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  • Confessions of a Procrastination Junkie

    Confessions of a Procrastination Junkie

    You may be reading this as the clock ticks down on the deadline for that essay. Here you are again, desperately typing away to reach the minimum word count, while frequently taking short breaks to keep your mind from frazzling. Rest assured that many others face similar plights daily. So many, have fallen into the trap of putting things off until tomorrow again and again until there is no tomorrow and the midnight deadline fast approaches.

    As a teacher, I have spoken with many students who waited until the night before, morning of, or even the minutes prior to class in order to complete their assignment. On multiple occasions, I have watched students on one end of the classroom scurry to complete their work as I start collecting papers from the other side. It is a habit, and a widespread one. I think the only way to beat it is to take the wording a step further. Procrastination is an addiction.

    We are addicted to the immediate gains of putting off work. It means we get to relax in the immediate moment, and that gives us a short-term pleasure boost. Giving in to short-term gain for long-term suffering is not all that different from drug use. Eventually, habits become subconscious and we act without fully realizing our actions. In order to beat any problem, we have to accept it as a problem. Yet we also have to accept the reasons why we do it – we have to find the good in our addiction.

    Aside from that short-term burst of endorphins, students often speak of their love of pressure. Many of us think that the pressure of a deadline pushes us to work harder and produce a better end product. Time and time again, experiments have shown that humans make worse decisions when under pressure. Many people think that pressure drives results, but it does so at a cost.

    This ties into one last cause of procrastination I have seen, not only in students but in myself. After much deliberation, I realized that I put things off as a protective measure. By waiting until the last minute, you are physically incapable of giving a task your all. I realized I gave myself no choice but to rush. If the task ultimately failed, I could put the blame on my procrastination. I preferred thinking I could have done better over giving it my all, failing, and discovering my limits. I became addicted to this safety net which coddled me.

    Beating an addiction means fully analyzing it. You need to make sense of why you procrastinate, and from there determine the value and damage that results from it. Only then can you see its addictive nature, its misleading positives, and the hindrance it places on your potential. By facing those realities instead of a clock ticking down to midnight, you can take action now.

    Sources:

    Pychyl, Tomothy. I’ll Feel More Like It Tomorrow. https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/dont-delay/201203/ill-feel-more-it-tomorrow

  • School to Work

    School to Work

    Whether you plan to go to college or university, or you want to get right into the workplace after high school, there is co-operative education, internship, and apprenticeship programs all designed to aid students in making the transition from school to the workforce.

    Co-operative Education programs are available at the secondary and post-secondary levels. High school co-ops earn you credits toward your high school diploma, and provide you with first-hand experience in a potential career. Skills learned through a co-op also help to build up your resume, which will help you with future schooling or job applications. Check with your guidance counsellor to arrange a co-op program. Usually a teacher must monitor these programs, and provide a study curriculum related to your co-op work placement.

    Post-secondary co-op programs exist through many of Canada’s universities and colleges. These offer an educational experience combining work placements and academic studies. These tend to be complete degree or diploma programs, requiring formal enrollment in the program the same as any other college or university degree. Co-op programs may take longer to complete than a standard degree, since the work placements are interspersed between your class semesters. These programs are a great way to get hands-on experience in your chosen field, which will give you a competitive edge when applying for jobs after graduation.

    Internships operate a bit differently than a co-op. Many internships are posted, and applied for, in the same way regular jobs are: you need to apply with a resume and cover letter, perform an interview, and get hired for the position. Internships are great for students and recent graduates because you have a chance to work at a job to see if it is right for you, without committing to a permanent position, since most internships are only a few months or a year in length. Also, more awareness of un-paid internships is being recognized and in the future, laws may change to benefit the intern more than the corporation they are working at. When you become an intern, make sure you are getting what you deserve and want out of the internship; it needs to benefit the next step in your career path. There are too many grads walking around busting their backs for companies that do not pay them, or don’t pay them enough.

