thank you for reading.

With less than two weeks before I embark on my summer journey halfway around the world to Sri Lanka , I’ve been giving this blog some serious thought.  I’ve asked all the logistic questions that come to the mind of Type A individuals – like how will I post when I will only have intermittent internet access?  And, how will I charge my laptop without a plug adapter?  If I am going to be honest, though, it’s not the logistics of blogging abroad that seem most troubling to me.  My reason for seriously considering taking a blogging hiatus runs much deeper.

When I started doing yoga, I learned that one of the keys to relaxation and meditation is thinking about one’s breathing.  When you focus on your inhales and exhales, you focus less on the external – less on what is going on around you – and more on your body and how you feel.  Since I am always thinking about how I can apply life lessons to scheduling, I tweaked this idea of refocusing just a bit.  When I am having trouble paying attention, I think about thinking.  When I’m having a bad day, I think about feeling better.  When I’m feeling stressed about getting things done, I think about scheduling.  I bring everything inward, narrowing in on something that relates to what I should be focused on, and block out the unnecessary distractions.  Thinking about scheduling – it’s my anti-procrastination tool.

And, thinking about scheduling (which with three jobs and a full class-load is pretty much all the time) has helped me write this blog.  When I’m stressed, I think about a topic related to scheduling, i.e. how am I going to manage to get all of this stuff done?  I use that topic and those thoughts to formulate a post, and voilà – a blog is born.  This blog, I guess I’ll admit, has been somewhat of a coping mechanism for me.

Thinking about scheduling – it’s what I do.  It’s who I am.  But, what if I didn’t have to schedule?  What if I didn’t have three jobs and a full class load?  What if my friends, who are always hounding me to hang out, were halfway around the world?  Better yet, what if I was?  Would I have to think about scheduling?  Would I have to use this coping mechanism to deal with stress?  And if not, then on what topics would I post?

When I tell people I am going to spend the summer in Sri Lanka, they usually respond by saying they think the experience will be amazing.  “You’ll find yourself over there,” they always say.  My hope is precisely the opposite.  As I embark on my journey I hope not to find myself, but rather to lose myself.  I hope to build a different me – start anew like a phoenix. The only way I know how to do that is to take away all the crutches on which I lean, to separate myself from everything I know, and to deprive myself of all the things to which I might cling.  So the bottom-line would be, then, no television, no pillow, no thinking about scheduling, no blogging.  It’s a crazy idea, I know.  I’m still not even sure it’s a good one.  What I do know is this summer will change me, and that’s all I want.

This blog will stand, nonetheless, as a testament to my crazy work-filled college years.  I may even come back to it when I return to the states – who knows?  For now, though, I hope the two years worth of posts I have accrued will be enough to help you in your own balancing act.

Click here for your double-two minutes of procrastination.

good busy

While going to school over the next four weeks I have to write three papers (the shortest of which is ten pages and the longest of which is nearly forty), take two finals, plan three events at work, mentor seventy students through the close of the semester, present my undergraduate thesis one more time, attend five graduation/award ceremonies, and plan my summer trip to Sri Lanka.  My schedule for the next month is jam-packed to say the least.

That opening paragraph might sound like a complaint, but I assure you it’s not.  To be honest, I don’t think I have ever been so happy to be busy.  While having too much on my to-do list can stress me out, this “To-do before I leave for Sri Lanka list” is an entirely different animal.  The longer it gets, the wider I smile.

I have found over the past four years of college that having too much to do can make me anxious, but so can anticipation.  Sometimes wanting to get through the week because of fun weekend plans can stress me out more than an enormous amount of work.  My trip to Sri Lanka, for which I am more excited than I have been for anything since I was eight and believed in Santa Claus, is like those fun weekend plan times one thousand.  I just can’t wait to get on the plane and head out of the country.  The anticipation is killing me.

Being busy keeps my mind off of the trip.  It keeps my mind off of packing lists, travel details, and trip anxiety.  It allows me to work through my last four weeks here with less stress than I might have had if I had more time to think about all the awesome adventures I will have this summer.

