Success At School

I love Friday’s! That gradual slowing down as you enter the weekend, the last piece of work you have to finish before you can call it a day, and the sense of relief you have when you realize that you have nothing to do for the next two days.

I like it when I can put down whatever I am doing on Friday afternoon and not have to pick it up until Monday morning. More so, I like not having to worry about work I should be doing over the weekend or in the upcoming week.

I’ve realized that the key to being able to take a weekend off is about closing the mental loops in your head. If you’re constantly thinking “I must email Chris about the assignment” or “I have that assignment due next week, but I can’t remember when” then you will never be able to switch off and enjoy the weekend.

To counter this, I find it useful to conduct a weekly review, last thing on a Friday afternoon.

The concept of conducting a weekly review is not a new thing nor is it anything earth-shattering. The essence of it is to bring together everything that has happened this week, look at everything you have to do next week. Then put it all into a system so that, when you return to your desk on Monday morning, you know exactly what you need to do. This will allow you (and your psyche) to take the weekend off.

I use a variation of a weekly review that was made well known by David Allen in his book Getting Things Done.

This is a somewhat condensed version:

1. Process Your Email Inbox.

That way you won’t spend your weekend wondering if you sent that email you were meant to and you won’t forget anything that you may need to do for next week.

This includes your facebook/myspace/bebo accounts. Anywhere you receive messages of importance.

2. Process Your Physical Inbox.

If you don’t have an actual ‘inbox,’ (they are actually really useful) this is anywhere you collect ’stuff’ during your week; lecture notes, research papers, cinema ticket stubs etc.

Throw out what you don’t need, file what you will need later, and write down any particular ‘next action’ that is involved with any item. For example the next action of a first draft of a research paper may be ‘Edit the first draft’

3. Check your schedule for the next week.

You never know how many assignments or meetings or projects can surprise you come Monday when you haven’t looked at your schedule.

Also write down any new dates on your calender that may result from the first two stages.

4. Check your Projects List.

It’s useful to keep a list of all the projects you are involved in. I have one for each of the courses I’m taking, one for extracurricular activities, one for this blog, and a couple of others.

When you review the list, pull out any next actions regarding that project. For example if you’ve got a group assignment due for a class next week, the next action may be ‘email group to arrange a meeting’

5. Check your next actions list.

A result of doing the above, alongside recording any ‘next actions’ throughout the week, will mean that you should have a list of things that need to be completed in order to move forward in your various projects and activities.

6. Draft your MIT’s for Monday

Out of this list of next actions, write down the two or three most important things you need to do on Monday. That way when you sit down on Monday morning you will know exactly what it is that you need to do.

The important thing of all of this isn’t so much the system, it’s the underlying principal. Which is to put an appropriate physical and mental stop on everything you are doing this week and be able to come back to it on Monday.

As a result of doing this, you should be able to finish what you are doing on Friday afternoon, switch off the computer and enjoy the weekend. Unless you’ve discovered an impending assignment due for Monday morning

What do you do to put an end to the busy week and enjoy the weekend? Leave a comment and let us know.

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Yesterday I wrote a post on finding joy in the small things of life. A cup of coffee, a nice sunset, your favorite song, that sort of thing.

I am very aware, however, that there is a flip side to the small things in life.

In one respect you can find great joy and peace from the small, simple things you experience on a daily basis. On the other hand, you can experience an equal amount of frustration and anger from them.

We are not talking about the major things here, rather those small, niggling things that really shouldn’t get to you; an untidy room mate, a nagging parent, a friend who is really driving you crazy. On their own, these issues probably don’t frustrate you too much. Put them together, however, and you begin to pull your hair out.

Everyone has those days when the small things really aggravate them. The key is what to do when this happens.

In my view there are three options for dealing with small, annoying events or people:

1. Do nothing and keep complaining.
2. Do nothing and suck it up.
3. Confront the issue.

Do Nothing and Keep Complaining

This is often the easiest way out. It’s a logical progression; Something happens, we get annoyed, we look for the nearest person who will listen (or maybe not) and then we unload. We rant and we rave, and then we do it some more.

We decide that the best way to deal with the situation is to unload our emotions, rather than deal with the issue directly.

I am guilty of this more than anyone I know. When something annoys me I look for the nearest person who will listen to me and then I rant. It’s a natural, healthy way to get something of my chest.

But it gets to a point when the ranting doesn’t help anymore. On the contrary, it gets to the stage when your verbal tirade just fuels your anger and leads to greater frustration.

The situation remains unresolved and you end up more annoyed.

Of the three alternatives, this is by far the least helpful. If this is your preferred method of dealing with things, chances are you spend a large amount of time in complete frustration.

Do Nothing but Suck it Up

An alternative is to ignore the problem but choose not to let it get to you. Instead you choose to have a “mind like water.” You refuse to let the issue cause more of a ’splash’ on your psyche than it should.

This is the best option to choose when the issue is so small that it doesn’t need to be confronted. To do so would make it a bigger deal than it needs to be.

When something irritates you, you should take a step back, get some perspective, take a deep breath, smile and dismiss the problem. This frees your mind and your emotions up to concentrate on much more important things.

Confront the Issue

There are times when the ’small’ things, if left unresolved, will build up into a much bigger issue. You know that the situation will continue to bother you until you find a resolution.

These are the times when you have to confront the issue, head on. You have to talk to the person involved. You have to proactively change the situation you are in.

Before you do this however, you should completely remove your emotions from the problem. You have to think about it in the most subjective way possible and you should approach it with a view to finding a win-win situation.

Once the situation is resolved, you will feel much better, your negative emotions will have dispersed and once again you can get back to focussing on those things that you really want to.

How do you deal with the annoying, small issues in life? Leave a comment and let us know.

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I haven’t written anything in a while. I’ve been busy recovering from jet-lag, food poisoning and a bad back sprain (why is it that bad things come in three?)

A result of my new found hypochondria is that I’ve fallen behind in some of the work I’ve been meaning to get through the past few weeks. Not severely, but bad enough for me to feel a little under pressure today.

About half way through the day I got to the point were I had had enough of writing about Industrial Relations in the Czech Republic and decided I needed a break.

I grabbed a book, headed to the nearest Starbucks and read, not for long, maybe half an hour or so. But it was what I needed. Sitting there, reading my book, drinking my coffee, I was able to take a moment and just enjoy what I was doing. I forgot about my impending assignments and found joy in such a simple thing. I took a deep breath, smiled and a weight lifted off my shoulders.

I was able to go back to work feeling refreshed and ready to go for another couple of hours.

No matter how busy your day is, take a minute to find joy in the simple things. A book, a song, the sun, a nice bit of scenery. Whatever it is that makes you smile. You’ll feel better for it all do and no doubt be more productive in whatever it is you are doing.