    Lastly, if you plan to go into one of the skilled trades, an apprenticeship is the way to go. Apprenticeships differ from co-ops and internships in that most of your learning takes place as a paid working apprentice, where you learn on the job in order to develop and refine the technical skills specific to that particular trade. Only a small part of an apprenticeship is comprised of class time, usually taking place at a technical school, union training centre, or through online study. You do have to register with your local or provincial apprenticeship office, who will help you track your hours, inform you of grants to help pay for your apprenticeship, and assist you in obtaining your professional certifications.

    While asking your school guidance department, and family or friends, are good places to start your search for a co-op, internship, or apprenticeship, there are also a number of online resources dedicated to helping Canadian students connect with these opportunities.

    Sources:

    Canadian Association for Co-operative Education

    http://www.cafce.ca/

    Public Service Commission of Canada – Post Secondary Co-op and Internship Program

    www.cappa.ca/index.php/en/students/post-secondary-co-op-internship-program

    Careers in Trades

    http://www.careersintrades.ca/

    Government of Canada Services for Youth

    www.youth.gc.ca/eng/topics/career_planning/coop.shtml

     

  • The Importance of Finding Peace Within

    The Importance of Finding Peace Within

    Finding peace within is sometimes a mysterious topic. One may often wonder what it even means within the hustle and bustle of daily life; is it possible? Can it ever be achieved? We are overloaded with a seemingly endless to do list and people to please. Being aware of not feeling at peace can be a motivation to find it again, and to overcome the challenges that are presented to us.

    The first question for overcoming the feeling of being ill at ease is to identify why you feel ill at ease. Perhaps your to do list has not been worked on and is becoming quite frightening, or perhaps the problem is with the to do list itself. Maybe the thought of everything on that list gives you no satisfaction at all. If the problem is that you have not done any work on your to do list in a long time, the solution may be very simple; break the list down into smaller steps. For example: If you have a presentation due on the topic of women’s rights in Canada, you might want to break the project down into doing an introduction on day 1, the body of the presentation on day 2, and the conclusion of the presentation on day 3. Doing this with the various items on your to do list will help to make things less scary, and more approachable.

    On the other hand, if your to do list is filled with things that are not rewarding, then you may need to conduct an evaluation of your goals and desired end results for your various pursuits. Sometimes we avoid doing work because we do not truly care anymore about the results. For example, if I want to get a high school diploma, I will go to class and do the homework and act generally respectful of those around me in order to facilitate my success. If you do not want a high school diploma anymore, you may consider dropping some of the items off your to do list. In this case, I would recommend speaking with a guidance counselor who may be able to re-light the motivation to complete the diploma. If you are knocking off things on your to do list, you are closer to achieving the goals you originally set out for yourself. The question is how you can regain a sense of inner peace amid seemingly random, negative emotions?

    There are many strategies for regaining peace within:

    • Take some time to reflect upon all of the things that you are grateful for.
    • Do some meditation or conduct concentrated moments of silence.
    • Talk with a friend about positive things in your life.
    • Get a little exercise to increase your brain’s natural feel good chemicals.
    • Do some yoga, or engage in an activity that makes you feel good.

    Finding peace within is something that is always in your control. You are always able to regain it; it just takes some investigating to find solutions that will work for you. Good luck!

  • Managing Your School and Life Schedule

    Managing Your School and Life Schedule

    People of all ages have routines. For young children, these routines are usually set by their parents or other caregivers. As they grow up, they have increasing amounts of responsibility for organizing their own lives. For some people, maintaining a balance between work or school and everyday life can be a challenge as they take on new responsibilities and try to manage the old ones. Are you already feeling pressured by all of the things you have to do? You might not be able to eliminate the stress from your life, but you can learn to balance your school work with the rest of your life.

    Are you the kind of person who likes to be busy all the time? Do you fill your after-school hours with as many activities as you can manage? Or are you the kind of person who likes to have a lot of free time? Either way, you might have a hard time (or an easy time) finding a balance between school and the rest of your life. You might feel stressed and overwhelmed to the point where you think that you can no longer manage. When that happens, what do you do?

