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.

So Many Stressors.

With the end of the semester quickly approaching, there are constantly things always on my mind. At night, I find myself lying awake, wondering when all my stressors, which all feel seemingly long term, are going to go away. This week I chose to use the Stress Diagram Strategy. First, I wrote down a list of all of the things which are constantly on my mind, distracting me from my work.

These might seem trivial, however, they are really the top stressors which weigh me down everyday. A lot of them feel like life decisions, such as my summer internship. I would like to preferably pick an internship that will help me get a job in the long run. However, since I don't have a major, I don't even know where to begin. The career center advised me to explore different companies and see what appeals to me. But the truth is I just don't know, and all of these stressors seem interconnected with each other.

Viewing these stressors in a pie chart also realized that extent to which they literally control my mind.

Seeing this made me realize, that I definitely need to do some activities such as go to the gym, or anything that will take my mind off of things so that I can stay healthy through all of my stress. This is also why the Five- Minute Escape strategy worked so well for me.

It's so easy to get caught up with school, friends, and work that sometimes the pressure can become overwhelming. Especially since I have also been sick. Closing my eyes and really concentrating on breathing (hopefully it will be better after my chest xray tomorrow so we can figure out what on earth is going on) helped to slow down my heart rate. It also helped me to become more level headed, and to relax and left everything lift off my shoulders, even though it lasted just a few minutes. This is something that will help me before I go to bed, and in the next week in which I have several classes to complete work in. I can't wait for Thanksgiving, and to have a week free to myself where I can leave these stressors all at school.

Time Is Ticking

Time is literally ticking, it is 4:40 pm and I have been sitting in Goldstein Student Center since 3:45 pm attempting to write this rather simple blog. For some reason, which I don't know, it has taken me until 20 minutes before this is due to actually get myself to start writing it. Very bad, I know. It is that time of the year where Thanksgiving break is slowly creeping on us, which I couldn't be more ready for. Not only am I a pro at procrastinating but I can do it in every way possible. I have been sitting here and managed to go get water 3 times, so now I have 3 water bottles just in attempt to procrastinate. I keep starring out the window as it gets darker and darker and it's only 5 at night.

I don't know why, but I just can't get myself to sit and do my work. I would love it if I could, but I just can't! Procrastinating is something you learn at a very young age, it comes naturally to almost everyone. Sadly, at this time of the year when teacher's are either piling up on projects right before Thanksgiving, or assigning projects which

are due as soon as break ends, which also is tough because their is no way I will be doing work over break.

I honestly can't wait for break, it is time and I need it so badly. When I cough I sound like an old man hacking up a lung. It is very unattractive as well as just horrible!

So back to what I am writing out, because the time is ticking and time is up and I'm still writing of course. I filled out the 'Time Waster' chart which didn't help me all that much. However, what does help me is sitting down and making a "To Do" List. With a list, it keeps me stress free, and it lets me figure out what I need to do, by when, and I can follow it. Once I do it I can also think about how to evaluate it, and learn the information. Lists have always helped me, I don't know why but they have. So, to end this, I think today I should have made a To Do list to follow because that results in me not being stressed out and actually getting my work done!

Procrastinating princess:)

Well they like to call me the princess of procrastination… Surprisingly I’m not procrastinating on this blog but normally my work gets done at the very last minute!! It’s just so hard with all these different distractions around me…

As you can see in my time waster chart, there is the social distraction, my phone is the ultimate distraction… fatigue is a large factor in my procrastination. Oh and cleaning my room is a crucial factor of my procrastination skills!! Although sometimes I even find myself procrastinating cleaning my room, by doing something like making food for myself or turning to my television for a good distraction!

Typically I wait until the very very very last minute to study for a test (the night before the test). The same goes for my homework, I wait until the night before its due, or sometimes ever the day its due… The time waster chart really made it c

lear for me to see what I need to stop doing to procrastinate so that I can just complete the tasks that I have to accomplish!

