Organisation...I do try

I like to think I'm great at organising things - mainly because I am a strong believer in lists. Truth is I'm really really not.

So a few months ago I sent a panicked message to my bff and organisation/general 'how to have your life together' guru - Amy (obviously) - asking for help. It was a long rambly -probably sent at 2am - message like "ok I need a diary but I'm really bad with them and always feel like I'm not doing it properly if I miss a day here or there and I really like lists do you have any recommendations for me" and she introduced me to the world of Bullet Journals.

After a really long time of scrolling studyblrs and looking at all of the bullet journals and watching youtube videos and going to the site I thought I'd give it a shot....it lasted about 3 days oops.

BUT, I started my final year of uni at the beginning of October and realised I really need to get myself together. So I started my bullet journal again. And I've kept it up for a whole month!!!!

Ok, so this post isn't entirely about my achievements in starting to organise myself. I thought I'd add a few tips for anyone like me who desperately wants to be organised but just can't seem to keep it up.

1) Don't beat yourself up if you miss a day or two here and there.

2) I know a lot of studyblrs are against retrospective diaries but they work. If you struggle to list all the things you need to do during the day at the start of the day, put them into your journal as you do them or at the end of the day.

3) Make your daily list twice - I start each morning with writing all of the appointments and tasks I have for the day. At the end of the day I go back and add all of the things I got done that I hadn't originally put down.

4) My twist on the bullet journal - Every Monday I write down all of the things that I need to get done during the week. I know I won't finish them in the one day but I write them down. I then use a little arrow in the text box to indicate that it will continue into the next day. I then write the task down on the following day until I get it completely done.

5) Do a weekly check. Every Saturday morning sit down and go through your weeks journal and see that it's all been checked off and if it hasn't you have 2 days to complete it before the week is over.

6) This is most important for me - Make it pretty! 

I am simple but I am an enigma.

I’m an introvert, but I’m an extrovert.

I thrive in social situations, but I adore being alone.

I’m a listener, but I’m a talker

I’m a papergirl, but I’m a girl made of steel

I’m fiercely loyal, but I’m not afraid to let go.

I’m protective, but I need to be protected.

I’m fragile, but I’m unbreakable.

I’m brave, but I’m afraid.

I have a heart of gold, but a heart of stone.

I am a human and I am full of contradictions.

I am not made to fit in a box and neither are you.

Happiness is more than a single destination...

What is happiness? Like truly think about it for a minute. We will all have different answers. Some might be, “being financially stable”, others, “achieving all my academic goals”, for some it may even be, “having a family”, but all of these answers would be wrong.

Happiness isn’t a goal, it’s not quantifiable, and it’s more than anything you can think of. You don’t achieve happiness it’s not something you unlock when you reach a goal. It’s an emotion just like sadness and anger and hurt. You will never be truly happy as long as you base your happiness on achievements.

But you also need to remember being truly happy doesn’t mean that you are in a constant state of euphoria and happiness. It means that the bad days no longer become bad months.

You are human, you will hurt, things will happen that will make you sad, there will be days where it seems the world is against you. Don’t give up. Just because at that single moment in time you are struggling with whatever you struggle with it doesn’t mean you can’t be happy.

Sit, breathe, open a window, get some fresh air into your system, think about all the things you can be grateful for, be content, happiness will follow.

xo

Wanderlust

I think the first thing that got me attracted to the idea of busy cities like new york/london is that i could lose myself in all the people but now i'm feeling like it's more than that like maybe i could actually find myself there

So I was lucky enough to spend 2 weeks over the Christmas holidays in New York City and had such a good time. Every aspect felt like a dream and I really had a lot of time to reflect while I was there. Currently having some issues with getting the photos off my phone too my mac but I am working on a couple of long posts about my time and thoughts there. I just wanted to share the above sentence that came about while having a heart to heart with Amy.

xoxo

Goals

So I’m very bad at making small sub-goals and generally aim for huge goals which I never get round to achieving because I don’t really know how to get there. So with the help of a couple of friends I now have 2 big goals with individual sub goals relating to each.

