Importance of using Google Calendar
I remember when I was in high school, I had different ideas about how a college student manages their time, but Google Calendar wasn’t one of them. Mike, head of the CAC at the time, of our first meeting, showed us how he uses Google Calendar (GC) for his meetings, I remember him sharing how useful GC was for organizing his time, so that week I decided to try it. After one week of organizing my EMU schedule, my stress was reduced by 50% because I was stressing over figuring out a way to look at my EMU Schedule with quick access, and Google Calendar was the solution. However, just because I had put my glasses on it, wasn’t the end of me working on my Google Calendar. I attended an Academic Success Center (ASC) presentation that taught me how to manage stress during midterms. They showed a student’s schedule, which had times for eating, work/ break times, and gym. Seeing this inspired me to do this in my schedule.
After the ACS Presentation, I decided to add Physical Health, Eating, and Break/Work Times to my schedule. Again, this wasn’t the end of my working on my GC because I remembered I shifted my Gym hours to one hour back, so I had more time to do homework during the afternoon and evening on Mondays, and Wednesdays. Then, I remember I shifted my lunchtime to one hour ahead because the cafeteria was too busy at the original time I had on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Overall, working on my GC was a long adventure because I had to learn what worked well and what didn’t work to balance Physical Health, Eating, and Break/Work Times; but it was worth the time put into it because I don’t stress on how I am going to spend time throughout the week, and weekend. Remember, if you are planning to work on your GC, have a mindset that changes will be continuous because you will shift around and cancel activities depending on how you want to spend your time through the week and weekend. If you need help with setting up a GC you can go to the EMU ASC Website, then, book a tutor on Time Management Skills.
Importance of managing assignment deadlines
I remember how I used to manage my assignments badly during my first year of high school, but in my second year, I learned a different idea of managing assignment deadlines. That year, I learned a different idea of Management Skills. Managing assignment deadlines in high school was managing homework from the longest to shortest without considering the deadlines, but once I got to college I noticed the importance of doing homework by deadlines. One day I had a ton of homework to do for many classes that involved readings, writing, and reflection work, and their deadlines were tight; so I missed the deadlines for one of the writing assignments, and learned the lesson when doing my my to-do list, to prioritize the earliest to the latest deadline. It doesn’t matter how hard or easy the homework is, you don’t want to be seen as irresponsible by the teacher. Starting a to-do list is a way to practice managing assignment deadlines skills because it is organizing homework to do by prioritization so that you don’t forget throughout a busy day, and to reduce stress by not keeping it on your mind. If you need help with more strategies, as I mentioned before you can go to the EMU ASC website, and then, book a tutor on Time Management Skills.
Importance of using a Journal and Small Books
I learned to journal my thoughts by looking at a friend who carries around her journal to church and sometimes writes outside when the weather is warm. I realized how less stressed she is throughout her day because she told me how she writes about her day, constantly every day to reduce her thoughts. Three weeks ago, I decided to make a routine to write out my thoughts in my journal, and even though some days there was nothing different I would still write it down. My first week of using a journal lowered my stress level mentally about keeping track of what happened throughout the day. I now call my journal “My Thoughts” because it includes anything that happens throughout my day.
If you are inspired to start journaling I recommend putting “What Changed Today?” and the date on top of the page. Then, drop one line so it looks nice, and start writing. After, to keep journaling as a routine, set yourself reminder apps, like TickTick, which I recommend because you don’t have to mark something, when you are not planning to do an activity, rather can put “Won’t do”, and it will cancel it.
As a very organized person, and filled with many ideas, I came up with the idea of using one small book for two related topics: studying and planning assignments. I remember when I didn’t have small books for different purposes before midterms, my days were more stressful on what book to write. That book now helps so much when I have to study for exams, and the planner when starting essays and report labs. For example, I used this book recently for writing my report lab, which made the process less stressful because I had a plan to work on small parts of it each day.
Remember, if you are inspired to have a small book consider using a small book to two related topics. For example, I have a second small book for brainstorming before writing anything, like an essay, a short writing assignment, and report labs. Afterward, this is the same book I use to write a personal to-do list of things I need to get done, which reduces my stress because I am not writing in my journal. If my journal is “My Thoughts” then, I call this second Small Book “My Brain” because it has all activities, if any, and a place to pour out my ideas before writing.
