Although we're still in the early weeks of this semester, I've noticed myself always feeling like I'm on deadline. Yes, as a journalism major this is expected, but this feeling has extended to other parts of my life. Deadlines are part of life; getting homework in on time, completing tasks for employers, getting payments in on time, filling out applications, getting birthday presents for friends before stores close. It almost seems like there just aren't enough hours in the day to complete all these tasks.
And with all this going on, who has time to eat and sleep properly? Certainly not your average college student it seems.
As the baby of the family, I have always been spoiled (well, sometimes "spoiled" doesn't seem like the right word...) with having my parents and siblings check on me an almost an every day basis. How was your day? How'd your test go? Did you get enough sleep last night? Have you eaten yet today? When was the last time you washed that hair? OKAY OKAY ENOUGH.
I ignore their non-so-subtle advice and carrY on as I normally would, trying to balance school and organizations and relationships per the usual. Staying up until 2 or 3am and waking up around 7am has become a normalcy. And I promise you- it's not because I'm saving my work until after I catch up on the newest episode of my show or wasting time scrolling through Facebook, Twitter and Instagram feeds. I wake up, go to class, do work and research, make phone calls and work on homework during any spare moment I have, come home some time between 11pm and 2am that evening/morning (depending on how long my motivation to stay at the J-School or Ellis held out) shower, continue working, and start the process all over again. I got so used to this robotic schedule I had going and everything seemed to be getting done when and how it was supposed to, or so I thought.
I started getting grades back on previously completed assignments and exams and thinking "...What the?? Where did THIS grade come from? I worked my tail off!" I grew more and more frustrated with the feedback I was receiving, and began to realize that the problem wasn't the feedback- it was me.
I had (have) this one professor who, upon grading a video project of mine, left the following feedback that has stuck with me ever since: "You worked hard, but you didn't work smart." I honestly never realized there was a difference and this resonated with me for the remainder of the semester.
The realization that a change had to be made in my attitude and work ethic helped my academic performance a bit, I cannot deny that. The biggest factor, though, was that I could still tell that my performance was not up to par with the expectations of my professors and the standard I normally hold myself to. I took a step back to pull a typical "me" move and analyze each aspect of my life that could have been contributing to my less than acceptable quality of work. I started to think about the interrogation I was put through by my family and friends and asked myself those same questions: Did I get enough sleep last night? Have I eaten yet today? When was the last time I showered? (Hey don't judge.) It didn't take long for me to realize these elements were affecting me and my performance much more than I had been giving credit.
My awareness of these realizations encouraged me to take time, make time to better myself in these problem areas. I made more of an effort to squeeze in solid meals or pack a snack for the day, which gave me more energy to power through the day. I tried to "work smart", to utilize and manage my time more efficiently than I had been before. And, as expected, improving these elements created a domino affect and affected each other: if I made sure to eat something throughout the day, I was fueling my body and my brain, which made it easier to power through my work and I was able to get to sleep at a more reasonable time.
It's hard to break behavioral patterns and habits that have stuck with you for awhile, so it took conscious effort to make these changes. But after realizing what an impact these efforts were having on my academic performance and my mental, physical and emotional state overall, I finally understood how important it is to take care of myself so I can perform at the level I know I'm capable of.
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