    Almost everyone feels stressed at some point. For people who love to keep themselves busy with all kinds of projects, it might be when they take on too much to handle effectively. For people who try to avoid stress, it could be when an unexpected task cuts into their precious free time. Everyone is different. Knowing your limits is the first step towards living a balanced life. Do you work well under pressure? If so, you might be able to take on a lot of activities outside school. On the other hand, does pressure cause you to crumble under it? If so, you should limit your after-school activities and give yourself enough free time to relax.

    Part of understanding your limits is learning how to use your time efficiently. For example, what do you do if you your teacher gives you class time to finish your work? Do you try to finish your assignment or do you spend the time doing something else? Doing as much work as possible at school will help you keep more time free in the evenings and on weekends. If you help with an after-school project, do you go to the meetings with all of the supplies you need? How much time could you save by being prepared for all of your activities? You can even use the time you spend in line or waiting for your friends at the mall to plan an assignment or to write down a schedule of activities for yourself.

    Even when they schedule their time efficiently, people can have trouble balancing work and the rest of life. However, you can still try. Find out what you have to do to keep yourself healthy and happy and then work from there. That way, you have a good chance of managing both school and everyday life.

  • Managing School and Everyday Life

    Managing School and Everyday Life

    If you’re finding it hard to balance school and everyday life, you’re not alone. Many students find it hard to balance the demands of school, extracurricular activities, part-time work, family responsibilities and social demands.

    But it’s an important skill to acquire and one you will use for the rest of your life. Being able to prioritize your education, activities and responsibilities will help you maintain happiness now and into the future. Prioritizing will also help you remember what’s important and what goals you are working towards.

    Here are a few tips to help you on your way to becoming a more well-rounded, balanced individual:

    –          Create a schedule and stick to it. Write down everything you need to do on a calendar or in a day planner. Make note of class assignments and tests, practices, meetings, work hours, or specific tasks your family asked you to complete. For instance, if your mom asked you to mow the lawn on Saturday then book time to do it. This will ensure you have established time to get everything done. It will also help you realize if you have overextended yourself and don’t have enough time to complete all your tasks.

    –          Try and complete your daily home work as soon as you get home from school. You’ll still be in the school mind set and, by getting it done right away, you’ll have the evening free to relax and do something fun.

    –          If you can work while listening to music you should do it. Listening to music (on low) can make you work faster and make whatever it is you have to get done much more enjoyable.

    –          Don’t watch TV, text your friends, check Facebook and Twitter and clean out your email while you’re in the process of doing school assignments, household chore,s etc. If you do, you’ll seriously extend the amount of time it takes to get the job done.

    –          If you take the bus, use the time to read or review for a test. This will cut down on the amount of time you’ll have to spend doing homework. You could also do some during lunch or a free period.

    –          Make sure you are realistic about what you can accomplish in the run of a day. Set goals that are attainable. Successfully completing your “to-do list” each day will increase your confidence and alleviate negative thoughts and anxiety.

    –          Don’t over extend yourself with too many extracurricular activities. One person can’t complete all of their school work, be in a band, play soccer, rugby, basketball and volleyball, be on the student council and debate team, volunteer at the animal shelter, work part time at the grocery store, babysit their kid brother, go to the movies with their best friends and spend three hours a day talking to their boyfriend/girlfriend. Certain things need to be done, like school work and chores. Other things will help you get to where you want to be in the future. The rest of the stuff can wait until you have free time to enjoy them.

    –          Look for apps that can help you,  such as flash cards, organizing and scheduling apps, exercise/nutrition apps, scientific calculator apps, dictionary and thesaurus apps and a really annoying alarm that ensure you wake up on time.

    –          Be prepared. Get all of your stuff ready the night before. Get out your clothes for school. Make your lunch. Pack your uniform if you have an after school practice or if you have to work. Being prepared will make you less overwhelmed and more ready to take on the next day.

    The main thing is to stay organized and have a clear picture of what it is you are working towards. Sure, everyone wants to be able to do whatever they want whenever they want to, but sadly that just isn’t realistic. Try to remember what it really is you want to do, and if you find you’ve spread yourself too thin try talking to a parent or teacher. They may be able to help you review your schedule and see if there are areas you can cut back on or some activities you can cut out until your work load isn’t quite as heavy.