This post tonight isn’t about my trip to Sri Lanka (those are to come!), but about the utility of being busy somethings.  Sure, you shouldn’t pile stuff on to your to-do list to shut out everything, but sometimes using school work or real work to keep your mind off of things that might otherwise stress you out can be a good thing.  My rule of thumb for these kinds of things is if you throw yourself into work but give yourself an end date at which time you will think about whatever it is you are avoiding temporarily, it’s okay to put whatever it is you are avoiding on the back-burner.  As long as you realize this technique is not a permanent fix, it’s okay to use it.  So to avoid the anxiety of planning my trip, I have planned to work on other things for the next three weeks.  I’ll worry about all those travel logistics later.

So next time you find yourself stressing out about something in your life – maybe about where your future is headed or why that cute guy you went out with hasn’t called you back – try throwing yourself into your work for a little bit.  It’s a productive temporary fix that can sometimes work wonders.  If it does nothing else, it will take your mind off of things.

Click here for your two minutes of procrastination animation.

my gripe with extensions

If there is one question most college students are really good at asking, it’s this:  Can I get an extension?  Since I started at John Jay College in 2008, I’ve heard countless classmates asks professors to extend deadlines, accept late papers, and push back tests.  And every time I hear a request like this, I cringe internally… okay, sometimes externally, too.

I’ve never asked for an extension on a paper or a test.  Never.  Not in college, not in high school, not as far back as I can remember (which for those of you wondering encompasses all of my schooling back to kindergarten).  When I was out sick for two months with mono in my sophomore year of high school, I turned in all of my assignments via email – early at that.  When I was preparing for the first presentation of my thesis at the ACJS conference in New York this past month, I worked on my PowerPoint slides for two months straight and managed to turn in three other papers the Friday before I presented.  I meet deadlines – always.  So when students, students who I have to assume work fewer jobs and take fewer classes than I do, ask for extensions I am easily frustrated.

Perhaps, this frustration is tied to my personal aversion to extensions.  I hate when I can’t meet a deadline.  It literally drives me crazy.  When I can’t complete a task and I end up having to roll it over to the next day, I do so ever begrudgingly.

But sometimes it has to be done.  There are only so many hours in a day.  I am starting to learn that there are going to be times when I just cannot physically meet a deadline and an extension is the only option.  So while I refuse to ask for extensions in school (because I am one month away from getting through 18 years of schooling without having to have done so), I have learned that sometimes I just have to postpone projects at work.  In doing so I am being honest with my supervisors and realistic about my abilities.

I hate extensions.  I think I always will.  Getting stuff done and on time is just what I do.  It’s who I am.  But, having time to work on projects and put my best work into them eliminates stress.

Next time you need an extension think about how much work you can realistically do.  Think about the role procrastination plays in your ability to get things done on time.  And be honest with yourself about whether or not asking for the extension is appropriate.  An extension may not be an ideal situation, but it is better than pulling an all-nighter.  Click here for your two minutes of procrastination.

tuesday – april 10th @ 10PM – SLEEP

When talking to a co-worker, professor, or friend about upcoming tasks or events I often find myself saying, “Hold on.  Let me write that down.”  It’s a common rule among good schedulers to take note – literally – of these sorts of things.  When you have a lot on your plate it’s easy to forget about upcoming projects and deadlines.

But, how much is too much?  When do these notes become excessive?  Well to be honest, I’m reaching that point.  Yesterday as I glanced at my day planner I thought to myself, “I should try to get some sleep tomorrow night.”  I followed that thought with, “Hold on.  Let me write that down.”  Now my day planner reads, “Tuesday – April 10th: 10 PM – SLEEP!”

Surely this little note to myself was unnecessary.  I am tired enough tonight (and I knew yesterday that I would be) that I will not forget my intention to go to bed early.  Why do it then, you ask?  Boundaries.

