Surviving Finals Week!

The semester is almost coming to an end and finals are approaching! What better way to get myself prepared and organized for these following two weeks than to use Dr. Blumin’s strategies I have learned throughout this semester. When thinking about which strategies to use, I thought about which were the most helpful for me. During a time when I have a great number of tasks to do, the strategies that work best for me are the D’s, Due, and Do Organizer and Chunking the Task. I am both a visual and kinesthetic learner.

I am a huge fan of writing lists of all of the things I need to do to accomplish. The D’s, Due, and Do Organizer strategy allows me to do so. At the beginning of the semester, I used my syllabus for each of my courses to identify all due dates for the course. My planner does not have a monthly planner, however, I still made note of each graded responsibilities in my weekly planner. After doing this, I then separated my weekly planner into two columns of do and due columns. Since my planner is already separated into two columns, I used the shaded gray columns for my due columns and I used the other regular lined column for my do column. Most of the graded responsibilities assignments I had due for the semester were already written in the appropriate due column for each weekly calendar. So I then chunked each task and estimated the time needed for completing each assignment and divided it into small units each day. I wrote each of the small units in the do column on dates when I planned to do them. As you can see this past week, I had assignments I needed to complete and tests to study for.

These were the things listed in my due column:

· 11/28 MAT 194 WebAssign Assignment

· 11/29 CHE 107 Lab Report, Pre-Lab, and Quiz

· 11/30 CLS Building Blocks

· 12/1 CHE 106 Exam, HTW 307 Community Service Journals

· 12/2 MAT 194 Exam & Hand-In HW for 10.1 and 11.2, CHE 106 Mastering Chemistry, and the Career/Major Exploration Project

As you can see I had many exams and assignments that needed to be completed this week because this is the last week of classes and final grades need to be recorded in. I like to break my assignments and studying into smaller chunks for each day until they are completed which is what I did in my do column. For the assignments that were due earlier in the week I had made sure they were completed before the weekend because I try to make sure to get my assignments done in advance. I had divided all of my assignments that were due later in week as smaller assignments to do throughout the week. Then once I had completed ALL of the task I had listed in the due column, I then checked them off!

For my HTW 307 class, I had to submit journal entries based on my volunteer experience as a tutor for elementary school children of refugee parents. I had made several visits throughout the semester to the after school site where I was volunteering at. When reading the syllabus, it said that 25% of my grade would be based on my journals for my Community-Based Cultural Practicum Experience. This is one-quarter of my grade!!!! I knew that this was going to be a large assignment and in order to make sure I did well on this assignment I decided to use the strategy of Chunking the Task. Because this was a long-term assignment, I had broken it down into small, manageable units and work on each over time. For each visit I made to my volunteer, I had to write a journal entry and relate it to terms and topics we had learned in class. I would make sure to write the journal entries that same exact day and if I had too much work that day then I would make sure to have the journal entries finished before my next visit at my volunteer site. Using this strategy saved me from the procrastination of writing all of my journal entries at the last minute until the day before they were due on 12/2!

These two strategies proved to be extremely effective and were beneficial to my success not only for this week, but also for helping me survive my whole semester. I made use of the material I had learned in CLS 105 class and applied it to all of my other courses. I learned what type of learner I was and with that piece of information I used strategies that best fit the type of learner I am. If these strategies helped me, I am positive it will help any student who is in the midst of a hectic week as I am!

Home Stretch!- Time to Organize!

As the semester quickly draws to a close I find myself overwhelmed by the quick clutter of assignments that have piled up on me over the past weeks. The bulk of these assignments are coming specifically from two classes that I am taking. These classes are Religion 101 and IST 195. I decided to organize this past week using D's Do and Dues and my TO DO LIST JHEA!!!I used these strategies because this burden of going day by day unorganized and doing work as soon as I remember I have something due is too much of a headache. Do a d Dues required me to write down assignments that I have due for both IST and religion and write down when I should do them. I used the to do list on my Religion essay so I can factor in when I have time to do it when I have other engagements during the day. As a visual learner these strategies are perfect for me because I can actually see what I have to do and structure how I go about doing work during the day.