  • Time Management: Making the Best of What You Have

    Time Management: Making the Best of What You Have

    Do you ever feel that you have too much to do and too little time to do it? Besides going to school every day, you might have swimming or music lessons, sports team practices, chores at home, and much more. How can you get everything done without wearing yourself out? For people of any age, the best way to deal with a busy schedule is through good time management.

    As the name says, time management is about learning to organize and manage activities throughout the day. The first step is to separate the very important activities from the less important ones and the things that you can change from the things that you can’t. Going to school or work, for example, is something that people usually can’t change. They might be able to find an easier job or a school that gives less homework, but they can’t normally eliminate it entirely. Sleep is another unchangeable part of life; whether people sleep for five hours a night or ten hours, everyone needs to rest.

    What are the parts of your life that you can’t change? You might be surprised to find that the list of necessary activities is quite short. After you separate the necessary activities from the optional ones, you can find ways to manage your time better. You can try to cut down on activities like being in clubs or watching television if they make your life too full. Working better and more efficiently can also help a lot.

    The most important part of time management is to decide what level of activity you enjoy. Some people can manage to fit a lot of activities into the day, but the danger is that they might do too much. Other people need a much slower pace, and they easily become overwhelmed by any pressure. Both kinds of people can be perfectionists who think that they have to get everything exactly right. Trying to do everything well can be good, but can also put a lot of pressure on people to accomplish more than they are able to do. Often, a heavy schedule and high expectations cause mental breakdowns in very busy people.

    Knowing yourself and how you use your time can make time management easier. The best place to begin is to record everything you do on an average day, or even a week, and to see how you organize yourself and your work. You might find a lot of short periods of time, such as between school and supper, when you can quickly finish a project. Writing out a schedule can help you to find much more time than you might have realized you had. Creating lists of things that need to be done and knowing why they’re important can help you with your priorities, and learning to say “no” to people’s requests can be useful. Whether you love to be busy or not, good time management can help you get through each day.

  • Practicing Time Management

    Practicing Time Management

    Time management is a problem for many people because there are so many distractions in our day-to-day lives that can interfere with whatever goals we have to accomplish that day, week or year. Often we can have a to-do list, but none of the items end up getting done because we get caught up in doing everything but what we are supposed to be doing. Sometimes, when there is too much to do, we feel especially challenged to make the most of our time. When we are short on time and have a lot to do, we must learn to prioritize.

    This means cutting off some of the less important things and focusing our energy on accomplishing what is the most important. Making lists that order your tasks from most important to least important is a really good trick that can save time and keep you on track. The worst scenario, when short on time, is wasting your energy worrying about everything that you have to do. What you want to do is get down to work as soon as possible, as soon as you are finished drawing out what it is that you are needing to get done.

    If, for example, you have 5 assignments that need to get done, focusing on the assignment that is due next week is more important than focusing on the assignment that is due in two months. You may want to create a short list of the tasks that you want to get done and order them by nearest date to farthest date. Think about how long it will take you to accomplish each one of the tasks, and jot this down next to the due date. Create a schedule for when you will start working on the task and how much time you will devote to it. By doing this, you are assuring that you will not forget about one project in favor of focusing on another or getting distracted entirely.

    If you are really crunched for time, you may also want to include what grade you are expecting to get on each one of the assignments so that you can put a little more time and care into the ones that will mean more to get a good mark on. In this way you will not be wasting your time doing too much research on an assignment for which a good grade will not mean much to you, or for which the overall weighting of the assignment is minimal.

    One last way of practicing good time management is to avoid procrastinating. Often, if we have a lot to do, we may be tempted to do anything but what it is that we are supposed to be doing. This is a natural tendency and we all do it at some point. The important thing to remember is that facing your challenge head on will actually facilitate the task and make it that much easier to complete. By making a list and prioritizing what is the most important (and the least important), we face the challenge head on and avoid procrastinating.

  • Time Management Skills

    Time Management Skills

    At the end of the day, time management is going to be one of the chief challenges you face and one of the most valuable skills you develop throughout your post-secondary education. Though university and college is not the first time we’ve had to deal with time restraints, the increased focus on independent study and, for many students, the presence of a part-time job completely redefines how we appreciate and organize our schedules.

