How Do You Manage Your Time?

Still on the subject of time management, I wanted to know different ways people manage their time and what they do to fit in all of their school work and still have time to go out and do fun things. I am not the most organized person, and I always have trouble scheduling myself and setting aside time for homework, so I was hoping that I could get some ideas from these people.

Most of the people I asked said that they got all of their homework done ahead of time so they have time to go out on the weekends or hang out with friends. Some other people said that they make a time plan of everything they want to get accomplished during the day and they see how much time they will need for each activity. Some people also say that they wait until the very last minute to do their work, which personally would stress me out way too much, but if that works for them, then I say just keep on doing it.

Time Management

This past week, I have kept track of everything I’ve done for every hour of the day. It really made me realize how much time I lose by getting distracted by watching TV, texting or going on the Internet. It also made me realize how little time I took doing the most important things, like eating and getting ready for school. During the week, I spent about 25 hours doing homework and studying. That surprised me because when we were making our schedule for the week in class, I had a hard time trying to fit even 20 hours in but I guess I really can do that much. I spent most of my time sleeping, of course… I need my beauty sleep! Besides that, I spent a lot of time watching TV. I didn’t realize I watched it that much until I actually started keeping track. I definitely think I need to start limiting how much television and Internet time I use up and start doing more productive things during those hours. I could also spend more time studying, because I usually just do my homework and maybe study for a little while, and then put it away, but I should start to make myself take the time and just re-read my notes and everything I’ve done in class that day.

Excellent Blogs!

I don’t really like this blog assignment because I would love to just say that everyone’s blog deserves an A, but I guess if I were to only choose three, these would be the ones.

The first blog that I think would be considered an "A"/excellent in my opinion is Nina's Blog titled "Nina's Blog" because she has really detailed posts and pictures that relate to all of her topics. I think that she puts a lot of thought into her blog posts and that is a good way to learn a lot about someone. The appearance of her blog is also very nice and it makes you want to keep looking and not just move on to the next blog.

The next blog that I think would be considered an A is Louie’s blog “Louie’s Happy Blog Time”. I love the pictures he posts and his blog is so funny but serious at the same time. I’m glad that his blog is just like him and he doesn’t change the way he writes to make himself sound like something he’s not. He is funny and creative and his blog definitely lets you see that.

The third blog I would give an A is “Me, Myself and the University” because when you first go to the blog, it is very fun to look at. I love the background and color choices and whenever I look at people’s blogs, that is probably the first thing I look for in a good blog. She also is a good writer and made me want to keep reading her posts.

I wish I could give everyone an A and talk about all of your blogs and how much I like them, but I can’t L So keep up the good work everyone! J

Professional Blogs

I thought it would be a lot easier to find professional blogs that I thought looked really interesting, but it was actually kind of difficult. The first professional blog I found that I would actually bother to take the time and read was http://www.shoppingblog.com/. I love shopping so I just typed "shopping blog" on Google and this is what I found. The blog talks mainly about shopping, fashion, beauty and pop culture, which are all things that I find interesting. On this blog you will find news about the recent awards shows, what celebrities have been doing lately and other random information related to these things. I don't know how many guys might find this blog interesting but I definitely know some girls that would. The visual presentation isn't as appealing as it probably could be, but something about it still made me want to read some of the posts. There is also a list of other blogs on the sidebar so if you were not as interested in this one, you could easily find another category that would interest you.

The second blog that I found is definitely my favorite of the two. http://abeachcottage.com/ It is a blog all about the beach, which is one of my favorite places to be. When you go to the page, it’s a beautiful blog. The pictures are so appealing and made me want to read the whole blog. After reading some posts, the blog is actually more about an actual beach cottage than just about the beach, but I can relate to it because my family owns a beach cottage in Madison, CT that we go to every weekend in the summer and is a big part of my life. Again, this blog might not be interesting to the guys and maybe not that many girls either, but for the girls that are interested in things like this, it’s a perfect blog. The pictures are lovely, the writing is inviting and made me want to read the posts, and I just really like this blog and am glad I found it.

