Welcome, Queens & Kings to this second iteration of this YOU-ni Series. There will be 3 blogs in addition to accompanying YouTube Videos. The series will provide tools and advice for how to handle virtual or hybrid college. It is coming from the perspective of someone who has gone through a fully virtual first-year university.
In this blog, we will focus on practical tips to make yourself stand out as a student.
-Having a professional Email Signature.
One thing about college is that there is an increased sense of formality when communicating with professors or even fellow students whilst online. A general summary of who you are as a student should be present in an email.
A proper signature should state your name, your program, your year (either 1st, 2nd, etc), -----
You know that thing where they ask you to introduce yourself and say all these things and how annoying it feels? You can escape that on emails by setting up a signature.
Furthermore, ensure you use proper English, if you are emailing a professor about course work- state the course code and as many details as possible about the course.
Email providers have a setting that can allow you to add a signature that will appear with each email you send.
You can simply type it or create a cute one on Canva.
-Making use of a comprehensive planning system
Making use of Monthly, Weekly and Daily planning systems can help you stay organized & increase your productivity. You would be able to have an aerial view of what you need to focus on and the tasks you need to get done.
For more details on planning systems, I encourage you to watch this video
-Reducing decision fatigue
There are various means by which we stress our brains that can be avoided, resulting in more efficient brain work in other areas. Decision fatigue is a result of being forced to make too many decisions over a fixed period either because of many options or taking on many things. Reducing decision fatigue can look like you maintaining a daily routine, picking out outfits to wear or choosing some sort of uniform to wear, limiting options, setting up deadlines between decisions, and delegating decisions. You can break down big projects into smaller tasks. The whole idea is to simplify your life and set it up in a way that you know what to do at a given period. As opposed to always asking ‘What should I work on now?’ ‘There are just so many things to do, what should I do first?’ These types of things tend to make room for procrastination and stress.
-Have things or activities that can motivate you or help you to de-stress
You’ve probably heard or pre-empted that college can be stressful. In order to stand out, it is best for you to prepare for those downtimes. Identify a thing or activity that can help you get out of a rut when you feel unmotivated- It could be a reminder of your why/ mission statement, a digital/physical photo album of individuals in your life that inspire or motivate you, setting up a vision board, a letter to your future self, motivational videos on YouTube. Whatever it is, identify yours, save it and go to it when you feel down.
De-stressing looks like you exercising, calling a friend, watching a movie, having no plans for a day, making art, dancing, journaling and so many more!
-Study Motivation Board
Either a digital or physical one but have a visual representation of what you want to achieve, older college students doing what you want to do, inspirational words & leaders.
Making use of these prompts by Hammanh Ashton will be most beneficial:
-Have something else to win at
Life can become dreary if your sole source of excellence is your academics- if you always excel you might not have time for other important areas in your life, if you aren’t always excelling you might fall into depression. Either way too much of one thing is not good. Have some other hobby, activity, side gig or project to work on that can validate you even if your academics don’t. Most excelling students have this but the key is to know how to prioritize.
-Make time for fun!
Whether you’ll be home or on campus, make a list of places to visit and choose your frequency- either bi-weekly or monthly then schedule it in.
Here are some more prompts from Hannah to help to schedule everything.
Here is the accompanying video to this blog: https://youtu.be/E6X6eqvdv9Q
Thanks for stopping by.
Never Stop Curating your best life
Y.E.N
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