    A common joke you’ll hear in your post-secondary education is: “good grades, proper sleep, a social life: choose two.” This isn’t far from the truth! Though you are more than capable of doing all three, as well as hobbies, extra-curricular activities and jobs, many students are shocked by the time requirements called for in both university and college.

    For many this is made even more difficult by going away for school. For the first time you are solely responsible for getting up in the morning, organizing your meals and ensuring that you are capable of staying on top of your workload. It can be hard but it is possible! Developing your time management requires the growth of your individual organizational and prioritizing abilities, as well as sometimes forcing adjustments to certain study habits which may not function as well as they can or should.

    By the end of your degree I promise you’ll be laughing at your younger self, running around and stressing about first-year worries. Until then, let me try and give you some tips to help effectively organize your time:

    i) Design a class schedule around your own sleep pattern. Some of us are night owls, some are early birds. If you are like me and struggle to wake up for early classes, let alone study during that period, don’t be afraid to try and sign up for those 10:00 classes rather than the 8:30 ones.
    ii) Breaks are important. Some will make the argument that it is better to work through everything and, if it works for you, great. If not, accept well-deserved breaks as they come to you. If possible, do something that takes you out of the library or your room – a walk around the block? A jog? If not, try and do something with a clear start and finish. Watch an episode of a television show with the clear 21-minute end and don’t get lost on the internet only to look at the clock again two hours later.
    iii) Sleep is essential! Some cope with the time restraints by cutting back on their sleep schedules and for many we can afford to do this while maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Be careful, though, as it can be a slippery slope. Sometimes it’s better to sleep that extra hour than stare listlessly at the computer all morning trying to wake yourself up.

    Just make sure to be careful with your time and make the most of it. In the end you’ll be able to handle your time constraints with no problem!

  • Taking Time to Make Time

    Taking Time to Make Time

    School will be back in session in a few short weeks and will bring with it homework, exams, sports, and fun with friends. For many of you, summer vacation will be over and it is going to get busy!

    When life gets busy, it is really easy to procrastinate. Going out with friends or playing sports is more fun than writing that biology report. I was the student who socialized during spare, cheered on the sidelines at sports games, went out for pizza and then stayed up until 2:00 am to finish that report on time. This was a really fun way to spend my high school days but led to alot of stress because it seemed like there wasn’t enough time in the day to fit it all in!

    The reality was that I had zero time-management skills and very little discipline. Discipline? Management?  Those are scary words. However it is those same two words that will hopefully allow you to spend more time with your friends, more time sleeping and less time worrying.

    For example, time-management in high school can be as easy as dedicating one hour after school or during your spare to finish your homework. For instance, that five-paragraph essay that is assigned the second day of classes and is not due until three weeks later? Instead of leaving it until the night before, try and tackle one paragraph a day. Work hard on each paragraph ,and stop when you have completed it then move on to your next task or relax and know that you have done a good job. Five days later ,you will have five paragraphs and plenty of time to edit with two weeks to spare and there won’t be an eight-hour marathon session the night before the paper is due. You will get more sleep, not to mention you will have plenty of stress-free time to hang out with friends, play sports, practice music, or do whatever you find fun.

    It will take discipline to stick to this routine. Discipline, in this sense, is not really about restriction, but more about applying yourself so that you have freedom. There will be times when you want to come home and sleep, watch television or go on Facebook. There will also be times when the routine you have established gets messed up. It will take discipline not to procrastinate, but that same discipline will allow you to have more time to do the things you love. Plus, the time you spend after finishing your task will be guilt-free because you know that you have worked hard and accomplished what needed to be done. Another bonus is that Mom and Dad won’t be on your case all the time to finish your homework either!

    If you are a perpetual procrastinator like I was, try this strategy out; it takes practice and there will still be times when things get left to the last minute. After all, life is not perfect. That said, with practice, it does get easier, and the benefit of living a balanced lifestyle and implementing these habits of time-management and discipline now will really benefit you in the long run.