eerily similar?  Coincidence, I think not.  For your average person, double-booked scenarios happen occasionally.  For the busy scheduler, however, with multiple commitments and responsibilities the possibility of double-booking is much greater.  These increased odds aren’t the worst part, however.  Resolving a double-booking for a busy scheduler is much more difficult.

The term “double-booked” connotes that the scheduler him/herself is responsible for committing him/herself to multiple things for one given time.  In this sense double-booking is entirely avoidable, with good scheduling habits that is.  The issue I want to address is one that is out of the control of the scheduler.  It happens sometimes that two important meetings, events, deadlines, etc. arise that make committing to both impossible.  Take for instance having to work late every night on the week your professor springs a big paper on you suddenly.  Or perhaps, your boss moves up the deadline of a project you are working on to the same night your friends are having a big get-together.  Sometimes family parties get scheduled on the same day you have a previous engagement.  These things, and millions more just like them, are preventable even for the master scheduler.

When you run into situations like these, particularly around busy times of the year like the end of the semester, navigating around the conundrum of needing to be in two places at once can be summed up in one word: prioritize.  When you need to choose between attending one event or another, or fulfilling one deadline or another it is very helpful to understand which event or deadline is more important.  Critically analysing the situation will help you to keep the more important committment, while regretfully defaulting on the less important one.  Take for example, the scenario in which your boss needs you to work late when you have already made plans for after work.  Though spending time with friends may be most enjoyable, working late may be more pressing.  Putting your priorities above what you would necessarily like to do will ensure that you get done what needs to get done.

This leaves only the question of what to do once you have chosen a course of action.  My advice here would be to be honest.  If you have a more important or pressing commitment that requires you to miss another event or deadline, explain the situation to the appropriate person.  Do your best to offer secondary solutions, like showing up late to an event if you will have time.  In my experience people are quite understanding of situations like this, particularly in the working world.  Everyone has been there before.

Click here for your two minutes of procrastination.