For The Unmotivated College Student

I stumbled across this article about a week ago and I knew then I would have to share it with our PRowl readers. Regardless of how hardworking you are, everyone, especially college students, have experienced a period or two of pure laziness. However, this article by TIME listed a few great ways to combat the inevitable unmotivation that comes with college work. Seniors especially, pay close attention.

• Schedule everything! Putting a specific deadline to even the smallest assignments forces you get it done. Simply adding tasks to a to-do list is a great start, but oftentimes that's all that happens: a great start. Using time restraints forces you to get tasks done efficiently and in a timely manner.
• Choose a finish time and work backwards. This article uses the example of leaving work at 5:30pm, so I'll continue to use that example. If you want to clock out of work at a specific time, make that your goal and schedule your tasks to meet that time. If you give yourself all day to complete a project...well you'll take all day to complete that project and that's not the best use of your time.
• Make a plan for the entire week. This tip is pretty self-explanatory but important nonetheless. Look at the bigger picture. Don't wait until an assignment is due to schedule out time to work on it. That's the beauty of syllabi; you know everything that's going to happen ahead of time. Use that to your advantage and plan accordingly.
• Don't overflow your plate. It's great to have ambition and be involved in a ton of organizations. In fact, employers and professors often encourage us to do so. However, it's equally important to recognize your limits. If it is getting too difficult to balance schoolwork, extracurricular activities, internships, and jobs, make a list of everything you're involved in and figure out what's most important. As the article suggests: "Do very few things, but be awesome at them."
• Don't drown in the shallow end. The article describes work as either being shallow or deep. Shallow work would be all of your smaller assignments such as emails or meetings while deep work challenges you and encourages personal growth. Oftentimes, we allow ourselves to drown in a bunch of trivial, shallow work. Instead, try to focus more of your energy on projects that will actually help you to grow and learn in the long run.

In short, we all get lazy but you don't have to stay there. Take a moment to collect yourself and utilize a few of these tips to get back on track before midterms!

Declutter Your Life

At this point of the year, your brain is full to bursting with knowledge you may or may not ever use again (unless you're taking all PR classes, then you're just bursting with fabulous knowledge you'll be grateful for forever)--am I right?

Before you have an inevitable mental breakdown, let me offer you some tips on how to declutter your mind and your life and help you breathe again.

Step 1: Organize your inbox.  Take half and hour to get all those emails either into a folder or into the trash. Did you feel the tension in your shoulders release? I thought so.

Step 2: Clean your room. It's a lot easier to get work done when dirty socks and wash you should have folded a week ago aren't staring you in the face.

Step 3: Situate your personal life. Is there tension between you and your roommates? Are you frustrated by a group project? Actually have a conversation with these people and you'll see that coming to a solution isn't as hard as it seems.

Step 4: Declutter your soul. It may sound cheesy but doing something that makes you feel good inside is incredibly beneficial.  Help out with a neighborhood clean-up or volunteer to work a 5k benefiting a good cause. A happier heart makes for a happier you.

What do you find most effective when you're overwhelmed and feeling pretty cluttered?

Along those lines, check out this funny Buzzfeed video: 35 Things to Get Rid of to Declutter Your Life.