1       Med School

a.       Get at least a 2:1 in university (I’m really aiming for a first)

b.      Get up to 6 months work experience

c.       Work on GAMSAT/UKCAT

d.      Gain interview practice

2       Specialize in Psychiatry

a.       Make all dissertations psychology based

b.      Pass Med school

c.       Get onto Psych ward rotations for Junior years

d.      Make good impressions on Psych wards

e.      Gain Psych ward registrar qualifications

f.        Apply for a job on a Psych ward in the UK

g.       Apply for a transfer to US after 2 years’ experience

I need to keep reminding myself that this is a long term thing – 6 years+ at least I think – and it’s not going to happen overnight.  So this is my check list and as I achieve these things I’ll come back to this post and cross them out as a visual reminder of how far I’ve come.

(PS I will be writing and uploading another one of these sub-goal posts for the other direction I am thinking about going in, which is Law. I am still very conflicted on which route I want to take in the future. Having a solid set of goals for each option will possibly make the decision easier and mean there is less to think about when I finally do make a decision).

How to get motivated....and stay motivated

So I've got a couple of really big and interesting projects lined up for the near future as well as uni exams, ergo I may not be blogging as much but I realised I like it way to much to just completely stop after starting so recently. I'll blog as frequently as possible and might have more time now considering I'm not splitting all my time between huge projects and university (my first year is already over what???).

Anyway to the point of this post motivation! I don't know about any of you guys but I seem to get these short periods where I feel like " Yeah! I'm so motivated! I'm gonna do everything I need to do! Wooo!" and then like an hour later I'm back in bed on netflix watching gossip girl (which I surprisingly still haven't finished yet). So here are some of my tips on how to stay motivated.

1) DO NOT SAY YOU NEED THE INTERNET TO REVISE!!!! You can easily get everything you need from books suggested in your reading lists. So switch that internet off disconnect your computer from the wifi and work hard.

2) YOU DO NOT NEED YOUTUBE!!! If you want to listen to music download it and listen to it on an ipod. If you put youtube on well there goes any productivity for the next 4 hours (unless it's this 9hr video of the harry potter soundtrack

3) PUT YOUR PHONE AWAY!!! Get someone to take it away from you for a few hours if you have to you can reply to those tweets and check your instagram later you do not need to do it right away not even as part of your 10 minute break.

Also my dad linked me to this article and I just thought I'd share this excerpt from it:

"If you don't believe that you have achieved anything particularly remarkable by age 17, that's okay, too. We hadn't heard of most world leaders by the time they reached 17. Part of the journey of life is finding the area in which we can make the biggest, most positive contribution and then following through with this awareness.

What's important to know is that by developing who you are on the inside, you will affect your external experience. 

Making a commitment. Working towards a goal with consistent, conscious actions. Being kind to yourself and to others. These are the things that matter. These are the things that will determine your success in the bigger scheme of life."

24 hour lockdown

Nowadays, people are rarely seen without some form of access to electronics and the internet. Whether you're at school, sat on the bus, the tube, university, work, the list goes on you will always be within reaching distance of a computer/laptop/tablet/phone all easily connected to the internet. In our obsession to instagram and tweet moments we often miss out on actually enjoying the thing. I mean yeah you might have the memory but you're missing vital time enjoying it in the presence.

I, along with my family, therefore have a complete switch off from internet and all electronics are put away and yes that includes no TV at least once a month. The only one we trust to hide everything is my mother, and I must say she has some good hiding places - it also helps she takes the batteries out and hides them separately to the devices.

Admittedly the first time it was hard I mean no tumblr or instagram how could I live?! But the more we did the more we all enjoyed it. We actually sat down at the table at dinner time and talked. We spent the day playing board games and joking around the whole family.

It's honestly worth trying and even if you can't quite convince your family just yet do it yourself. Take one day and read a good book or just spend time thinking without any distractions. It's amazing how much you get done without the internet even though most of us claim to be unable to work without it.