1/100 Days of Productivity

Reading a case study

It seemed perfectly fitting to start the 100 Days of Productivity Challenge. I had seen so many of my fellow studyblrs take on the challenge and it seemed to make them all more aware of the amount of work they got done and how they went about it. These were two things I definitely felt I needed to hone in on. It was also daunting and exciting that I would be held accountable for 100 days. While I have chosen not to make them 100 consecutive days, the significance and the impact these days have had on my life have not been diminished. As someone who strives for academic success, but who struggles with motivation and self-doubt, I could have just as easily said that this task was too hard to take on.

What I seem to have forgotten is that it is absolutely okay to have a lack of motivation and self-doubt.

It seems counter-intuitive, doesn't it? When has anyone ever directly admitted to their weaknesses, their shortcomings, in order to achieve success? However, we all should. Most people don't tell us that those "negative" feelings are normal; even more so, necessary to address and be held accountable for when in search of the efficient and successful path(s) toward your goal, or goals.

Logic and Philosophy workings...

Failure can and will happen at least once in your life (for those of you that think you're infallible). Failure is a reality I am very familiar with. I say that with a certain sense of pride. While, yes, I have more potential than that, and, yes, I perfectly capable of having a good academic track-record (or at the very least, just better than the one I've had), that has not been how my decisions have paved the way toward my goals. You see, two things that must be outlined in those thoughts.

1. Acknowledging your strengths
2. Taking responsibilities for your faults

It is highly crucial to constitute both those in order to move along your path. Without those two working together, interdependently, then it becomes extremely difficult to walk most of the time along your path. You will find yourself just sort of tripping, crawling, and panting your way through, and, let's face it: life is hard as is, no need to make it any harder on us than it has to be.

Take the class from which the picture above is taken from: Philosophy & Logic. Firstly, I went into this class thinking it would be more about philosophy than logic. I never thought it would have this "equation" formatting for reasoning your way through philosophical questions. This class was teaching us that math was really everywhere. Someone decided they wanted to be able to prove verbal arguments in some mathematical way. Always interesting. I was overwhelmed 3 or 4 classes in. I felt, however, and was aware that I was drowning in a cup of water. I understood that part of that feeling was caused my utter un-enthusiasm in class and my lack of effort to work past confusion and sort of waiting to catch some sort of break I could consider "masterization" of the material. It sounds utterly pathetic, now that I write it. I also know that I was probably better of actually working at the class. My response was dictated by my fixed mentality (I'll be referring to this term in other posts as well, you can here Dr. Carol Dweck give a TEDTalk on this concept here and here). One of the problems with a fixed mentality is that we really don't take challenges in stride. We see challenges, not as potential for new or better understanding, but as a challenge to our intelligence.

However, it is absolutely possible to change mentality. For me, the 100 Days of Productivity Challenge was absolutely a way to change that mentality. I have not regretted it... yet (this joke will make sense once you see the linked videos above lol).

And, I'm happy that I'll be on this journey with all of you right there by me :)

So, Day 1 was Tuesday, October 20, 2015. Here it began.

Bullet Journal: Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Stick To What You Say You Will Do

Hello everyone! We are back for Motivation Monday ♥

Today, we'll be tackling sticking to whatever you plan to do. This is a problem that I have myself. This problem is also one very closely related to consistency.

The solution is quite simple: JUST GET STARTED.

Now, you may be thinking, "But it's too hard," or, "I have no time." Fine then; let's dismember those excuses, since they are the most common.

The level of difficulty something has just requires you to modify the way that you tackle the problem or task at hand. For example, something along the lines of a project will require you to break the major task down into several smaller parts. In the case of a task being to clean your room, you could break that down into sections of the room or mini tasks like "put away clothing" or "place shoes back in boxes" or "file mail". This will make your major tasks much less daunting and much more satisfying as you check off each individual task. A smaller task that would require you to break it down further would be something like "go to the gym" or "check email".