Campus Safari Week #2

#6: Listen to the campus radio station and rate it based on how well you liked it and whether or not you'd listen again.

I did not know that Southern even had a radio station, so I was kind of excited when I heard about it. I listened to the campus radio station WSIN 1590 AM this morning from 10-11 and I really liked the songs that they played. I felt that they were very current songs and there were different types of music being played so there was something for everyone to enjoy. I would rate it a 5 out of 5 because overall the music was good and I would definitely listen to the station again and recommend it to other people.

I listened to the station on their website: http://radio.southernct.edu./

My Thoughts on Assigned Readings 2

1. "Digital Devices Deprive Brain of Needed Downtime"

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/25/technology/25brain.html?ref=yourbrainoncomputers

People are always on their cell phones or laptops, even me. If you walk by me while I'm waiting for a class to start, you will most likely see me on my phone. It just gives people something to do to pass the time and sometimes be productive. But scientists are now saying that doing this can lead to people's brains not learning certain things, come up with new ideas or remember information. If we are always on our phones when we're not doing anything else, our brains don't get the downtime they need to go over experiences we have had, solidify them and turn them into permanent memories. This really makes me think about how much better my brain could be and makes me want to try not to just go on my phone every time I have the chance. Maybe tomorrow instead of going on facebook and texting my friends while I'm waiting for class and have nothing else to do, I'll reconsider that and just take the time to let my mind process my experiences.

2. "An Ugly Toll of Technology: Impatience and Forgetfulness"

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/07/technology/07brainside.html?ref=yourbrainoncomputers

"We do spend a lot of time with our devices, and some studies have suggested that excessive dependence on cellphones and the Internet is akin to an addiction. Web sites like NetAddiction.com offer self-assessment tests to determine if technology has become a drug. Among the questions used to identify those at risk: Do you neglect housework to spend more time online? Are you frequently checking your e-mail? Do you often lose sleep because you log in late at night? If you answered “often” or “always,” technology may be taking a toll on you."

After reading this, I have to admit that I have an internet addiction. Internet has made me somewhat impatient, like when a page won't load fast enough it makes me mad or I just don't even bother waiting for it to finish. I always have been forgetful but I don't think that the internet has caused this or made me even more forgetful.

Reading both of these articles made me want to give up the internet for a while. I know I could probably never do this, but maybe I will decide to just limit how much technology I am exposing myself to every day.

My Thoughts on Assigned Readings

1. "How to Become a Deep Thinker at College"

http://calnewport.com/blog/2008/10/24/how-to-become-a-deep-thinker-at-college/

I found this article really helpful. It basically gave you a simple technique of how to train your brain to think better. This requires three steps, and they are:

1. choose courses that seem interesting to you, and no more than half of these courses should be in a subject that you already know something about.

2. calculate the number of hours per week you need to handle the workload for these courses.

3. double the total. keep this number of hours free in your schedule. so keep the number of courses you choose a reasonable number.

I wish I had known about these steps before I started college. I did pick one course which I know nothing about and that is Spanish. I really was not looking forward to that class and it is very intimidating to be in a class with mostly people that have already taken several years of the language, but now I am glad that my brain will benefit from it.

“Students who make great mental leaps and become more sophisticated thinkers are those who have more than enough time to think about, work on, grapple with and revel in their coursework. If one of your goals at college is to become a deeper, more nuanced thinker, then you need lots of time.” I think this statement is very important because I never really thought about how time can affect your brain and help you become a better thinker.

