life
Is your routine harming you?
We all have a routine. Even the greatest ‘free spirit’ has a certain point during the day when he’ll regularly be doing something, and us students are no different.
A routine provides comfort and certainty in our day-to-day lives and enables us to focus ourselves on particular tasks at certain times of the day, but can sticking to your routine too closely hinder you in your studying.
via flickr
In short, yes it can. You see by committing yourself to a routine in such a strict way you lose the flexibility to start tasks early and finish them later and often you spend less time on these tasks, leaving their quality to suffer. But it doesn’t have to be like this…
In order to complete tasks to the absolute best of your ability you need to dedicate time to them and you’d be surprised how much time you actually have.
Let’s say for example that you tend to do your tasks in the evening. During that day you may have missed an hour of two’s worth of opportunity to get started, at lunch time for example. And don’t think you need a quiet room with a deskto get started, just twenty minutes on the bus home or relaxing in the library is enough to get you thinking ahead and mentally preparing your work. Just getting some ideas flowing around your head can really focus you when you get down to the business of actually doing the thing.
This is something I have recently realised that I actually do a lot, I think I always have done. I’ve always been pretty focused in school (ever since starting) and thank goodness because without this ability to concentrate I would have done a lot worse at school. I sense that school has always been lurking at the back of my mind (it does kind of take over your life as a kid) and even when I was playing football after school I could let my mind wander and ponder my work.
This may not suit you that as well as it suits me, I am sort of a workaholic and I can cope with an overlap in my work and home lives.
If you have been at all confused by the message of this post, here it is: Don’t be afraid to loosen your routine if it allows you to commit more fully to an assignment. Good luck!
Do you need to sort your life out?
This is a question I find myself asking (myself) from time to time, usually about once or twice a year. This happens when I get myself into a right pickle and need to take a step backwards, a deep breath and tackle all the problems that are bugging me at the moment.
‘Sort out your life’ seems like a bit of an over-reaction right? Of course it is, but by applying such a dramatic title it really boosts you into action.
So here’s where I am at the moment: (my to-do list)
- Tidy my room
- Sort out my wardrobe
- Throw out all my old junk
3 simple tasks, but 3 time consuming
So…here’s how it’s done:
Take the day off: plan to do nothing. This is such a depressing thing to do and I do feel so stupid writing it down but this really has to be done. By giving yourself a free day you know that nothing can give you an excuse not to do whatever it is you need to do. When the day comes: have a lie-in. Don’t get up until about 10 and pretty much just lounge about the house all morning. Then have lunch. Fill yourself right up so that you have a lot of energy to keep you going all afternoon.
OK, that’s the preparation out the way, now to get stuck in! However you approach the task make sure that you don’t rush yourself. In fact you should take your time if you’re going to be spending a good couple of hours over this. Put on some music and then get to work.
I always tend to sort my life out on a Sunday when there are less distractions. I turn off my phone, though there tends to be less socialising on Sundays anyway, put on some music or even the radio if I want to listen to the Grand Prix. I work right through the afternoon from about 2 until 6 or 7 in the evening. Then I watch a bit of TV and get to bed early to recharge my batteries so that I can start my newly-organised life with a bang.
Anyway, off to sort out my life now, speak to you soon.
[Do you have a similar routine to mine, does it work? does mine? Leave a comment below.