Revisiting September’s Goals
Start off grad school strong
I’m doing my best on the grad school front. I was nervous about the transition and shifting my priorities. Let’s be honest, hanging out with friends or vegging out always sounds more enticing than homework. It’s still a process and I dive into this a bit more below since it has to do with October’s goals.
Prioritize my own health
I had a really great time partnering with YG Studios last month and inviting y’all to come join me for early morning yoga. Through this partnership I learned a few things:
- Enlisting friends was SO much fun. A few of my friends that are new to yoga and new to group fitness came to class with me last month. I loved getting to introduce my friends to yoga, and we were able to spend a few minutes after catching up before we had to go our separate ways. It left me in the best mood, and all before 9AM.
- Even though I don’t have to wake up early most days, it’s beneficial. In theory I could sleep in until 10AM every day because of my class schedule. But I really shouldn’t. I noticed on days I woke up earlier and worked out earlier, I felt far more productive later on. I don’t plan on waking up at 5AM necessarily, but will aim to take classes on the earlier side of the morning.
October’s Goal: Get Organized
Let me start of by saying I’m not not organized. Hi, I fold my socks #KonMari style.
When people ask how grad school is going, my answer has been overwhelming. It’s not that the courses are beyond my capabilities or my class schedule is particularly demanding. I just haven’t been very organized about how I use my time and then end up scrambling to get. so. much. shit. done. in one day.
I knew the beginning would be tricky. It’s a huge adjustment from working full time. It’s also a huge adjustment from the lazy summer I ended up having.
Now that I’m roughly one month in to the semester, I’m starting to learn what works… and what certainly doesn’t work when it comes to managing my time and juggling my commitments.
For the month of October, I will focus on getting organized by doing the following:
1. Limit time spent answering emails
I HATE EMAILS. There! I said it. Email is a major time suck for me.
Don’t get me wrong, I SO appreciate that people are emailing me for whatever reason. It’s just a lot.
My inbox(es) give me major anxiety. Just when I feel like everything is under control and I hit ZERO, I have 20 emails that magically arrive, awaiting my response once again.
During this next month I want to take back my control over email and show my inbox who’s boss. Or something like that.
I’ve read a lot of inbox management tips from top CEO’s and people far more successful than I. One recommendation I want to implement is assigning certain times of the day to power through all my emails instead of constantly responding to emails throughout the day.
I have no idea how this is going to go, but my goal is to spend 30 or so minutes at the beginning of the day and another 15 minutes towards the end of the day answering emails. I also will not answer emails on the weekend unless they are time sensitive.
2. Getting ahead before I fall behind
I’m in this not-so-good weekly pattern. The beginning of the week is absolute insanity. I log 15 hour days between homework, blog work, meetings and class. I then finally catch up around Thursday and totally veg out until Monday when the pattern repeats again.
Why, why, why do I keep doing this to myself!?
This month has felt a bit wonky already with the Jewish holidays, they’re both a blessing because it means I had class cancelled twice and a curse because I’m Jewish and celebrate these holidays in Westchester. This week is my week to catch up once and for all and break the pattern.
Going forward my goal is to break down my homework into smaller increments and work ahead so I no longer panic and feel like I’m constantly falling behind. I also want to spread out my work more evenly throughout the week so I don’t feel so burnt out come Thursday.
YOUR TURN: What are your goals for October?
Theodora says
Blegh I need to be better about my inbox, too.
Kayla says
the never ending struggle