Officially done with classes this semester, y’all!

Last night my friends and I celebrated at the Catholic center (I know, I’m there 99% of the time) with a fun Christmas party. There were cookies, ugly sweaters, and gingerbread “houses.” ‘Twas a perfect way to end the semester before we dug into studying for finals!

All the freshmen at the party. Check out my friend Albert in the middle with all us ladies. Player.

Before I enjoyed a multitude of cookies and snacks at the party, I ate some other delicious and more nutritious things earlier in the day. Breakfast was a classic pb-banana-honey oatmeal with scrambled eggs.

I also ate an interesting yet tasty lunch with my friend, Lauren. We tried this vegan quinoa/mushroom Shepherd’s pie with cranberry mint sauce, and I was a fan! It was definitely no comfort food, but it was a cool alternative since “Veggie Galaxy” was at the dining hall as the guest chef of the day.

Story time: I dropped my first plate of this all over the floor of the dining hall as we were walking back to our table because I’m clumsy and ridiculous. The picture above is take two. I like how my food just tends to fling everywhere.

Dinner also hit the spot, most likely because it involved copious amounts of dairy (for which I expressed my love yesterday) in the form of cheese. I had a whole wheat, chicken, cheese, and veggie quesadilla, as well as a little mac and cheese because it was baked and fresh out of the oven…

Mmm mmm good.

Cutting Down the Time-Wasting

Now that finals are in less than a week, I need to FOCUS. I’m pretty good at managing my time, but there are also days where I’ll be doing work and then I’ll get “a little” distracted multiple times throughout the day. Before I know it, I’ve accumulated 1-2 hours of nothingness.

I’m all for slowing down and treating yourself in little ways every single day, but it’s easy to let little distractions snowball into major procrastination. Thus, as we approach finals week, here are some things to which I want to commit so that I can maximize productivity!

1) The ‘gram has got to go (at least during the day).

Instagram is my number one pitfall of doom. Tapping on the little icon on my phone to “just check a few posts” turns into a good 30 minutes of scrolling since I follow so many people. Once I start, I can’t stop.

2) Work out, but don’t over-think it.

I often spend way too much time deciding on what kind of workout I want to do some days. I scroll through workouts that I’ve saved on my phone, I consider making up my own workout, and I try to think of logistics as to when I’ll go to the gym. Sometimes I feel like I need to do “the right” workout, so I spend so much time thinking about what will be the most effective/intense/not intense.

I’m not necessarily proud of this fact that I over-think working out, so I want to work on just choosing a workout and being grateful for any sort of movement and exercise that I can get during the day.

3) Don’t listen to music while I study.

I’ve been in denial, but I know that I do not focus as well when I’m listening to music as I work.

4) Set time intervals for studying.

I’m a daydreamer when I am sitting and studying by myself for too long. If I set a timer for 30-60 minute intervals of focused studying and then 10-15 minutes of break time (NOT on my phone though), I can help myself stay engaged yet sane.

5) Go to places where I know I will not be distracted.

Sometimes I just want to study in my room, but I know I get distracted there because of friends coming in to talk and my bed being so close… So I want to make the effort to go to certain study places where I know I am most productive. That will allow me to walk more too!

Alright, I am kind of late for psychology review, so I’ll catch ya later. Best of luck to all my fellow college students on their finals!

Have a fantastic day!

So tell me:

What are some things you do that help cut down time-wasting?

What is your biggest productivity-sucker?

Instagram and music for me!

Do you have an ugly Christmas sweater?