baby steps

The weather today may not reflect it, but the holiday season is upon us again. And if you’re like me, the seasons of giving can also be a season of headaches. To be honest, for the past few holiday seasons the month of December has been centered more around stress than family and friends. So this year I am making a commitment to get into the holiday spirit.

It happens to most college students. The end of the fall semester is the busiest time of year because of research, papers, assignments, and finals. Add on top of all that shopping, baking, decorating, and time with friends and family; and scheduling becomes nearly impossible. In situations like these the have to do list trumps the want to do list, and the holiday season can come and go without much celebration at all.

But, not this year. Not for me. I have devised a plan to get around this December rush. Not only have I been proactive about getting my assignments and studying down much earlier than usual, but I am also integrating the holidays into all of my days during the month of December. Instead of putting off getting into the holiday spirit, I’m already embracing the holiday. My strategy is to do one small thing everyday that is holiday related. One day I’ll go gift shopping for an hour. Another day, I’ll listen to carols for an hour while studying. Maybe I’ll even fit in some time for a holiday movie on the weekends. Taking little baby steps towards the holiday spirit will help me to not miss out, but rather stretch out my celebration over the course of a month.

As the end of the semester approaches, don’t let yourself get bogged down with school work.  The holiday season comes only once a year, so make the most of it! Even if it’s in a very small way, start celebrating now.  And since WordPress is giving me a hard time hyperlinking a video this week, copy and paste this address to see your two minutes of procrastination: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJfZaT8ncYk.

overworked = oversleeping

My six days in California were amazing.  Sure, I was working most of it, but I made some time for site-seeing also.  Trying to make the most of my time there, however, meant getting very little down time and sleep.  For seven days (the six days of my trip and one day prior when I was preparing to depart), my schedule was packed, and it was nothing but go go go. 

On Sunday I worked for most of the day, spent the remainder of it packing and hitting all of the cliché San Francisco tourist spots, and then hopped on the red-eye at 10:30 PM.  Needless to say, I passed out immediately, and before I knew it the five and a half hour flight was ending.  I foolishly thought, as we got off the plane, that those five hours would be enough to sustain me for the rest of the day.  I planned on catching up on sleep over the Thanksgiving break, because I did not have time to do so right away with school work, work work, and a tone of laundry to catch up on.  But then, I got back to my apartment and saw my bed.  It looked so inviting and my feet hurt so badly from being on them for seven days straight.  I thought, “Well, I do have forty-five minutes to spare…”  So at 8 AM I crawled into bed without unpacking a single thing and still in my clothes from the night before.  And at 2:45 PM I woke, having slept a whole six hours longer than I intended.  I had slept through two alarms, the time I allotted myself to do laundry, four hours of work I had committed myself to, and about an hour or so of time to catch up on school work.

I have never overslept before.  I make sure to set two alarms just to ensure that I will not.  What I took away from my California trip, however, is that I rush too much.  I often go from one thing to the next without being present and without taking anything in.  I can be too focused on getting things done that I sometimes disregard what’s best for myself and my health.  So while I was disappointed that I didn’t get everything done that I wanted to yesterday, I ultimately shrugged it off, rescheduled my tasks, and thought, “Wow, I really needed that sleep.”

The take away this week is that being busy is okay.  Working hard is okay.  Being dedicated is okay.  But one’s health and well-being should always be a priority.  You cannot do the work you need to do to the best of your ability if you are sleep deprived, worn out, or in the wrong state-of-mind.  This week spend your two minutes of procrastination doing something relaxing, and remember to always put your health before getting things done.

the real to do list

Every morning I get up, check my day planner, look over my to do list, and get ready for another busy day.  Then, every night I look over that same planner and to do list to make sure I did everything that needed to be done, that I didn’t forget anything, and that I made progress.  And even though I usually do, every night I go to bed thinking about what has to be done tomorrow.

There’s nothing wrong with being busy, at least not in my mind.  But as I have posted before, being busy also sets you up for developing blinders (click here to read that post).  When you run from one thing to another, you forget about the big picture and where your life is going.  Sure, things get done, but the destination toward which you are working becomes unclear.  You may wake up one day and realize your goals have changed.

I’ve also posted before about having a fun list, something that ensures that you don’t focus solely on work or school.  Fun lists, or want-to-do lists, can also help you remember all the cool things you have had to push-off because of other responsibilities.  When you have an open afternoon or weekend, they are a great resource for ideas.

