I am a bit of a procrastinator. I always think that I have more time in the world than I actually do and constantly over-schedule myself. Between getting involved with my sorority, being a waitress, maintaining a social life, meal-prepping, working out and school work, I was overloaded last semester. Because of this, my grades suffered. I have made it my New Year’s resolution that I am going to become the best version of myself this semester, however cheesy that may be. Here are some of the things I’m planning on holding myself accountable for.
1. Putting the phone down
Anyone who knows me knows that I am on my phone for as long as I am awake. When I try to study, I am always taking breaks to scroll– and I’m taking these breaks way too often. Studies show that having your phone nearby, regardless if it is going off, while studying makes you focus less. So I’ve decided that when I study, I am going to turn my phone off (shedding a few tears) and put it somewhere I can’t see it. Out of sight, out of mind, right?
2. Prioritize
I’ll admit it now, I’m a perfectionist. I am someone who wants everything I do to be done well, and I want to get everything I possibly can done. Obviously, there are way too many things to do in the day with not enough time. I recently learned a helpful way to prioritize your tasks from a professor by asking yourself the “Four D’s”: delete, delay, diminish and delegate. Delete is asking yourself if you can live without doing a task. Delay is asking if you can do a task later and it doesn’t require immediate attention. Diminish is reducing the amount of time and effort put into a task (which is especially hard when you want everything to be perfect). Lastly, delegating is asking yourself if there is someone else who can do a task almost as well as you can. It’s hard, but prioritizing will take pressure off of yourself and you will complete what you need to do better.
3. Getting enough sleep
I know, I know. College kids run off of coffee and three hours of sleep. I’m trying to set in my schedule a bedtime and time I get out of bed that are always relatively the same for every day. Having a routine is better for your body and your mind, and will help you achieve getting more sleep.
4. Allowing yourself to have fun
One mistake I make is that I put too much effort into my schoolwork and activities. While I’m in student organizations that I love and am happy with my classes and major, sometimes I find I “punish” myself if I don’t get absolutely everything done that I wanted to. So, I’m making it a goal that instead of beating myself up over not finishing everything, I will reward myself for when I do accomplish tasks I need. I want to make a goal for the week, such as read the two chapters assigned, take notes and go over the key concepts for the class, and if I get everything done, I will let myself go to dinner with friends during the weekend instead of staying in.
I’ve came to the conclusion that college is about balance. Learning how to balance is one of the hardest things I’ve done in my life, but I know that putting yourself first and reminding yourself that it is okay to fail has helped me tremendously throughout my college years. Here’s to the best semester yet, HCXO!