Being busy means never having enough time to do everything on my list.  Trying to fit things in whenever and wherever I can is just part of my daily routine.  So it is entirely conceivable that I would look at my day planner today, see a bit of an opening tonight, and shove in a little task.  Later on as the tiredness set in I would think about going to bed early but convince myself to finish the scheduled task, because if I can’t cross everything off my list for the day I feel very unproductive.

“Tuesday – April 10th: 10 PM – SLEEP!”  It seems crazy, but putting in these kinds of placeholders works for me.  Sometimes I write in things like, “8 AM – relax,” or “3 PM – go on Facebook.”  Sure it’s bordering on scheduler insanity, but if I don’t write in these little tasks I’ll end up scheduling over them.  I’ll neglect my need for fun stuff (and sleep!), which could only make me even crazier.

This week think about the things in your life that you often neglect.  Consider using place holders in your day planner so that you won’t prioritize other tasks too often.  Who knows – you might just find this insane scheduling technique useful.

Click here for your two minutes of procrastination.

 

when to caffeinate

Two minutes before I sat down to write this post I made myself a cup of coffee.  It was 7:04 PM.  Now it is 7:06 PM, and I am sipping that coffee.  Chances are I will not be able to sleep when I finally crawl into bed tonight.  Better that than falling asleep on my commute home though, right?

Think about it.  How many cups of coffee/tea/iced tea/hot chocolate/soda do you drink a day?  Now, think about the last time you thought about how often you drink caffeinated beverages.  My point here is caffeine intake is one of those things of which we should all be a bit more cognizant.  Perhaps it is the barista in me, but I don’t think we monitor how much caffeine we ingest as closely as we should.

Those of us with busy schedules know, college students especially, the value of caffeinating.  When you have to get that paper in by tomorrow morning and you have not started it yet, the first thing to do is take a few shots of espresso.  With that extra jolt of energy, you can meet your deadline without a problem.  Coffee – it’s a miracle productivity-boosting drug.  But, what about all the negative effects?  What about how it makes your heart race?  What about how it makes you anxious?  What about how it keeps you up all night when you drink it after 7 PM and how that cuts into your precious sleep time?  And, what about those outrageous Starbucks prices?

Well, there is good and bad in everything, right?  At the risk of sounding even more cliché, I’d say the answer this “When to caffeinate?” question is the old adage:  “Everything is good in moderation.”  Really, I think it is just one of those things you should closely monitor, think about, and limit.  A few weeks ago I was drinking about seven cups of coffee a day – that’s CRAZY.  Slowly cutting back, noticing how much calmer I am when I have just two or three cups, and sticking to caffeinating in moderation has really helped me to be less anxious and more focused.

So this week, as we (CUNY students) gear up for pre-Spring Break projects and mid-terms, be mindful of the amount of coffee you drink.  Sure, it will make you more productive, but it might also add to your stress.  Maybe, try an apple instead.  They have ten times as much natural caffeine plus a ton of vitamins.

Click here for your two minutes of procrastination.

transparency

Busy people only get busier.  I’m sure there is some rule of physics for this – something about inertia or acceleration, perhaps.  When you’re organized and on top of your stuff, people just assume you can handle more.  Bosses pile on the projects, professors pile on the assignments, friends pile on the favors.  They think an organized and hardworking individual can handle it all, and if you’re like me you find this incredibly flattering.  It can also be pretty frustrating – not because it means more work, but because it means having to make more time for that work.

When I started writing this blog, I wanted people to think of me as a great scheduler – an organization guru even.  I tried to put on this persona – someone who could take on anything and everything and all at the same time.  I wanted to come across at cool, collected, and in control.  I wanted to be a scheduling super woman.  All this, of course, led only to more busyness – something about which I am not and will not complain.  It’s just that all that busyness also led to a whole lot of stress.  That I will complain about – endlessly, in fact.

