Friday, 31 October 2014

How to Stay Organized by the Least Organized Girl in the World

One word: anxiety

One of the most dreaded, and hated words to be heard by someone dealing with depression or any serious mental illness, to be honest. Why am I talking about anxiety in an organization post? Because, in the roundabout circle of life, stress is one of the "invisible triggers" of anxiety and anyone dealing with it can relate to that. One of the ways to battle and counteract stress is staying organized. Dealing with my depression any little thing triggered it, being behind on my work in school, or being under too much pressure for a project, my room being messy, stuff like that. Well, dealing with all of that and with the help of some people in my life I figured out ways to cope with it and stay focused on fixing it rather than just worrying. Here are some helpful organization tips I compiled!


1. List, people. 
Collect your thoughts, and write down your biggest stressors at the moment. It doesn't necessarily have to be just things you need to get done like walking the dog for example. It can range from simple every day tasks to things like say, if you're in a toxic relationship or your friend is sad. Now narrow it down to things that are within your control. If you have no control over it, don't stress over it. Maybe the problem will escalate or maybe it'll end good for you but if it's out of your control what can you really do to fix it? Worrying does nothing!


2. Get a planner. 
Even when I was in high school I never used planners. I don't even know why I didn't but it was a stupid decision. Get a planner and write down EVERYTHING, at the end of the week go back and look through notes of time sensitive things you need to get done. What also helps is setting reminder on my phone because my scattered brainself still forgets to check every now and then. But, anyway, planners are great because they give you some semblance of order and its a great way to start your journey to being a cute girl (or boy) with their shit together.




P.S. TRY TO AVOID DRY ERASE/CHALK BOARDS. I only say this because they lack a sense of permanance. Try and stick to pads of paper and markers. 


3. Make your workspace cute! 
This seems a little weird but trust me it works! When I was going to school it was always really hard for me to focus on doing my homework or schoolwork in general because I never really had a desk. I was usually doing it in a busy kitchen or on my bed (worst places by the way.) Make your workplace something nice to look at. You'll definitely have fun sprucing it up! Put up pictures of friends and family, have framed inspirational quotes, make your laptop background of a city you want to live in some day (New York, LA, and Tokyo are all good choices!) but little touches to make it a more desirable space.

         

4. Get visual 
Like I said, I'm a very visual person. I like bright colors and city lights and all that fun stuff. So incorporating that into your life will help a lot. Try tacking up a bunch of positive quotes and happy things. I print mine out and frame them in neon picture frames. I have a whole album in my camera roll dedicated to city lights because thats where I see myself. Make your goals as visible as possible, photoshop yourself into a picture with Kanye and Kim if thats where you see yourself. The point is, seeing what you're working towards helps you to not lose sight of why you started in the first place.

             

5. Buy a red marker 
Buy a big fat marker and at the end of the day when you've finished a task put a nice big X over it. It seems silly but doing this gave me a feeling of accomplishment. Even if the task was small it was nice to see that red x over it, it was telling me that I was dedicated and getting shit done. (That's a lot for an inanimate object to say, I know, but still it proved true)

6. Be realistic in your daily planning
When planning short or long term it is really important you set realistic goals for yourself, otherwise it leads to disappointment and set backs. Try to take into account your budget, your time, and any other factor that could conflict with what you're trying to acheive! 






You can do this! Remember to believe in yourself and to always be kind! 






Thursday, 23 October 2014

Free College Textbooks

I said in my last post that I was going to link the sites where I download free pdf textbooks. Here you go lovelies!!!

Ebookee 

Textbooknova

GaTech Math Textbooks

BookBoon

Oerconsortium

Gutenberg

GetFreeBooks

10 Things I Wish I Knew Before Freshman Year at College (with visual aids)

1. REGISTER FOR CLASSES EARLY 
For the love of all that is holy, register as soon as freshman registration opens. I know it's summer and you want to put it off for another week. Don't. Do. IT. Because it will be horrible and you will stand in lines all day in a hot, small office with a hundred other procrastinating students like yaself. 