Also using a study partner was probably the best way to end my procrastination. Megan

(shown in picture to the right) is in my business calc course. Normally I wait to do my business calc homework until the day it is due, but asking Megan to do our homework together, forced me to do my work two days before it was due. I feel that this strategy works because I had to work around Megan’s schedule and find a time that was convenient for both of us to meet and do our homework together. Luckily Megan was only free during the beginning of the week. So by the time the end of

the week came around when my homework was due, it was already done because I had to work with a partner who only had free time in the beginning of the week!

I would say this week my procrastinations skills were thrown out the window! I was nice to have free time at the end of the week, because instead of procrastinating and doing my work at the end of the week, I finished it in the beginning of the week so that I could just relax and do my own thing at the end of the week.

“The two rules of procrastination: 1.) Do it today. 2.) Tomorrow will be today tomorrow.” –Author unknown

Work, Shmerk.

With the semester quickly coming to an end, all of my teachers are trying to cram in as much information in now before break as possible. As all of our finals will be after we get back from thanksgiving break, they want to make sure we are all caught up on information. However, as my classes are all quickly moving along, I find myself distracted by the fact that I get to go home next weekend!

Last night instead of writing my blog I was instead Facebook chatting Joy as she said below. Everytime she said “bye” to go do work, I stayed on Facebook waiting 5 minute intervals for her to sign back online and laugh when she said “I’m taking a break.” It’s easy to say that the internet in general is my biggest distraction. Not only do I facebook chat, but I have a problem online shopping. The thing is..I never actually buy anything, and if I do, I return it and send it back.

However, while I’m doing this, I am causing myself to fall behind in classes, as I don’t take advantage of my free time to catch up by reading through my notes or re reading the chapters in my textbooks. I also had other work to do such as editing my WGS 101 paper, and picking out classes for next semester. I filled out my Time Wasters Chart, and was able to visually see what I was doing instead of my work, which actually forced me to shut off my computer, and do my homework at the gym last night.

At the gym I was able to plan out how I was going to achieve the tasks I have to do within the next few weeks that don't have to do with turning in assignments. For example, I need to find time to meet with my Economics Teacher, Health and Wellness Teacher, and I also need to find time to set up appointments to go to Career Services in Schine. I did this by creating a Putting It All Together Chart procrastination strategy.

By writing out everything I have to do with a time it needs to be completed by, I was able to write down in my assignment planner when to complete these tasks, therefore making a target planner. By writing down what I need to do before completing my tasks such as creating a list of questions before meeting with my Economics teacher, I was more successfully able to complete my homework for the class.

Time Flys When You're Wasting It

It is 8:17pm on Wednesday and I'm deciding to get my Tech Assignment out of the way so I can enjoy my weekend worry free come 4:50pm Thursday. Right before I started writing this blog I was on Facebook instant messaging Ashley. Itold her, "Ok, I'm gonna go do my Tech Assignment now. bye" I typed in the blogger website, thought of a title, and before I knew it I was back on Facebook looking at a pair of Nike's Ashley sent me, trying to determine if they had "swag"

As you can probably tell, my number one time waster is Facebook. I can literally spend HOURS searching facebook and stalking my friends (creepy!). I even have the site on my favorites bar for quick access. The problem is, whenever I am doing work that must be done on a computer I find myself needing to take breaks in order to stay sane. So when the time comes around to take a break, I usually hop onto Facebook, but instead of spending 10 minutes on it I will get distracted and spend half an hour without realizing it. I’ve tried in the past to log myself out of the website so when I do have the urge to go on, it will take more effort to log back on instead of just clicking a button. However, typing in my user name and password didn’t stop me.

Another technology based time waster is AIM, or instant messaging. I always keep myself logged on to iChat, so my friends are constantly I.M.ing me and distracting me from my work. Whereas on Facebook I will be distracted for long periods of time, on AIM I get distracted every 2 minutes from having a conversation with someone. I know the easy solution would be to log off, but I just never do. I think I will be able to force myself to quit the program while doing work because I am now acknowledging just how much time I am wasting.