Having or not having time is a matter of organizing your day in a way that lets you have a time for everything that needs to get done. The key words there are organizing and needs. This calls on our skill of prioritizing. I've said it before in some posts, but it only helps to be repetitive: taking up a time management method is the most efficient way to organize your time according to priorities. I have a preference for the Spiraldex method but there are tons of others out there (Tumblr has helped me see that) and they are all just a google search away. You could also develop one that works best for you.

However, these two excuses have the same starting point. JUST GET STARTED. That may mean siting at your desk or at the place where you study. Maybe it means picking up your pen and just beginning to write that article or novel you've been meaning to get to. Perhaps it means opening your textbook and beginning to read. Or, in the case of the room in need of cleaning or tidying up, it may mean that you start by picking up the pair of shoes that have been lying around your bedroom floor. 

I like to write down the tasks I have to do as they come or at the end of the day, when I can write a note to do with each task, if need be. The perfect system for me then is the Bullet Journal.

Here is what my current week looks like:

Finding the tools to make sure you keep track of your progress is probably the most arduous part. However, you don't need a Bullet Journal to get your tasks started. A Bullet Journal can come up later, once you've gotten your practice moving through your tasks at hand. A Bullet Journal is just something to look forward to.

For now, JUST GET STARTED ♥

Don't Let Yourself Mentally Block Yourself

I know some of you will probably read the title and ask, "What the heck?"

To those of us who know exactly what that means, we know it also happens more often than we care to admit; starting with me.

That's why I had to share an amazing experience I had just yesterday, Monday. Which will lead into a big announcement... but first thing's first.

I’m taking a class called Logic & Philosophy and it’s proving to be a major challenge for me especially since it has nothing to do with my career path. Abnormal Psychology has also been a challenge, but I've been able to justify losing nights of sleep over that class because it's within my field of study. However, that is not the case with Logic & Philosophy. 

I have felt myself mentally blocking myself when it comes to this class. I was unable to attend our only two hour session last week (the other hour of the class is composed of online assignments which I have been ACTIVELY and PURPOSEFULLY neglecting). I’m admitting that because it forces me to take any responsibility for any consequence that can come thereafter. So, I walked in to class a little early, I began to settle down... I also began to freak out and panic. I was well aware I was rapidly falling behind and I knew that, to some extent, I was going to be lost. I just felt it.

Truth be told, lost didn’t even begin to encompass the depth of the complete disorientation I was feeling in the first hour of the class. It felt as if the professor was just blabbing a string of words that had absolutely no meaning to me, whatsoever. It was almost as if he was speaking a different language. I could feel the walls closing in on me. I could feel myself willing the walls to block incoming information.

He's speaking too fast. You're recording the class, you may as well check out now and figure it out later. You can't understand him, might as well stop trying to because you're not going to get it now. Don't bother approaching him about your struggles, you're gonna make yourself look like an idiot.

That is the kind of string of thought that was going through my mind throughout the first third of the class. The mind can be your biggest bully as well as your saving grace. I was compelled to follow the rationale of my bully of a mind and just not even try. However, I saw that I had NOTHING TO LOSE in trying. That's important. You can only gain understanding if you feel yourself stuck at zero for whatever reason. You, literally, have nothing to lose. 

Therefore...

I FOUGHT FOR THOSE WALLS TO STAY THE HECK OPEN!

I was not about to check out, especially since the professor kept repeating that the truth tables we were working through were going to be essential to everything else we will be doing in the course.

I willed myself to not block all the negativity out and, instead, try to understand the material; and what-d-ya-know, I got it in the end. The second hour, I could grasp a hell-of-a-lot better what he was saying in the first half of the class. I was even giving him answers. I felt so proud of myself.

This goes to show that you can do it, too, if you really set your mind to success mode and fight back when your mind wants to check out. 

DON’T CHECK OUT BECAUSE THE SATISFACTION YOU FEEL IS LIKE NONE OTHER.

And now on to the huge announcement...

The first Monday of every month, like yesterday, I will be posting a blog post intended to motivate you to get done what you thought you could not. Sometimes, they'll include personal tie-ins and sometimes they won't. Either way, they are assured to give you the extra umph you may have been looking forward to.

So, join me every first Monday of the month to see what's in store :)