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Showing posts from December, 2019

Famous Last Words: The End

Wow, it's so crazy that it's the end of the semester already. Junior year is flying by. This week, I took a ton of time to go look through other people's blogs and see all the cool work everyone has done. I wish I had more time to revise my project, but I'm also happy with the work I did this semester as well. Again, crazy that this is my last post. I don't think my story for this week (my final story) was my best, but it completed the three aspects of my storybook that I was really wanting to cover. Writing in first person like that was a very new experiment, and one that definitely helped me be more creative in other aspects of my life and academics. Right now I'm working on a 25 page final paper for another class, and I don't think I would have taken some of the creative turns that I have without the brainstorming and processes of this class. Most of my finals happen during dead week for me this semester, so we're in the home stretch. I've d

Learning Challenge: Procrastination

For my last learning challenge, I read Four Questions to Help You Overcome Procrastination by Peter Banerjea . I figured with it being dead week, I need to learn some extra ways to avoid procrastination and make sure I use my time effectively. This article proposes that a "self-interrogation" may be the best way to get yourself out of a procrastination slump, and suggests four questions to ask yourself when you're putting off work. 1. What one thing can I do to get started? This very much reminds me of the "eat the big frog first" mentality. By breaking tasks up into steps, making the decision to get started, and getting the complicated stuff out of the way first, you can better focus your energies on tasks. 2. What are my three biggest priorities today? I like that this one allows you to take a moment to step back and figure out what actually has  to be done today, and what would just be nice to also get done today. Even though other tasks may be easi

Growth Mindset: The Secret to Thriving

For my last growth mindset exercise, I read Scientist finds Secret to Thriving by the University of Portsmouth . They say that "it appears to come down to an individual experiencing a sense of development, of getting better at something, and succeeding at mastering something." It goes on to say "In the simplest terms, what underpins it is feeling good about life and yourself and being good at something." I think this is extremely insightful, since most of the times I feel the best about myself, it's because I've achieved something or developed one of my skills further. The article also highlights that, while this has been previously studied, it normally is studied in specific contexts. For example, what makes babies thrive may not be the same factors that make employees thrive. These researchers laid out a list of factors that are not necessary or exhaustive, but a combination of which may help an individual select aspects of their life to focus on in or