Tash Mahnokaren
Staff Writer
The start of a new year commonly evokes feelings of change and the desire to start over. However, following through on resolutions isn’t always easy. To embrace the new year, try a different approach: reinvention.
Splurge a little bit on yourself. Get excited about being you before making big changes or resolutions.
Go ahead ladies, buy that pair of boots you’ve been eyeing and indulge in those beauty must-haves to protect your skin from the harsh winter.
Gentlemen, checkout guiltlessly with that new jacket and order those new headlights you’ve been wanting for your car.
Enroll yourself in that crossfit class and most importantly, love thyself.
Reinvention begins with the confidence of feeling good from within but is not just that. With the hustle and bustle of life, practicing sound time management and organizational behaviors are crucial to maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
Here are seven key steps from Kay Flowers, director of academic programs at Idaho State University’s Student Success Center:
1. Start a weekly planner.
A weekly planner lets you consolidate where your time is going. Begin by allocating time for the things you have to do, namely attending classes, studying and getting sufficient sleep. From here, the empty spaces in your planner indicate time for personal and leisure activities that you want to engage in. Flowers said people often spend so much time on the things they want to do that the things they have to do are neglected. These neglected duties are then catered to at the expense of sleep.
2. Don’t compromise on sleep.
Flowers said that findings related to the importance of sleep are ongoing. Unfortunately, college students are common victims of sleep deprivation. According to Flowers, memories consolidate during sleep but this isn’t all. Individuals who get an ideal eight hours of sleep also tend be calmer, healthier and in better physical shape because of the retuning of the immune system that takes place. Flowers added that recent studies have also shown that sleep can help put off Alzheimer’s as it helps to “clean” the brain.
3. Take it on the go.
According to Flowers, the ratio of number of credits a person takes to the hours spent studying should be 1:2. A three-credit course would essentially require six hours of studying per week. This doesn’t have to be done all at once or in the humble confines of your home. Notes and key points can often be copied on to notecards and taken on the go. This allows for the little spaces of accidental down time we encounter to be made more productive.
4. Free yourself.
Flowers said her colleagues at the Student Success Center often marvel at the positive effects of proper breathing. According to the American Medical Student Association, proper and deep breathing techniques, along with good posture, can have positive effects on an individual’s mood and the overall health of the body. Exercise can also help reduce stress, as it helps to reduce stress hormones in the body. Flowers said, “the runner’s high is not a fable.” Additionally, options are always available. A failed test isn’t the end, and can often probe individuals to contend with routes of possibly rethinking their major or getting tutoring options.
5. Mind over matter.
Time management and organization are intricately tied to how we have come to understand the human mind and memory patterns. Spending time studying a subject should be limited to two hours with breaks taken between each hour. Any further studying done after these two hours should be accompanied with a change of subject. This switch helps individuals overcome the effects of feeling overwhelmed over a specific subject. It also allows for the training of a different part of the brain, according to Flowers. This allows for deeper understanding and retention of studied material.
6. Academic organization.
Organization should start early into the semester. Consolidate syllabi for classes and record important dates at the beginning of the semester, advises Flowers. Organization methods are available for both people who rely heavily on technology and for the not-so-technologically-savvy individuals. Whatever your cup of tea may be, recorded awareness of important due dates allows for better time allocation and prioritization.
7. The art of organization.
Organizing, while rewarding, can sometimes be a chore. What if you could make it look appealing? Try using cardboard cylinders and circles of various diameters and mounting them together on a section of your bedroom wall. This can allow for the storage of the little, scattered items you might need when you’re on a time crunch to get to class in the mornings. This may include keys, gloves, scarves or socks.
So for 2014, don’t shortchange yourself on what you already know. Venture out into the pool of opportunities to learn. Find that internal desire to revamp your study methods, stay organized and keep a healthy state of mind this year.
