I have been told I am a very organized and objective person, and I think today’s blog will showcase that. Being organized and objective is a defense mechanism from the stress of school—I work hard, do my due diligence, and time passes somewhat smoothly.
Today, we will be reviewing my school semester thus far, and how I am managing—and maybe how you can manage, too.
I have 6 classes: 3 applied math courses, 1 engineering design course, 1 engineering communications/seminar course, and 1 electrical engineering course. I am also co-chair of a Smith Commerce club that consists of 35 members and entails several other responsibilities.
My goals for this year: get a >3.5 GPA (to have dinner with Dean Deluzio) and run my club successfully so that it improves year-over-year.
- Week 1: Things are good, I am attending all my classes. I’ve taken note of which classes have midterms, tests, and assignments due, and written down all due dates in my calendar. My club has first-year hiring so I am attending orientation fairs and other events to recruit new members.
- Week 2: Assignments are released, to be submitted in Week 4! I start them now and still feel pretty good about my free time.
- Week 3: I notice I have a test on Thursday of Week 4. Additionally, we are interviewing all candidates for our club in Week 4, meaning that all my evenings will be busy. To prepare, I try to finish all my assignments and start studying early for my test. I also procrastinate by writing an article in Golden Words.
- Week 4: I interview candidates every single day for at least 2-4 hours. I miss a couple of 8:30 lectures because I stayed up too late to finish my assignments. I skip some classes to study for my test. The test went okay—not bad, but not perfect. It’s a brutal week.
- Upcoming week 5: I have a math test and report proposal draft due on Wednesday, and final report due on Sunday. It’s another grind week.
When I reflect upon the past month, I know that it has been undeniably tough. I am not burnt out, but I recognize that I’m at my upper bound on work capacity and anything more is crossing into dangerous territory. Here are the things I’ve been doing to survive:
- In terms of organization:
- Track deadlines, test dates, and weightings for each deliverable. I tend to look at my weekly calendar every day and check to see my deliverables for the next few weeks.
- I have an overall to-do list, and a subsection of daily tasks for the things I want to knock off each day. Could be things like “start studying for X class” or “finish Y assignment.” The daily to-do list is nicer than the overall list because it’s less overwhelming, and I only see the things I need to do that day as opposed to all.
- Prioritizing really is key. Even though I’d sometimes rather do an assignment for class A, I know that class B has a test coming up that takes priority because assignment A isn’t due for another few weeks. In that case, I might do one question for the assignment and then focus on studying for the test.
- Track deadlines, test dates, and weightings for each deliverable. I tend to look at my weekly calendar every day and check to see my deliverables for the next few weeks.
- In terms of eating healthy and sleeping:
- When I eat poorly and sleep poorly, my body feels it almost immediately. I’ve been trying my best to eat a balanced meal when I can, including carbs, protein, veggies and lots of fruit.
- I tend to get 7-8 hours of sleep per day, though I’m also teetering on the edge of dangerous territory for this one. I might need to keep a closer eye on my sleep schedule.
- When I eat poorly and sleep poorly, my body feels it almost immediately. I’ve been trying my best to eat a balanced meal when I can, including carbs, protein, veggies and lots of fruit.
I also have bad habits I need to shake off:
- My screentime ranges from 1.5 hours to 2.5 hours daily. I’m aiming to decrease it to 1 hour. No more doomscrolling on social media.
- Staying up late and not getting to my 8:30 AM classes. If I miss too many classes, then I am completely lost in the course material, which is not fantastic. I am still aiming to attend all my classes.
- Checking notifications for the sake of “keeping up.” This one is counterintuitive to being organized. I tend to check my notifications for updates on schoolwork, clubs, scheduling, etc. However, when I constantly check my notifications, I can’t maintain my deep work focus, and I end up being distracted. Thus, I’m going to try completely focusing on the task at hand for a certain amount of time before checking notifications (maybe bring back the Pomodoro method).
As you can see, I am being as objective as possible with my current schedule and responsibilities. Defense mechanism or not, it sure is handy. Things can be done and will be done! I will be okay! We will get through it! I know it will be tough, but I know everything will be okay, as it always has (knock on wood).
Liyi
Week 4 schedule
