and the count down begins

Most are counting down the days until Christmas (the most wonderful time of the year!)and although I am counting down the days till the semester is over and my workload is DONE. Eleven days and counting... twenty-one days until christmas and thirty-three days until my birthday!!!(the actual most wonderful day of the year!) :)

Most of my classes this week are completely pointless because they are paper based finals and because I have already done the papers so the lectures become kind of pointless because i already wrote and handed in my papers therefore i can't add thing to them that I learn in lecture ...

This week I decided to use the Target planner. Perry uses it all the time and it seems to work out great for her! and because I couldn't write about my beloved fritter finder<3 I figured why not try out the target planner to get myself organized. I used this in my Earth Science class in my Math class and in my CRS class, it was all very useful!

I made three different target planners for each of the different exams that I have and of course had to color them to make everything stand out even more!! I almost made it into a study plan for all my exams. I feel as though it is going to go very well because I like having structure and this really makes it clear what day I need to study what. I put all my target planners on one page because I have to study for multiple exams on the same day... Having all my target planners posted on my wall made it extremely clear to me what days I need to what exam. Although it isn't as great as the fritter finder it will work for now;)

Stressed, but not for long!

Boy am I stressed, so stressed that I went home this weekend because I had/have so much work I couldn't stand to stay here because I knew that I would not get it done at all. So, once again, I'm late and slacking because I got stuck in traffic and just pulled in. Awesome right? This weekend, was just a mess. Pretty sure I am getting bronchitis back, in addition to the small case of walking phemonia as well because of all the stress right now. Finals, I feel like before Thanksgiving break I was constantly getting no sleep freaking out about exams, and here I am again. Never ending and as much as I can't wait to have it all be over and be home, I don't want to leave. If only I could be in college, but without the working part. Now wouldn't we all love that?

So, to figure out how I am going to work with this stressful week, I decided to use some strategies that I have yet to try out. First being the 'Building Blocks' approach because we tried it out in class and I honestly really liked it. I did it in my binder before I sat down right now to start my work and I realized how simple it is. I

t literally takes close to no time and is just very

simple and extremely helpful as well. So, I have decided to use this strategy from now on. It's funny how a strategy that I just learned and have yet to tried, I try and it really works for me.

Hopefully I can get something out of this and start trying out new strategies now because I'm sure there are a lot that can help me in life basically like this one!

Last But Not Least..

This week is going to be a big one. Not only am I going to be stressed about formal quickly approaching, but our first TOMS Shoes Campus Club event is tomorrow. I have been working this whole weekend, trying to spread the word, write on the 2014 Facebook page, to get people to come. My co- leader and I have planned it all out, with free food and giveaways.

However, instead of finals being on the forefront of my mind, this has been what I have doing with my time. Therefore, I decided that for next week I needed to make a “D’s, Do’s and Due’s” list in my assignment planner. This way, I will know what I still have to do next week for each class, as I have been so preoccupied planning my TOMS event! I even added times into my assignment planner for when I am going to complete each task to give my a complete schedule of how next week is going to play out. I need to focus much of my time on Economics, as my final is on Monday and worth half my grade!

The next strategy I used was a target planner. I made this for my WGS101 Final Project. This project has been a major stress for me. This assignment entails us having to find “artifacts” which represent four different parts of our syllabus. While it may seem easy, it has been difficult to find artifacts that correspond with the readings we have done in class. Therefore, I felt that making a target planner which divides up the assignment to make it less overwhelming would be most effective.

I second what Joy said..Happy Studying! lol

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year! (NOT)

Tomorrow is the first day of December, my favorite month. Why, you may ask? Well, my birthday is in December so I believe that is a great reason on it's own. Second- Hanukkah; who doesn't love presents and challah? Third, the winter is my favorite season. I love the first snowfall, the chilly weather, and curlingup under a pile of blankets and watching a movie while drinking hot chocolate (the life). However, I can't enjoy all of these delightful pleasures because the semester is coming to an end and FINALS WEEK is just around the corner. I'm currently in the library (where I've been for the past three hours) working my precious youth away.

During a stressful time like this it is important to manage your time and tasks well. Whenever I have a major assignment I tend to just stare at it because I am too afraid to actually start it. I end up wasting time that I could have been using to get work done and stressing myself out even more. That is why I decided to go back to the "Target Planner" and use this task management strategy in two of my classes.

I created a "Target Planner" for the final paper in my REL191 class. The paper is not due until the 16th of December, but I decided to get a head start and work on it this week so I can hand it in on Friday. I figured that by getting it out of the way I can focus on my other finals instead of having the thought of this paper in the back of my head over the next two weeks. I broke the paper up into 4 different assignments, ranging from finding quotes to showing a rough draft to my TA. I have used this method before and find it very helpful. Once I have completed a task I like to cross it off of my "Target Planner". By doing this I feel accomplished and a sense of relief for getting something done.

I also created a "Target Planner" for my final in HTW318- Dynamics of Addiction. The final is on Monday the 5th, so it is necessary I start preparing now. On the "Target Planner," as you can see, I already re-wrote my notes from the Textbook and the class lecture and finalized my study guide. When it comes time to start studying the material I made sure to organize it by TOPIC. I also found online practice tests that will definitely come in handy when it comes time to review.