Shame on me for not completing my IST 195 project before I went home for thanksgiving break. As a result of this I found myself having to organize how I can do this 15+ powerpoint slide in a weeks time. I used D's Do and Dues and I was able to create a structure in which I can break down doing my powerpoint slides in 3 days.
I decided to start slides 1-5 on Tuesday, do 5-10 on Thursday, and complete the assignment on Friday.
This strategy actually managed to help me efficiently complete this project by the time the weekend came. Now I am chilling focusing on my final Tech post :).
The other strategy I chose was the To Do List which is personally one of my favorites because it is easy to use and it can conveniently be used on my Ipod. I organized myself by completing the rest of my religion essay I started on Friday at 5. Then I can study for my Religion final which will have definitions from Islam and Buddhism. I also put down that I have a concert to perform in. This strategy is beneficial because it reminds me an hour before while I am listening to my music that I have something to do soon. So I could be walking around and a chime will ring telling me I have something to do soon. It also has a check box for completed task next to your task (I didn't check them off because this was prior to my tech). This strategy helped me efficiently plan out my homework while helping me focus on other things I have going on in my life.

Reaching The Finish Line

For the final tech assignment we were allowed to choose the strategies which helped us the most this semester. The topic that contained the most strategies helpful to me was Time/Task Management. I decided to use the Time Wasters Strategy and Building Blocks to Finish. The use of these strategies helped me to see what I needed to do in each of my classes, and how to successfully finish the last assignments for each. They both helped me in the past, so I felt that choosing them for this tech assignment was the right choice.

To remember the reasons I procrastinate and what kind of assignments cause me to procrastinate I reused the Time Wasters strategy (shown below). As a visual learner I listed down what my Time Wasters were and which tasks caused me to use those Time Wasters, giving me a nice view of the connection between the two. I noticed how my Time Wasters increased this time around as opposed to the last time I used this strategy. I found that whenever I had online assignments such as Mastering Physics or WebAssign for my PHY 222 and MAT 295 courses, I would tend to use Time Wasters like Social Networking sites or YouTube to put off finishing those assignments. I would also use Time Wasters such as playing Xbox to avoid studying with a study group to review material for finals. Using this strategy helped me to again see how certain tasks would cause me to procrastinate. Now that I know what causes me to procrastinate, I don't allow myself to use the Time Wasters I have around me. When I do online assignments I log out of all social networking and video sites and close them so that I can only focus on my assignments. To make sure I studied with my study group I also put the controllers for my Xbox away so that I wouldn't be tempted to play and waste time.

Time Wasters Strategy

The second strategy I chose to use for Task Management was the Building Blocks to Finish Strategy (shown below). This strategy allowed me to set up a reasonable schedule to follow to complete all assignments leading up to the final one in each of my classes. This last week I had two tests and a project due, along with the final homework assignments in my other classes. On the date of the final assignments for each of my classes I would highlight that days to see what needed to be done to prepare for that specific day. By doing this I would chunk the task and write down what I would need to do exactly in order to prepare myself for the upcoming assignments. This strategy was very effective as it served as another visual aid to my schedule and how I needed to effectively use my time in the last days of this semester.

Building Blocks to Finish

Overall, the usage of both of these strategies allowed me to get organized for the final week of classes. I can now anticipate what's going to come and properly prepare by managing my time. As finals are quickly approaching it is good that I found strategies to use that can keep me on track to performing well in each of my classes. I am really glad I was able to participate in the online blog with Team Orange this semester as I learned a lot of helpful strategies that I plan to use for the rest of my time as a student at Syracuse University.

Getting Organized!

I cannot believe I am already my last tech assignment! It has been extremely useful experimenting with different strategies for different classes in order to see what works for me and what does not. This week we were allowed to pick the strategies we wanted to use and which ones were more effective for us. Not only is this my birthday weekend, but also the weekend before the last week of classes. I have a lot of work that needs to get done and a lot of studying to do. In order to get ahead and stay organized I chose to "Ranking My Priorities" and "Chunking the Task." These were both two ways to get ahead and stay ahead. I also chose these strategies because they have worked for me in the past.