I managed these expectations for two years, and now I’m trying something new – transparency.  Having everyone believe I’m a master scheduler who can always make time for everything is just too hard act to keep up.  I’m finding it much easier to be honest, to tell others I’m feeling overwhelmed, to set more reasonable expectations.  Anyone who knows me knows my go to response these days is, “I’m working three jobs, taking four classes, writing a thesis, and planning a summer trip abroad.  I’m a little stressed out at the moment.”  And yeah, telling people the truth means they won’t see me as an organization guru.  It also means getting a lot more understanding, tons of help, and a little bit of slack.  To me that makes the tradeoff one that is worthwhile.

Click here for four (that’s right two times the usual amount) minutes of procrastiantion.

if i had more time…

I spent part of my weekend last week at my bakery on Staten Island serving up bread and pastries and cookies as I do two to three times a month.  As I struggled to chat with one of my friends there – a baker I have known for nearly 5 years now – I thought to myself, “I really need to brush up on my Spanish.”  This is a thought I have probably one a week.  And, it’s always followed by another thought… “If I had more time, I’d speak it fluently by now.”

When you’re busy this second thought is a common occurrence.  Variations of it plague my mind whenever I am presented with something I’d love to do, but for which I just don’t have any time.  They go a little something like this: “If I had more time…

• “… I’d make pretty scrapbooks.”
• “… I’d get caught up on How I Met Your Mother.” 
• “… I’d spend some quality time with my boyfriend.” 
• “… I wouldn’t be so tired all the time.” 
• “… I’d walk instead of taking the train.”

Yes, we all have things we’d like to do if we had more time, but what do you do when this list gets ridiculously long?  What do you do when at least once a day you start a thought off with, “If I had more time…”?

My answer here is I don’t know.  What I do know is what doesn’t work - or perhaps what doesn’t work well.  I’ve tried writing these things down – that only created documentation of all the things for which I do not have time.  Then, I tried dedicating one hour a day to working on one of these items.  When that became too stressful (and impossible with my schedule), I worked on fitting in one hour a week.  And when that was still too stressful, I gave up.  At the moment I get along by following this kind of thought with, “When I graduate, and I’m not so busy I’ll make time.”  I know it’s just wishful thinking.

This week I really want to hear from all of you.  What do you do when you want to do something, but can’t find the time?  Is this a problem you face?  Is it one you’re working on?  Is it one you’ve solved?  Please, share your own thoughts and experiences below.  And, click here for your two minutes of procrastination.

setting boundaries

A busy schedule makes one prone to a lot of things – stress, sleep deprivation, a suffering social life.  A busy schedule can also lead to what I call overflow, when one project takes up too much time and cascades into the time allotted for another project.  The worst thing about overflow is that it often leads only to more overflow, sometimes rendering entire days of packed schedules unproductive.

I like to think that I know myself well enough to be able to predict which projects will take me longer than usual.  Most of the time I can tell in advance when I will have to work late, when a paper will need extra care, or when I’ll get hung up chatting with friends.  But, no one can be entirely omniscient about these kinds of things.  Occasionally (and hopefully infrequently), overflow happens, and when it happens to me, I erupt like a stress-filled volcano.

When I started to monitor and combat my stress levels as part of my New Years Resolution for 2012, overflow had basically taken over my life.  I was working late at all three of my jobs every week, cutting back on sleep, and experiencing anxiousness like never before.  While I still deal with overflow (like tonight in fact), I have been practicing a great little technique that has greatly diminished the impact it has on my day-to-day schedule – boundary setting.

Boundary setting is exactly what it sounds like; you draw lines and stick by them even when you might feel obliged to do otherwise.  For instance, though I feel like I should work late most nights (because I typically have a ton of work to do), I have set a boundary for myself.  I recognize that for my own personal well-being I need to get to bed at a reasonable hour, and so I have resolved myself to leave work on time.  The whole concept is a lot like the saying, “Leave work at work,” except for me it is just, “Leave work.” 