2. Dont try and get a matching schedule with your friend. It will suck and you will cry. 
Freshman year is crazy, everyone is trying to get the classes they need and for some unexplainable reason the open slots to freshman ratio is like 500023039430583498 to 10. Like I was saying, its crazy enough without trying to get every class with your BFF. It's cool to get a few classes here and there with people you know, but overall it's not worth the stress of having an 8am class and then a 5pm class just to be with your friend. Take the oppurtunity to branch out and meet new people! There are like a thousand other freshman scared like you, so bond over your fear!!!! 


3. Highschool rules don't apply 
Nobody cares about what you're doing. Like literally, no one. They're all just trying to get in, go to class and get their ass out of there. So all anxiety you've built up to this moment, forget about because everyones too busy being stressed out or freaked out or hungover to worry about who slept with who and who wore what. 


4. You will change your major five billion times
Don't freak out about not knowing what you want to do or changing your major more than once. It is totally okay to be picky and a little indecisive when it comes to what you want to do with the rest of your life, dawg. In fact it's bound to happen to everyone atleast once or twice or like me, five or six times. However, everyone is on the same boat as you, you ARE NOT ALONE!!!! (Actually, if there were anymore people on the "I'm changing my major boat" it would capsize and we'd all drown in our tears and the social pressure that comes with deciding on a career path) But no pressure. 


5. Network for study guides
Its the beginning of the year and you're sitting there with your super cute school supplies and your hairs really cute and curled and you have two seatmates, a girl with really cute jefferey cambells and a really hot guy who kinda seems like he'd be into you given a little push. Who do you talk to? The answer is NEITHER. Get the fuck away from them. They're distractions. Go sit in the front of the class and make friends up there because come midterms they will have the best notes and you can exchange and even talk about going half on a study guide. This will take the time out of making the study guide and allow you more time to actually study that shit. 


6. LOOK FOR THE PDF VERSION OF YOUR TEXTBOOKS ONLINE
Thats pretty self explanatory so I'm going to go ahead and list links to sites that offer free pdf version of books so maybe you can save a little money this school year and go get drunk. 


7. Don't obsess over meeting goals by a certain age 
Let me give you the age old advice and tell you SHIT HAPPENS. You fail classes, you get into unhealthy relationships, you have heartbreaks. Bottom line, life is messy, things will happen that are out of your control and you will fuck up. Don't be discouraged by that. That is life and your mistakes and fuck ups will ultimately lead you down the path you were meant to go down and offer you things better than what you originally wanted. 



8. Remember D.F.Y. 
Don't fuck yourself. (I don't mean this in the literal context, you can do whatever you want) Work on budgeting and time management. Whether you're moving away from home or staying and attending a local university, community college, etc. Do not fuck yourself by not sufficiently preparing for when you do actually leave. These are basic life skills you will NEED. I compiled a list of tips that helped me get my spending undercontrol, one of them was to PARENTAL BLOCK URBAN OUTFITTERS ON MY COMPUTER BECAUSE I AM TERRIBLE I CAN'T. 
 


D.F.Y. is my Hakuna Matata. I make tons of rash decisions that I know will ultimately fuck me but I want it and I'm used to getting what I want so I do it. Yeah, so I learned to stop doing that because in the long run it was things like I didnt want to go to class or I wanted to use the money for the waterbill to buy shoes on Urban Outfitters so kids, don't forget D.F.Y. 

9. Join Clubs 
I know you just want to go in do your credit hours and then go back home and watch Netflix but stop it, stop it RIGHT NOW. No but really, grades are great and all but companys ultimately look for well-rounded students with extra-curriculars and tons of leadership skills because they make great interns. 



10. Take a class for fun 
My dear and lovely over-acheiver, please don't forget to take a load off. Take a fun class! Theater or art or philosophy (depending on your professor of course.) These classes are the ultimate stress relievers, to get to go in and interact and not feel the weight of the world crashing down on your shoulders. Who knows you might even make some friends that you can relate to over the multiple mental breakdowns you've had throughout the semester! 


College is great and a super awesome oppurtunity to test your social skills and meet wonderful people and make cool memories. So study, and stay on track but dont ever forget to have fun! C'est la vie and all!!!!!