First-Year Student Journals : Nicole : Journal 7

21 January 2003

Everyday I make a to do list.
Everyday I have the same number one.
Everyday I vow to do number one the next day.

It seems I have mastered the art of making the “to do list,” however actually accomplishing the things to do is another story. Whether it’s reading, homework, reading, writing or reading, I have recently found myself putting it on the back burner. So just when I thought I reached a plateau, I have come across an obstacle, completely missing the sign on the road saying “bump ahead.”

The phenomenon that is the “to do list” has been encouraged and taught for generations, yet I think that students everywhere should be informed on how to make it past. Every time I settle in with my book and begin my long-awaited plan to catch up in a certain class (this poster child of a plan that has been formulated and redrafted and written out and pinned up on the wall, memorized and solidified yet never actually executed), there’s an inevitable phone call or knock on the door that presents numerous opportunities to stray from the first thing on the list to the things near the very bottom, like “social gatherings,” “dinner” or “movies.” It’s laughable how it never occurs to me to lock my door or turn off my cell phone. I guess it’s one of those subconscious, psychological behaviors Freud wrote about, and I’m sure I could tell you more on the subject if I had done last week’s homework.

Whew, no matter how much my brain gives my body the above lecture, it cannot seem to win it over. Maybe if both adopted the same approach to school, education and organization in general I could put a stop to the continuous hurrahs between them. I don’t exaggerate when I say I can be checked into a mental institution solely based on the horrific arguments I’ve had with myself. Never do I laugh when I see all too familiar students mumbling to themselves as they walk up a flight of stairs, and I can fully empathize with the guy who has turned his hands into works of art with notes and scribbles. You see, what seems strange to the masses is commonplace to the college student turned mental patient. Removed from our families and placed into a “community” where we are encouraged to find ourselves and become socially adept all the while gaining intellect, students on a university campus are the subjects of a massive time management experiment. Okay, so maybe I’m getting a little too “conspiracy theory.”

My point in all this babble is that for you to make it your need to be organized, so write things down and then do them! (My mom’s going to laugh when she reads that.) I feel pretty hypocritical giving this sort of advice, after all I did lose my car once. But that’s beside the point. There’s actually a lot of satisfaction that comes with crossing things off your list.

All my hopes reside in the belief that I will be able to write papers on time, start studying sufficiently enough before the test day, and maybe even allot my time so that my Sunday nights are relaxing and not madness. My first semester taught me the things I should be doing, I guess all that’s left is doing them. So the next time I make my “to do list,” I think I’m going to put the most important things at the bottom, because those are the things that always seem to get done first.



	Nicole \| Profile \| Reflections \| Journal 7 8 9 10 11 12 Fall 2002 \| Home
	21 January 2003 Everyday I make a to do list. Everyday I have the same number one. Everyday I vow to do number one the next day. It seems I have mastered the art of making the “to do list,” however actually accomplishing the things to do is another story. Whether it’s reading, homework, reading, writing or reading, I have recently found myself putting it on the back burner. So just when I thought I reached a plateau, I have come across an obstacle, completely missing the sign on the road saying “bump ahead.” The phenomenon that is the “to do list” has been encouraged and taught for generations, yet I think that students everywhere should be informed on how to make it past. Every time I settle in with my book and begin my long-awaited plan to catch up in a certain class (this poster child of a plan that has been formulated and redrafted and written out and pinned up on the wall, memorized and solidified yet never actually executed), there’s an inevitable phone call or knock on the door that presents numerous opportunities to stray from the first thing on the list to the things near the very bottom, like “social gatherings,” “dinner” or “movies.” It’s laughable how it never occurs to me to lock my door or turn off my cell phone. I guess it’s one of those subconscious, psychological behaviors Freud wrote about, and I’m sure I could tell you more on the subject if I had done last week’s homework. Whew, no matter how much my brain gives my body the above lecture, it cannot seem to win it over. Maybe if both adopted the same approach to school, education and organization in general I could put a stop to the continuous hurrahs between them. I don’t exaggerate when I say I can be checked into a mental institution solely based on the horrific arguments I’ve had with myself. Never do I laugh when I see all too familiar students mumbling to themselves as they walk up a flight of stairs, and I can fully empathize with the guy who has turned his hands into works of art with notes and scribbles. You see, what seems strange to the masses is commonplace to the college student turned mental patient. Removed from our families and placed into a “community” where we are encouraged to find ourselves and become socially adept all the while gaining intellect, students on a university campus are the subjects of a massive time management experiment. Okay, so maybe I’m getting a little too “conspiracy theory.” My point in all this babble is that for you to make it your need to be organized, so write things down and then do them! (My mom’s going to laugh when she reads that.) I feel pretty hypocritical giving this sort of advice, after all I did lose my car once. But that’s beside the point. There’s actually a lot of satisfaction that comes with crossing things off your list. All my hopes reside in the belief that I will be able to write papers on time, start studying sufficiently enough before the test day, and maybe even allot my time so that my Sunday nights are relaxing and not madness. My first semester taught me the things I should be doing, I guess all that’s left is doing them. So the next time I make my “to do list,” I think I’m going to put the most important things at the bottom, because those are the things that always seem to get done first.