Good Luck Studying Everyone!!! xo

Uh..Awkward

Well uh..so this is awkward because I of course, being the mess I tend to be, didn't realize that the Blog was due last Sunday not this Sunday, and in addition I am late posting it. Don't ask me how or why I managed to forget something this important, but I did. Maybe it was having bronchitis for a week, going to the the health center and getting medication, which did not work. So, for week's I have had bronchitis which if I didn't go to my doctor when I got home would have turned into walking pneumonia. Thank you health center! Anyways, maybe it was because I was sick and my priorities were not focused where they should have been, or that Thanksgiving was sneaking up on us and my brain was already on break when my body was still in school.

The topic of this blog is actually ironic because this whole post is about relaxing, and letting go of your stress, as well as organizing it. For me, these strategies are more than important because when I get overwhelmed I forget to do them, which as you can tell from me forgetting about this blog, can't happen again.

Thanksgiving break was great, I did nothing but eat and relax, and complet

ely block out all the work I had waiting for me when I returned. However now it is time to face that stress head on, no more procrastinating. So to minimize my stress levels so I don't freak out, I decided to make a "Stress List" to organize my stresses.

It's funny too, because Career Exploration project isn't due until Monday and I surprisingly have a lot done, however what I want to do with my life in the 'career' field is about 100% of what I stress about it life in general, including getting into Whitman. I'm nervous about it even though I have the required gpa, you never really know so I'm still nervous.

Then I tried the '5 Minute Escape' which was a complete fail. I am someone who needs to keep busy, so this particular strategy did not work for me just like sitting still does not work. I need to keep busy or clean my room to escape, or for a run, that works for me.

So, the lesson learned is definitely don't forget to do assignments because you are so caught up in your life, it never ends well! Plus if you tackle your stresses early on you don't have to deal with them later!

A pleasure a day keeps the stress away!

First of all lets talk about how may stress level for last week was so high that I guess I forgot to

press the publish button for my blog... My mind was somewhere else last week...(May have

been because of all the pain killers I was on because I cracked my rib...but thats another story!)

Thank god I had saved it in a word draft otherwise more stress would have been added to my load!

So the semester is beginning to come to an end, and let me just tell you about my week... Okay so aside from the football game I had friday night, basketball game Saturday, and practice on Sunday, now that it's Monday (a day when my week is normally slow) I have to cheer at a basketball game tonight, Tuesday night, Friday night, and Saturday. Oh and did I mention that this is all on top of having to practice Wednesday and Thursday too?! OOHH and don't forget that I'm trying to be a student too.... Talk about the stress...

So cheerleading wise to manage my stress I just took everything day by day... I used a different approach for my other thoughts that haunt me during the night and keep me from falling asleep even though I am absolutely mentally and physically exhausted!!

I used the stress diagram strategy to help my academic stresses. I made a list of what stressed me and color coordinated it with the pie chart I made to represent the amount of stress in my life. It really made me see what I shouldn't be to worried about...(My documentation won't upload:( )

Try the 5 minute escape! This is a instant relaxer!

even if you cut it in half and only do like two minutes you will still feel great after!

Another strategy I plan on using (guess i'll have to let y'all know how it goes) is what I like to call the Turkey strategy... This strategy is doing all my work due at the end of the semester, over thanksgiving break, so that I don't have to stress when I get back!! Well see how that one works...

Enjoy your break everyone and let all your stresses go for at least a couple minutes over break!

Stress Less

My world is currently a mess. Yesterday I had to register for classes, and since my enrollment time was one of the last one's allotted, I was closed out of all of my classes except for one. I'm not even considered a student with one class! So, that put me in a sour mood. In order to relieve some stress I decided to go out with my friends that night. I showered, did my hair, put on my makeup, and changed my outfit three times only to decide that I was too tired to go out. It's the constant stressors that are occupying my mind that are making me so irrational and frankly, not too fun to be around.

This week I created a "Stress Diagram" where I listed everything that is currently giving me stress and then sectioned off the amount of stress each source was giving me. It was no surprise after I created the diagram that getting into Newhouse and earning excellent grades this semester were my two biggest stressors. For everyone that knows me, it's pretty obvious. I then marked three other equal sections labeled "Pick Classes" "HTW Final" and "Formal Date". It's a little sad to think that finding a formal date holds the same amount of weight in my mind as doing well on my HTW final...but that's a girls mind for you! However, the "Stress Diagram" helped me prioritize the causes for my stress and helped me identify the issues I need to address first, aka NEWHOUSE!

I also tried using the "5-Minute Escape" but it didn't work for me. I'm a very impatient person, so doing something like meditating or yoga is hard for me to do. If i'm working out i'd rather be on the elliptical breaking a sweat than sitting with my legs twisted on a mat. Likewise, when I want to relax I find that by laying in bed for half an hour and watching a TV show helps. This way I am focusing on someone else's problems rather than mine.