2. "Don't Eat the Marshmallow Yet"

http://www.ted.com/talks/joachim_de_posada_says_don_t_eat_the_marshmallow_yet.html

In this video, children about four years old were put in a room and a professor gave each of them one marshmallow and told them not to eat it for 15 minutes. If they did not eat the marshmallow, they received a second one. If they did eat it, they didn’t get anything. 2 out of 3 children ate the marshmallow before the 15 minutes were up. A follow up study was done when the children got to 18 or 19 years old and the ones that did not eat the marshmallows were very successful students. The ones that ate the marshmallow had bad grades, did not get in college, and were not successful.

What I got out of this video was how rewards can change your actions and how self discipline affects your decisions and eventually how successful you are. If you wait and don’t just act on impulse, you will benefit from that in time.

Campus Safari Week #1

For my first Campus Safari blog, I attended the "Amygdala" photography by Emily Denaro show in the Lyman Center Lobby Art Gallery. The photographs on display were of old buildings and things that normally people would overlook, and the point of her photos were to make people wonder. She said: "Perhaps it was drives past the Gilbert & Bennett factory as a kid; or stints urban exploring around CT; or solo train rides in Europe, concocting stories about the inhabitants of long-empty structures, that built my excitement for the dilapidated and the vacant. These photographs are not meant to be beautiful. They are meant to make one wonder. The real picture is what their subject's mystery creates in the mind." Even though these pictures were not meant to be beautiful, I thought that they were. They were very interesting and modern and made me really think about what I was seeing.

Setting the Tone for This Semester

It's really weird thinking of myself as a college student. I still wake up every day and think that I'm in high school. But I'm not in high school anymore and that's a big deal. College is the place that prepares you for the rest of your life. It is where you begin your life as an independent person. It's the place that helps you decide what you want to do as a career and who you want to be. To me, being a college student means working really hard. You can not get where you want to be in the future without hard work. I plan on being a nurse one day and I am fully prepare for all the work I am going to need to do in order to make that happen. Being in college gives you so many experiences you will never get anywhere else. I look forward to meeting all the various types of people here at SCSU and I want to learn things from them as well as from the professors. My goal is to eventually become a surgical nurse. I would love to be working in the operating room as the surgeon is performing a liver transplant or a double bypass to save someones life. I think that would be the most amazing thing ever. Other goals I have at Southern are to get involved in the activities on campus and contribute in the community service programs here. The thing I love the most about Southern is the community. During orientation, I got a strong sense of how everyone works together and how friendly people are, which is very important to me because I'm a friendly person as well.

When I look back on my college experience, I don't want to have any regrets and I want to have as much fun as I can while in college as well as getting good grades and doing the best I can in my classes to make my family proud.

Getting to Know Me

5 words, things or concepts that define me: friends, family, caring, quiet and fun.

My friends mean the world to me. My best friends, Allie and Becca, have been with me since third grade and I don't know what I would do without them. I'm sure everyone says this about their friends, but they just understand me in a way that my family neve

r could. Friendship is a great thing and I try to never t

ake it for granted because wit

hout my friends, I would be nothing.

I am a very family oriented person. I live with my mom, step dad and little sister and one of my favorite things to do is hang out with them. We are always laughing about something together and having fun no matter what we do. Every summer we go camping in Cape Cod, Mass. for two w

eeks and that would have to be my favorite part of the summer.

I have always been told that I am a very caring person and that is something that I am proud of. Whenever I see one of my family members or friends looking sad, I try to do everything I can to cheer them back up. Whenother people aren't happy, I'm not happy. And when other people are smiling, I'm smiling. It may sound cheesy to say that I care about everyone but it's true, and I just wish that everyone in the world could care about eachother.

If you haven't noticed, I'm a pretty quiet person. I always have been and i've had trouble with participating in classes because of it. Many people try to tell me to just open up and be more outgoing but as hard as I may try to do so, it just doesn't happen. I may be quiet to people I don't know very well, but once I become friends with someone, you won't be able to shut me up. So come get to know me and find out for yourself. :)

I love having fun. Who doesn't love having fun? If I'm with the right people, I can have fun wherever I am. When you're having fun is when memories are made and memories are kept forever.

♥