But, tonight I am not posting about any old fun list.  Tonight’s post is about the ultimate fun list – a bucket list.  A bucket list is a list of all the things a person wants to do before he or she dies (or kicks the bucket, so to speak). The purpose of this sort of list is to prevent the same blinders busy people are most prone to from developing.  Who wants to realize on their death-bed that there were a million things he or she wishes he or she could have done, but will never get to do?

For the longest time the first item on my bucket list was to dip my toes into the Pacific Ocean, and today I am posting my blog from San Francisco.  Had I not critically thought about all the things I want to do before I die, I might never have had this experience.  So, this week take some time out of your busy day to think about starting your own bucket list.  You don’t have to come up with one in a single afternoon, but begin the process of creating one.  Ensure that you leave nothing on the table in this life.  Click here for your two minutes of procrastination... and don’t try any of the stuff in this video yourself!

it’s not procrasination if …

Yes, I hate procrastination.  I recognize, however, that sometimes there are just too many things on my to do list.  Sometimes there is just no way to conquer everything that needs to get done in the day.  There ars times when tasks have to be put off to preserve sanity.  And, that’s not procrastination – at least not in my book.  There are times when postponing things for valid inescapable reasons is acceptable, and there should be no guilt in these scenarios.  Being able to tell the difference between postponing and procrastinating is important so that you recognize when its okay to put things off and when you should get to work.  But, how can you know?

1. Capacity.  When you are considering whether or not to postpone a task, consider your capacity to do that task in the given timeframe.  Could you possibly get the task done?  Do you have enough free time to accomodate this task? Would that result in working into the later hours of the evening? 
2. Deadlines.  Next, consider by when the task needs to be completed.  Is the deadline fast approaching?  Is the deadline more fluid?  Can you extend the deadline?
3. Schedule. Lastly, take into consideration the busyness of your schedule in the coming days.  Will your schedule free up later?  Will it only get busier?  When do you have more time?  How long will you have to postpone this task?

Let me just reiterate here, I hate procrastination.  I am in no way supporting it.  It is important to realize, however, that somtimes postponing things is just inescapable.  For example, at one of my jobs I am helping to plan a conference.  While I have various tasks and responsiblities at this job, I have put almost all of those projects on hold so that I have time to plan this conference (which is fast-approaching).  I have been working on only one non-conference-related project, because this project is extremely time sensitive.  In this scenario I recognized that I could not handle all my usual work on top of the conference planning.  I noted the deadlines of each project and figured out which ones could be put off until later.  And, I made sure that I would have time to do these tasks later.

Do not procrastinate this week.  Rather, keep in mind that being stressed will not help your productivity.  When things get busy, reevaluate and postpone the tasks you can.  That’s not procrastiation.  That’s just smart!  Click here for your two minutes of procrastination.

 

poorly planned

It seems to be a running joke in my circle of friends to point out when someone repeatedly uses a word or phrase.  One such phrase for which we keep an ear out (then ridicule whoever has used it) is, “poorly planned.”  My friend started using the phrase a few years ago in situations when something did not work out correctly.  By now, however, we have come to use the phrase for just about any situation or scenario that goes awry.

When you are plagued with a busy schedule, particularly when you are a student and your attention is constantly consumed with theories and concepts (and deadlines and due dates), it’s easy to forget about miniscule aspects of planning.  A million different things can result in your failure to consider all the logistics of your busy schedule.  And, then you are stuck in a situation that was just really “poorly planned.”  These scenarios are not rare for anyone, but people with busy schedules are particularly susceptible to them.  Not only that, but we are more likely to be set back/have our days thrown really out of whack by them, too. 

When I picked up a third job this semester, I began experiencing this sort of thing of a daily basis, and so I developed a strategy to make sure the logistics of my schedule were worked out in advance.  Every night now I set aside half an hour (I set aside so much time because I have a lot of logistics to consider; others may need only ten minutes or less for this technique), during which I review my planner for the following day.  I pack everything that I will need for each item in my planner.  Then, and this is the innovative part, I think about the transitions between tasks.  Will I be traveling somewhere new?  Will I be out all day (do I need to pack a lunch)?  Will I have a long break during the day (should I pack some schoolwork or reading to do during this time)?  The answers to these questions and others help me to prepare for the next day more fully.  And, going through this exercise ensures that nothing is forgotten or “poorly planned.”

Taking the time out to plan the logistics of your day may seem like a lot of work or time to dedicate to something so trivial.  When you reduce your tendency of forgetting things drastically, however, it all suddenly seems worth it.  Try it out this week.  You’re bound to become a better planner in the process.

Click here for another relaxing two minutes of procrastination.  We survived our midterms, so we deserve it!