The first strategy is "Ranking My Priorities." Since this is my birthday weekend, I do not want to spend a large majority of it doing work that needs to get done. That is why I ranked my priorities to see what needs to be done by Monday. In order to rank the tasks, you split everything into three categories; A-absolutely essential, B- important, and C-optional. Since it is so close to finals, I have no optional work and everything must be done, yet I have longer amounts of times for some tasks.

(Ranking Priorities For All Classes Shown Above)

The first step in this task was writing everything I needed to do for each class. As one can see, I do not have too much work left, just large assignments and lots of studying. I am a visual learner and to see what I need to do, by when, and for what class was very helpful. In addition, I made each class a different color to organize them further. I was able to see what needs to be done now such as my tech assuagement and my project for CLS. I knew that if I could complete these two assignment on Friday afternoon, I would be able to slowly focus on my paper all weekend therefore only having to work for about an hour on my actual birthday! Since I made this chart on Thursday, I completed my project at night and worked on my tech assignment during the day. I was able to stay ahead and organized. In addition, I began writing my paper on Tuesday and was able to get three pages out of seven done. Therefore I am already ahead since my homework for this weekend is to begin my draft. To stay even more ahead, I have booked an appointment at the Writing Center for Wednesday. My goal is to have my paper finished before the meeting. The last two tasks are to study for my math and philosophy final. Since I have more time for those, I put them in the category important. That way if I have extra time on Sunday to work on them I will. Yet, they are not due for Monday, which is why my major focus is on my paper. By seeing this chart, I am able to mentally organize myself further. I can see what needs to be and how important that task is. For example, the CLS project is due for extra credit today at 4:30. I am writing this blog now and then plan to drop it off. That also gives me motivation to complete this blog and not procrastinate because I want those five extra points! Ranking Priorities is a great way to get organized especially during a busy weekend and busy time in the semester!

In addition, I have used the second strategy "Chunking the Task." This method allows you to see what to need to do and two ways to complete it. Once again, I am a visual learner and this is great for me. Based on how much time I have available and what mood I am in, I can pick the option that works best for me.

(Chunking The Task for all classes shown above)

For Chunking the Task, I took my major assignments left. I completed this chart on Friday morning after my CLS 105 project was due. Luckily I then had less work to fill in. I addressed my WRT 105 paper first because it is my largest assignment. My two options are to complete a page of the paper at a time (I would be done around Tuesday since I already have three pages complete) or to sit and do it all in one time period. I believe I will work a little each day. This is because it would be more useful to work for a medium amount of time each day rather than cram the words into paragraphs the night before. This way also ensures me that I will be able to bring it to the writing center and get it checked. The next assignment was this tech. When I woke up to complete this chart, I did not want to begin writing the blog, yet I knew it was the correct thing to do. I knew that I could wait until Sunday, but it would be on my mind. So I wrote it Friday, and now I will be done with CLS for the weekend! It is a great feeling to know I have finished all my work for one class! The last issue I addressed was studying for my MAT final. I will further address this issue Sunday afternoon after I see how much of my paper I have completed. It is good to have options because I never know what might come up. My paper is know my major priority and I might be able to get it all done by Sunday, but I do not know. That is why this is so effective because I have multiple options to complete my tasks.

Both these strategies were very effective because they showed me what I needed to do, how important each task was, and my possible options for each task. Ranking Priorities showed me exactly what I needed to do and how important it was. Chunking the Tasks took it a step further and showed me possible options to completing the assingments. These two strategies worked hand in hand and were very beneficial to me. I took action by organizing and now I feel more calm.In this stressful time, they allow me to see clearly what to do by when and the ways I can do it! These are two strategies I will continue to use even after this semester because I am a visual learner and I need to be organized. Both of these assignments do that for me. Overall, I feel these were both very beneficial. In addition, I cannot believe this is my last blog. It has been fun trying new experiments and seeing what works for me! I will miss you Team Orange!

