No Mess No Stress

I like to think of myself as being very organized. My t-shirts are folded by style and color, and my jeans are stacked from dark wash to light wash, making my wardrobe pleasing to the eye and easily accessible. That's just one part of my life that I like to keep in order. However, when it comes to my school work, not everything is so spick n' span.

Each day when it comes time to start my homework I look at my monthly calendar that I have already written down all my assignments on, and make a list of everything I need or want to accomplish that day. By this time the list is just a compilation of tasks and assignments with no order or structure, so I end up just starting at the top and making my way down. While I may be getting my work done, I am not doing it in the most productive manner. This is why when I heard about the "Ranking Priorities" strategy I knew it was the perfect opportunity to try it.

So, to begin I rewrote all of my assignments for that day on a new sheet of lined paper, and then ranked each of the items on the list based on whether they were A- absolutely essential, B- important, or C- optional, and then put a number next to each letter based on which one I wanted to accomplish first . For example, I wrote A-1 next to my REL191 paper because it was due the next day, therefore it was critical I finished that first. I used due dates as a factor for determining my priorities so I would complete the most important tasks first. Now, instead of having a jumbled list of assignments without any specific order, "Ranking Priorities" was able to solve my problem and I have a list that enables me to identify the tasks that need the most immediate attention and are "absolutely essential".

While I figured out a way to better organize my daily tasks, I realized that I needed help solving an even bigger problem : tackling my WGS101 Take-Home Midterm. On Thursday our Take-Home Midterm was passed out in lecture and I began to have a mild panic attack as I read the assignment. My mind began to race and my heart began to pound, and before I knew it little beads of sweat were forming at the top of my hairline. Some people might find this strange, but for me it's pretty normal. When I see a big assignment I get intimidated and overwhelmed, not knowing how to start or where to begin. Once I realized the stress I was putting myself under, I decided to try out the "Is Versus Wants" strategy to help me reevaluate my current situation and figure out what I need to change to be more successful.

As I filled out the chart I was able to actually ask myself questions that I normally wouldn't, such as "What is the problem I am having now?" "What would I like my situation to be instead?" "What do I need to do in order to accomplish this?" "What exactly am I going to do to accomplish this?" and "How will I know I achieved my desired outcome?". Once I got to the "Action" column, where I had to think about the necessary steps needed to fix my problem, I realized that the "Target Planner" - a task management strategy that my friends had used last week- would be the perfect strategy for me to use. It would let me break up the Midterm into small, manageable sections

with due dates so I could do a little work each night. This way, I am accomplishing my Midterm without feeling the stress of having to finish all of

it at once.

With "Is Versus Wants" I was able to become my own therapist. I had to look at my own situation, acknowledge what was wrong with it, and then figure out on my own how I was going to solve the problem. By working something out on my own, I gained a greater sense of accomplishment at the end once I

had fixed what wasn't working.

Enjoy the Weekend and do your work wisely!!