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!

Learning to Say "No": Avoiding Overcommitting

As I write this blog post, I am thinking of roughly three other things going on this week. This includes, and is not limited to, trying to find time to food shop between interning and working while brainstorming next week’s post. As PR practitioners, we work in an industry of people pleasing. We try to make everyone happy at any cost, from clients to bosses to coworkers and friends. Even if that means skipping lunch all week to finish an extra project we've taken on or leaving work after a double shift to attend a friend’s going away party.

As the self-proclaimed queen of overcommitting, I am guilty of all of this, saying “yes” to too many people in order to avoid missing an opportunity or seeming rude. The fact of the matter is, never saying “no” to people leaves you exhausted and simply burnt out. Thankfully, there a few steps we can take to avoid that nasty habit of spreading ourselves too thin.

• Organize. Use a planner or calendar to write down commitments, even simple day-to-day activities like time at the gym or lunch with a friend. This way, you can see when things may be overlapping and when you’re overcommitted.
• Prioritize. Figure out who and what takes the highest priority so you can determine what is really worth investing your time in.
• Compromise. You need to be able to compromise with yourself and others. Learn that sometimes, you can’t do it all. Maybe saying no to an extra project at work this week means taking it on next week after you've met all your deadlines.
• Relax. Give yourself a break and realize that it’s okay to say no. You shouldn't make yourself feel guilty for sometimes spending time and energy on yourself over others.

It’s also important to know when to say yes. Before committing, take a moment to decide if it’s in your ability to take on a task and if it is something you’d actually like to do!

(Source: Pinterest)