Hello,
In today’s post, we will be talking about how we can all improve our mental clarity.
Ok, we all made new year’s resolutions on taking a class or getting certified in a subject, or finally getting your bachelors or masters. You probably imagined how wonderful it would feel to have that certificate of achievement. However, now in the last few weeks of January, you are finding how difficult it is to achieve.
You come home from work tired and worn. The thought of even one minute of studying or doing anything productive is erased from your mind. All you want to do is to eat dinner and relax, and spend the rest of the evening either in front of the TV or surfing the internet. Then before you go to bed you feel guilty about not taking the time to accomplish your goals and promise yourself that you will do better tomorrow. Tomorrow comes and the same thing happens. This sound familiar?
We all have have the same amount of time in the day. The only difference between people who consistently accomplish their goals and those who don’t is that those who accomplish make a schedule and stick to it like glue. They also have learned some tricks in improving their mental clarity, so that when they come home, they can take at least an hour to do homework, and then spend the rest of the evening relaxing ( or, if they are really smart, finish the evening taking the steps to do what they love).
So today, we are going to learn some tips to improve our mental clarity to be able to accomplish our goals this year.
Ready? Lets begin.
- Avoid distraction. Sounds obvious, but when you come home from a long day at work, it is very easy to get distracted, and do other things than than what you want to do or need to do. So clear any distraction, turn on the recommended apps on your computer to block out distraction and get to work.
- Priorities tasks. Sometimes we come home from work and there is dinner to be prepared, housework to be done, not to mention laundry is piling up, and it feels overwhelming. So, making lists of what tasks are absolutely important for a productive evening. Ok, so class homework is first. Put it on the list and dedicate 30 minutes to an hour on it. Once done, then move on. Dinner, hopefully you can find easy recipes for this busy time that take 15 minutes to make and 30 minutes to bake. While dinner is baking, you can do some laundry, tidy your house, etc. Then anything after dinner is up to you (unless you are on a roll and find even more things to do and go to bed with a clear head and a happy heart).
- Time yourself. This is especially helpful in knowing you much time it takes you to do specific tasks, so you can allocate your time accordingly. This was extremely helpful to me when I was in college. I used to think it took me 2 hours to write up a paper ( I already outlined and did the research). However, if I timed myself, and actually didn’t have any distraction, it took usually and hour or and hour and a half to write. So I highly suggest you give this a try. There is something about having the seconds go by and knowing you will be out of time to get you motivated to do something to completion.
- Live healthily. Make sure you have or make a routine that you stick to. If you want to accomplish something and do it well, your body will need a good sleep and good fuel. I know it is tempting when you are busy, to buy take out and skip on sleep, but it will backfire on you eventually. So make sure to schedule yourself time to sleep, time to prepare healthy foods, and time to exercise. Part of the challenge in working and studying is finding the balance. And it is tough, sometimes very tough, but in four years ( if you are getting a bachelor’s) or two years or less ( if you are getting a Masters), it will be all over, and you will have learned that you can do anything you put your mind to and it will be so rewarding.
- Always keep you eye on the prize. This is especially important when it is one of those days when you feel it is not worth it to keep studying, saying no to social life, and having every minute of your free time dedicated to classes and studying. But if you keep your mind on the prize and the rewards of your hard work, then you will have energy to keep pushing though. Imagine yourself in that graduation gown, imagine yourself at your dream job, imagine speaking the language you have been studying fluently in your favorite country.
I hope these tips will help you in your studies and balancing working. Always remember that dreams will continue to be dreams, unless we have the motivation and courage to chase them and make them reality.
Happy Monday,
Alyssa
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