Stress Management

Stress is something that I have always encountered. However, with the stress management strategies I learned how to somewhat cope with my stress. I decided to use the stress diagram and a day at a time strategies. I chose a day at a time and the stress diagram because I am a visual learner and I can actually see and learn about the different things that are stressing me out in my life and work on how to reduce that stress. The class I used these strategies on was Religion 101 because this class is ridiculously stressful for me.

The first strategy I used was a day at a time. I found this strategy somewhat helpful because I wound up listing the sources of my stress in my religion class. The helpful part of this strategy was the fact that I can assess what is really stressful about this class. For example, one source of my stress was my religion essay number 3, but I crossed it out because I managed to complete the assignment and that relieved the stress. I have gone up until now with the same list and haven't crossed anything off because I am still stressed by those other things. I realized the easiest way to get rid of this stress is to do whatever assignments I have to do or put myself in the best position I can to understand the materials.

After I made that list for the day at a time strategie I decided to make a Stress diagram of it to see which of these things are the most stressful to me. By using this chart I was able to see the different stressful elements of my religion class. The most stressful thing about religion 101 is the fact that I am trying to get above a C+ in the class because I am trying to get a 3.3 GPA. After using this chart I found it useful for sorting out how I can evaluate and  take care of the most stressful things in my life.

Stress Relieving Strategies

As a college student, on the PA/Pre-med track I am constantly experiencing stress. I am always trying to balance school, family, volunteer work, friends, and my social life. Most of my courses require a great deal of work inside and outside of class. At times I find myself having difficulty managing my time well while trying to balance all of these things, which in turn creates stress. This week is an even more stressful week because it is the week before Thanksgiving Break and the pressure to have all of my assignments and readings done before break has been creating a strain on me! So, in hopes of being alleviated with all of my workload, I decided to use two of Dr. Blumin’s stress management techniques: A Stress Diagram and A Day at a Time Part of managing stress is controlling your reaction to stressful situations. I let stress to get the best of me when I let my reactions to a stressful situation control me. THINKING ABOUT what causes this stress and what are constructive and destructive reactions to stress and how I manage it are beneficial ways to relieving stress!

For the Stress Diagram Strategy, I listed the sources of stress that I am currently experiencing. I listed 5 spaces and divided the chart into number of sections that corresponds to the number of stresses. Each section represents the relative amount of stress it is in your life.

List of Sources:

1. MAT 194-Math Web Assign 8.1 & 8.2 + Hand-In HW 8.1+8.2 (Due: 11/18)

2. CHE 106-Mastering Chemistry (Due: 11/18)

3. CLS 105 -Stress Management TECH (Due: 11/18)

4. HTW 307-Cultural Competent Volunteer Experience Presentation (on 11/17)

5. Study for upcoming exams and working on projects during Turkey Break

For the strategy A Day at a Time, I noticed that the more organized I am the easier it is for me to control my reactions to stressful situations. I am already accustomed to doing a strategy similar to this one. I usually write a list of things “TO DO” and when they are “DUE” in my planner. However, in the A Day at a Time strategy, I wrote a list everyday with about 4-5 items/tasks that are causing me stress. I wrote the list on a post it and posted it in my planner.

(Lists of Stressors)

Once I completed each of those things that were giving me stress, I checked it off or crossed it out. Trying this method was just as effective as the one I used to use. The delight I receive after crossing each task off is even better!

(CHE 106) Mastering Chemistry Assignment completed!

(WebAssign) completed!

I am both a visual and kinesthetic learner so I found these strategies to be extremely effective because I took the action of writing out the things I needed to do and I was able to visualize the tasks I already completed after crossing them off my lists of stressors.

The first initiative to combating stress is to understand what causes me to stress out. I’ve never really taken the time to actually sit down a think about things that cause me stress. By doing so and following these strategies, this allowed me to think about my constructive and destructive reactions to stress and how I manage them. To minimize stress, I decided to change the way I looked at certain situations and the way I reacted to them.