Texting, Television, and Sleep are three other "Time Wasters" that I find myself constantly getting distracted with. While they do interfere with my work, I am better at avoiding these "Time Wasters" than both Facebook and AIM. I've learned that by putting my phone on silent I am not aware that my friends and family are constantly emailing me. This way instead of checking my phone every time I hear a buzz, I will check it when I remember and find three messages instead of just that one (which makes things more exciting!) Television I've learned to avoid until the weekends. Although it saddens me to miss when each new episode premiers, it is also nice to lay in bed Saturday afternoon and watch a marathon of shows I missed during the week. Since the beginning of the year I have become a lot better with sleeping. Even though I still don't fall asleep until around 2am usually, I have stopped myself from napping during the day, unless necessary to function.

I chose to do NSAS this week (No Salt And Sauce) for NSD225 because it was

actually very similar to the study method I am currently using, w

the 20-Minute Test Prep. For NSAS I had to print and read the NOTES before class,

SCAN the assigned chapter, ATTEND class, and then created STUDY SHEETS. I

adapted this strategy a little bit to make it my own. I didn't SCAN the chapter before

class because the textbook readings do not help at all with studying. Also, for creating

STUDY SHEETS I rewrote all my notes from lecture and then went through and picked

out the information that seemed the most important and turned them into questions.

I created a "Questions Test Bank" for all the questions and I have composed a list of 66

questions! My test is tomorrow so I hope I do well with my new study aids!

Never Have I Ever

Never have I ever had more fun than I did this past weekend. My sorority was chosen for PSIGON, a 3-day long party with the fraternity Psi U. The theme for the entire weekend was war, so everyone had to dress up in camo. Thursday was fun but Friday and Saturday took the cake. On Friday we had to be up by 10am at which time we were "captured" and brought back to the frat house by brothers. We fought back with chocolate sauce, shaving cream, sugar, flour... anything imaginable! It was SO MESSY - we even turned one room into a slip n' slide because the floor was so slippery! And on Saturday the brothers covered the entire house with leaves to make it seem like we were actually outside in the woods- very cool! To say the least I could barely get out of bed this morning.

Being able to go out and have this much fun is definitely one of the factors that keeps me motivated. If I don't get my work done before the weekend, I know I will be constantly thinking and worrying about everything I have to do, and that ruins my nights. I see going out as a reward; It's not something I have to do, but something I enjoy. While this is not the most powerful motivator, it does give me that little push I need sometimes.

Another factor that motivates me are my parents. I have a fear of disappointing them, so I am able to use that potential negative and turn it into a positive by doing the best I can. Also, I get a sense of accomplishment and gratification when my parents praise me for getting a good grade or excelling in a course.

However, my biggest motivator, my "High-Cost Reward" is getting into Newhouse. This has been a goal I've been striving towards since the Spring of Freshman year. In order to get into Newhouse I have to meet a certain GPA, so as of right now my acceptance and my future is resting on my shoulders.

Below is a picture of my Academic Fears, a table that outlines my worst

nightmares and how I can go about avoiding them.

Oh so motivated!

Where does it come from?? It’s different for every person! Everyone overcomes struggles and obstacles that push them in their life. Motivation may not even come from struggles, it can come from your personal drive to want to do good, or to impress someone. There are many different reasons a person can be motivated.

What personally motivates me is a number of different factors. First off, I hate, yes hate (I know it’s a strong word but I feel passionate about this so its necessary to use this.), to disappoint people and let them down. I am fortunate enough that my parents pay for me to go to college. The way I look at it is if I receive bad grades that will be disappointing them and they may feel as though I am taking advantage of them paying for my education. Therefore when I am deciding between going out on a Tuesday night, or staying in to study, studying always trumps going out. Just because the possible disappointment that could come from my parents motivate me to stay in and get my work done!

Second, I want to get good grades for myself, because without good grades I will not graduate college. This affects me in a number of different ways! Therefore that is HUGE motivation for me to do my work and receive the best grades I can!!

Third, I cannot participate in cheerleading if I have under a 2.5 GPA. This really drives me to get good grades because well I don’t want to even come close to risking not being able to cheer. I would be so miserable if I couldn’t do that!