While there are times when overflow is necessary (like when deadlines must be met), a lot of the time it is avoidable.  Just be conscious, be forward thinking, draw lines for your schedule.  Just changing the way you think about overflow can help you begin to combat it.  Saying to yourself, “Tonight I am going to work on this paper for two hours, so I will end this texting conversation with my friend for now,” can really keep you and your schedule on track.

This week try to think of a boundary as little space in your schedule you have carved out for something specific, and don’t let anything interfere with that task.  Remember, being able to stick to your schedule can do away with tons of excess stress.  Click here for your two minutes of procrastination.

money vs. stress

I’ve been on a quest, as you may already know, to de-stress my very stressful life these past few months.  It’s no wonder really that I stumbled across an article in the Huffington Post this morning about the eight most stressful and unhealthy jobs.  Once I got over the shock that full-time student was not on the list, I thought long and hard about the implications of such a list.

It seems since the recession most college student have only one question when it comes to choosing a career path:  what job will pay me the most money right out of college?  I get it – we all have to pay the bills.  What bothers me however, is the fact that so many millennials are overlooking other factors that should be considered here, too.  If you are going to spend eight hours a day doing something, it should be something that you love  (or at least something you don’t hate!) to do.  A job where you are miserable might pay a lot, but doesn’t being miserable negate now much you earn?

I recognize that this issue is a matter of opinion.  As I attempt to cut all of the unnecessary stress out of my life however, I am becoming more fervent in my belief that the things that stress us out are just not worth our time.  Why be unhappy or anxious or tired when you could be happy, excited, and passionate about the work that you do?  Sure it might take a little longer to find a job that fits this bill, but doesn’t all that extra work pay off when you can enjoy those eight-hour work days.  Take it from someone who loves their job(s), it’s a lot easier to get out of bed in the morning when you do not dread the place you are going.

So who are these eight most stressed-out professionals?  According to recent studies cited in the Huffington Post they include investment bankers, soldiers, and shift workers.  Check out the full article by clicking here, and click here for your two minutes of procrastination.

the stress-free diet

If there is one thing I learned from doing yoga, it is that everything in the body is connected.  You can do a side-body stretch and find yourself able to breathe deeper.  You can do a power lunge to strengthen your legs and core, and end up loosening up your shoulders.  You can work out your body and end up with a clearer mind. 

Sometimes when we approach a problem we do so with blinders.  We can focus so much on what we think the causes of that problem are that we pass off (sometimes unconsciously) possible solutions.  We forget that many things are interconnected.  We put ourselves in a box unable to think outside of it.

Most people regard stress as a state of mind.  I’m inclined to agree with this to some degree.  There are aspects of stress, however, that are concretely physical.  Take, for instance, the way your heart races when you are anxious or nervous.  This is a very physical response to stress.  Attempting to change your state-of-mind when you are stressed is productive, but why not also try to counteract the physical symptoms of what you are feeling. 

Research has shown that one of the best ways to attack these physical symptoms is by changing your diet.  Certain foods, like simple carbs (sugary snacks and drinks) can give bursts of energy followed by crashes, a combination that can exacerbate stress symptoms like high blood pressure.  Conversely, other foods can help you combat stress, like complex carbs such as whole wheats and nuts.  These carbs increase your brain’s serotonin production, which quells anxiety and evens mood.  Researchers have also found that oranges (which have lots of vitamin C for a healthy immune system), spinach (which contains magnesium that can help stave off fatigue), and black tea (which has low levels of caffeine that reduce cortisol production without the crash brought about by coffee or sodas) are good anti-stress foods.  Doctors also suggest an overall healthy diet is a pro-active way to fight stress symptoms.

I’m not a believer in diets.  I think the only way to be healthier (and lose weight, if that’s what you are going for) is to make a lifestyle change.  This week think about living a less stressful life by making changes to your daily routine.  Do some breathing exercises, go for a run (physical activity has also been shown to be a good outlet for stress), and eat healthier.  You’ll feel better, I promise.

 Click here for a two minutes of Valentine’s Day procratination.