Proactive Stress Reduction

This week for CLS we were required to focus on stress management techniques. This topic came at the perfect time this semester as I was extremely stressed going into Thanksgiving Break. I decided that I needed to use strategies that would allow me to see what was affecting me. I made use of two strategies, the Stress Diagram and the Five-Minute Escape to help alleviate the stress I was going through.

The first strategy I decided to use, The Five-Minute Escape, turned out to be more effective than I thought it would be because it provided a detailed way to calm yourself mentally and physically. It had detailed steps that mainly focused on massaging and breathing to help rejuvenate the mind under a lot of immediate stress.

The steps for the Five-Minute Escape are:

1. Close your eyes.
2. Take five slow, deep breaths.
3. Rotate your shoulders in a circular motion, first backwards five times, then forward five times.
4. Massage your temples in a circular motion with your fingers for 30 seconds. Massage your jaw, concentrating on the hinges. Force yourself to unclench your jaw.
5. Slowly drop your chin onto your chest five times. Move your right ear to your right shoulder five times. Then switch the side, trying to touch your left ear to your left shoulder five times. Finally, move your chin to the left and touch your left shoulder. Switch to the right. Go back and fourth five times.
6. Cross your arms in front of you and reach around to your shoulders. Using your thumbs and index fingers, knead your trapezius muscle(runs along top of back) for about 30 seconds.
7. Take five slow, deep breaths.
8. Open your eyes.

This technique is extremely effective to get a quick release from any stress that is clogging up a calm mind. However, I found that you need to be in the right environment to get the most out of this technique. In my case I sat within my living room and started looking out the window. I haven't been home since the summer so seeing all the leaves on the ground was a sight that brought back memories. Putting myself in a comfort zone made it easier to relax with this technique.

Environment for Five-Minute Escape

After using the Five-Minute Escape I decided to get proactive with the stress I was under, so I used the Stress Diagram technique. This strategy helps to prioritize the causes for stress and which issues need to be taken care of first.

Stress Diagram

The Stress Diagram (shown above) is a pie chart which shows you the things that are causing you stress and which ones are the most stressful. As a linear and kinesthetic learner, my stress was a combination of academic and recreational activity. This is also a very visual technique and it helps to give you an image of all of your stress summed up as a pie chart. I noted that my main causes of stress were choosing classes for spring semester, transferring into iSchool, and performances in soccer. 

Knowing this, I contacted my advisor and went straight to the point with what I wanted to get done next semester. I had a set idea of all the classes I wanted and I made sure to let him know that the classes I was going to take were important to making a successful transfer into the iSchool. Because I knew of the things that caused me stress beforehand by using the diagram, I was able to devise a plan that would get me the best classes and the smoothest transfer into another college. I went about the same process for finding internships and getting a better financial situation by talking to my parents at home. They were able to encourage and reassure me that I would be able to fix those situations in due time.

Soccer however was a tricky one as the only way to release stress causes from playing soccer is to PLAY SOCCER. And that's exactly what I did, I laced up the cleats and spent some time outside practicing my skills. I felt better knowing that I was working towards getting rid of the stress that I was feeling from not performing at my best ability.

Soccer Stress Management

Using both of these strategies helped me to alleviate a lot of stress, and it made me more relaxed going into finals after break. I would recommend these strategies to anyone who needs to focus their energy on relieving stress.

Stress Overload!

This week’s tech assignment had a common theme of managing stress and taking a day at a time. I believe this is the perfect time to discuss these topics because one we all come back from our LONG Thanksgiving break, we will have to prepare for finals. As a new freshman, I am unsure what to expect for my finals and therefore I’m extremely nervous and stressed. Although finals are a few weeks away, they are constantly on my mind, which affects the work I need to do for my classes today. In order to stay focused I used the technique “One Day At A Time.” I also used the “Stress Diagram” to see which classes were causing the most stress and consumed the most time. In addition, I used the strategy “Five Minute Escape” to gather my thoughts and refocus when I was feeling overwhelmed. Keep reading to see how I was able to alleviate stress this week!