So this week I used a little chart to help me in my MAT 284 and EAR 105. I made a chart with the following headings along the top: Academic fears, Worst outcomes, Best outcomes, and Action needed. I listed my three biggest academic fears for both of those classes and ranked them from one to three. Next I put what could be the potential worst outcome if I did poorly in each class. I also wrote down what could be the best outcome if I did extremely well in the class. Finally I wrote down actions that I need to take in order to succeed in these classes. This really helped me see that if I see one of these fears beginning to happen, I can look at my chart and take action, get motivated, and get an A!

PS I made a bunch of different charts but my internet isn't working on my computer therefore I had to use perry's but my documentation won't upload from perry's computer!!! oh the stress!

Never Getting Out of Bed

So, literally I couldn't agree more with Ash. In the exact same position, I can't sleep because every time I lie down, I start hacking up a lung and can't stop, so no more sleep for me. Then I can't put it better so I will use her term of FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) so I always go out which doesn't help my cough or cold. So now my cough and cold have gotten so bad my mom wants me to come home for a weekend, but that is silly. Sadly I have to just get my butt to the Health Center tomorrow again for more medication so I can sleep. I went to the Health Center last Thursday and they gave me medication for my cough and my cold so I am crossing my finger hoping that it will work and get me better already.

Not only do I have a fear of missing out, but here at school it's so hard to stay in bed when all of your friends are someplace making extravagant costumes and heading to a crazy party! You want to go, you don't want to miss out on t

he funny memories, so you drag yourself out of bed feeling like absolute hell because you don't want to stay alone in bed. However, this weekend I did stay in, because I had to. But I was so sad when all of my friends went out and I was forced to stay in. I'm beginning to feel better though, I just wish I was in bed at home instead of here.

My fear's similar to Ash's are definitely the fear of not getting my work done because I'm sick, or the fear of missing out! Hah!

So, what I have come to realize, is that if I miss out, I can not only get a good night of sleep which is important, but I can do my work and do it well! If I don't miss out, yes I go out with my friends but it's not healthy and then I'm stuck with all this work that I have to do well on when I feel like complete hell and so sick. So, I can miss out once in a while like I did this week, it's necessary and I'm so happy I missed out this weekend actually because I feel a tad better!

Not Easy Being Sick

For the past 2 weeks I have not been feeling myself. However, I sometimes have something called FOMO..(fear of missing out). SO, even though I have felt sick, I have continued to go to classes, and go out on the weekends. I figured going to the health center wouldn't do anything...last year when I went they told me to take the same medicine I had already been taking. But on Thursday night when my friend was over, my throat started to constrict and after she freaked out and almost ran to get an RA, it started to open up again. I ignored it, and we joked about it after even though it wasn't funny.

I woke up Saturday, feeling like never before. I couldn't put the health center off anymore. When I went in for my appointment, my doctor actually told me "you look horrible..."

Not only are my parents upset with me for not having gone earlier, the doctor asked me why I hadn't come in two weeks earlier. I told her I figured it was like any other time I was sick and it would go away with all the medicine I was taking. She didn't want to wait to take xrays of my chest at the hospital in case it was pneumonia, so she put me on a breathing machine to check my oxygen levels. Well...here I am now still in bed since yesterday, with anti-biotics, prescription cough medicine, and an inhaler to my right. I have never wished that I were at home, more than I do now.

This week I decided to fill out an Academic Fears chart..seeing as how I am sick and have a big test tomorrow that I haven't been able to study for being sick this whole weekend. I was irresponsible in how I didn't take care of myself last week. If I have learned anything, its that your health is most important.

My first fear was being sick, with the worst outcome being failing my test tomorrow in HTW 303. The best outcome...uhh..would be studying enough today to get by tomorrow and then sitting down with my teacher to discuss my grade and why I got the grade I did. In order to pass, today I need to drink my soup, and try to focus no matter how hard it will be, on the study guide that I made two weeks ago. After all, this is my fault.