@Greatwolfman
I'm back to the trenches *I promised to write an article about my difficulty trying to balance my private and social life with my academics. As a student, this is really common. I had a chat with* @Venvie *yesterday and she helped me see things more clearly. I didn't publish any articles yesterday because I wanted to take my time to make proper plans before I can pursue them, and I think I just did.* The **secret** to every great endeavor lies with **good planning**, and of course the **brain and patience to execute them**. I will be sharing a few tips. The holidays are over and now the semester has to continue. 2022 is going to mark the year I go for my Internship and also enter my final year in college. I shouldn't feel pressured but I am. So I decided to take a step back to analyze my goals for the year and make a plan to achieve these goals.
[Image Source] The title "*Back to the trenches*" is a metaphorical expression to mean my return back to school. I could hear the mosquitoes singing with join as I walked into the room, they must have been overjoyed by my presence. The fan had stopped working just before the holidays, nothing had changed about it because the electrician was also absent. I couldn't even sleep last night because of the heat. Indeed, I was back to the "trenches". Now that I've settled down, we can get right to it. Step 1 - Outline the goals you want to achieve I had to place them in the order of their priority but you can do yours the way that suits you best. Since my priority right now is my academics, it was at the top of the list, my social life is still in ruins though but I'm sure I can still manage so it dropped to the bottom of the list. Step 2- I created a TimeTable
[Image Source] I had to create a reading plan that would enable me to attend lectures among other functions and still be able to catch up with things taught in class. It was easy setting this up, and I tried not to be too biased in creating less time for studies and more time to chill. Achieving a perfect balance is impossible when it comes to planning but at least there is a base to work with Step 3 - Following **through** with the plan The easy part is laying out plans, the difficult part is actually following through with them. I've made a lot of plans that I ended up leaving behind and just winging it and even though things got complicated, I was able to figure it out along the way. This time I plan to make use of a "***Reward-Punishment***" system to motivate myself. It took me a while to come up with the most effective way to execute this system but I think I finally found it. ****The "Reward-Punishment" system.**** This system has been used to train the mind to function in a particular way, it works exceptionally with pets and they are not even as intelligent as we are so why not apply it to ourselves. The system is quite easy, when you successfully complete each task, you get a reward, and when you don't, you get punished. I chose my favorite meal **(Spaghetti and Turkey)** as my reward for completing each task successfully for the week. Failure to do that would mean I don't get to taste this wonderful delicacy and I will have to cover up the tasks I left out the following week or the punishment continues. Conclusion Now that the plan has been set into motion, the next agenda is to monitor the progress. The good thing about setting out plans is that sense of purpose and direction. Exactly what I need to reduce the pressure and give my body room to balance and function optionally. In the end, I know everything will be alright Lead Image Source: **Unsplash free images**
26 comments
I'm actually fond of creating a to-do list on my laptop before bed each night as I don't like doing things blindly and without a direction.
That's very helpful
The reward system serves its purpose well. It's great to have an accountability partner. It drive us more to do what we've set out. My mum is my partner. She'll be getting 4k if I don't completely do all I've set out this month and me I don't want to lose any 4k lol so I work some more.
4k is too much but it's a good motivator all the same
You think? More money = More pain of the possibility of losing = very high probability of accomplishing.
Yeah dear the steps you discribed really they effect a lot i believe on if we create a good timetable or then stay with it and do work on it then we can achieve every thing in our life,Timetable and our action shows in how much water we are
Wonderful Greatwolfman, I wish you success and hope you achieve your intended goals.
Thank you, I hope so too
I wish you more success in your life so that you can share to it to everybody 🤗
Yes, I will make a weekly review on it
I make mess while I make list of what to do and what not to.
You can ask for external help from a non-biased party, it would help.
It's always better when you came up with a plan and you executed it the way you wanted. I always create schedule in my mind on what to do but I often messed up because of my laziness to make it happen.
At least now you know the cause, so you know exactly what you need to do to solve this issue.
Do not forget to give yourself some rest. My study is also my priority for this year and was hoping that I could somehow ace it.
I gave allowance for resting, I'm.not a robot, without rest, I would break down
This is a great plan though, I will do like this.
What a good write up about your plan, It's always better when you devised a strategy and carried it out exactly how you intended. I constantly build a timetable in my head of what I want to do, but I frequently forget about it due to my inability to follow through.
Then I advice to practice the Reward-Punishment technique
It shows signs of intelligence seeing people organizing their goals to achieve. However, working hard towards achieving them is necessary.
Yes, it involves a lot of hard work
I always want to work according to the plan. But it never happens. Nice to hear from you, and I hope you can.
Returning back there is not the end cause one day you would bid there a farewell forever. I also try to balance every thing in my life
Splendid and high end to-do list.. I try making plans also but I always flunk them .... I will try adopting this Reward Punishment system and see where it leads me
Having your goals laid out is a very good way of organizing yourself and activities. Through that, achieving success becomes easier and straightforward than they seem.
Yeah brother before entering college, I thought it was all going to be easy. But know I have being daily exposed to the imbalance as much as I try to make stuffs be balanced. I know it is only a matter of time, but man it isn't easy at all.