The strategy “A Day At A Time” was the most effective and helpful for me. In order to complete this strategy you need to make a list of five things you need to do the next day before you go to sleep. This was very effective for me because I am a linear and visual learner so to see everything I needed to do laid out was very visually appealing to me. It also showed me exactly what I wanted to and needed to accomplish the next day. I did it on my laptop that way every time I opened my computer, my list of tasks would be there reminding me of what I needed to do.

("A Day At A Time" strategy shown above)

I created this list on Tuesday evening and actually had seven items I needed to complete. In order to complete my tasks I thought about my schedule for the next two days and decided what I needed to do by when. My CLS blog is due Friday but I have about a three and a half hour car ride home Thursday were I was able to work on it. Also I had to read Black Dog Of Fate by the time I got back from break. I only have fifty pages left and if I read 25 pages Friday and 25 pages Saturday I will be done with it before most of my friends come home. Since two of my tasks could be help off for a few days I focused on the rest. The first thing I did the next day was go to CVS and get ink for my printer which I would need to print my philosophy paper. My paper was due on Thursday so after I bought the ink I went to Whitman and finished my essay before CLS. It was a great use of my time and since I was in Whitman, it was quiet and I was able to focus. After class I met with Wendy then stayed in the building and completed my project proposal. Being in a new environment allowed me to work and I was able to gradually delete items off of my to-do list. The most annoying task was my philosophy 107 questions. Yet once I was back at my dorm that night and my list was significantly smaller, I had the motivation to do them.

(Missed PHI 107 Questions Shown Above)

I sat down at my desk and turned off my television and competed the three questions in 10 minutes.

(Answered PHI 107 Questions shown above)

I then was able to lay in bed and studied for math. Since I had a clean and clear list, I completed my tasks easily and realized everything wasn’t due the next day and that I could stop and relax.

The next strategy I used was the stress diagram. The stress diagram is used to show what the major stresses are in your life. Currently, my major stresses are philosophy 107, MAT 285, and my body and organization. I can say those three topics cause the most stress in my life.

(Stress Diagram Shown Above)

These two classes are my primary concern because they are the only two classes I have finals in. Since finals are only three weeks away they are causing me stress. Staying organized and staying healthy is also a large concern because as I spend more time studying, I have less time to clean my room, do my laundry, and go to the gym. I adapted this to fewer categories. The strategy says to use five but since I am a linear and visual learner, seeing more topics would cause more stress. What I do to help reduce this stress is the Five-Minute Escape. This strategy is supposed to relieve stress in a short amount of time. What you do is:

1. Close your eyes

2. Take five slow, deep breaths

3. Rotate your shoulders in a circular motion, first backward five times, then forward five times

4. Massage your temples in a circular motion with your fingers for 30 seconds. Massage your jaw, concentrating on the hinges. Force yourself to unclench your jaw.

5. Slowly drop your chin onto your chest five times. Move your right ear to your right shoulder five times. Then switch the side, trying to touch your left ear to your left shoulder five times. Finally, move your chin to the left and touch your left shoulder. Switch to the right. Go back and forth five times.

6. Cross your arms in front of you and reach around to your shoulders. Using your thumbs and index fingers, knead your trapezius muscle (the one that runs along the top of your back) for about 30 seconds.

7. Take five slow, deep breaths

8. Open your eyes.

I used this technique for my philosophy 107 paper. This not only ties together all the strategies but it really helped me. The paper was on my checklist and as you can see by the stress diagram, it is something that is constantly on my mind and causing me anxiety. When I opened the email from my professor in Whitman, I did become stressed. As a result I start there for two minutes doing this technique and breathing. In addition I took a sip of water and really did feel refreshed. I was able to complete my paper in record time because I was focused and more relaxed. My allowing my brain to stop for a moment and my thoughts you clear, I was able to focus.

Stress is something everyone has to deal with. By using these three techniques together, stress is easy to overcome in a calm manor. Seeing a clean list of everything you need to do, seeing what causes the most stress, and using a technique to relax, the anxiety will disappear. I am an example of how to over come stress and how to prepare for the future. I will use these three techniques in the future but my favorite is “A Day At A Time.” I like the clean list of what I need to do and feel it is good to use as a reminder for errands and not just work!