Do your mornings feel frantic, rushed and chaotic? Are you sliding into your first class with not a second to spare and nothing you need for class? Are you filled with excuses for why things are all over the place? With a few simple steps you can begin to make a change that will feel better immediately. Are you ready? For this quick project you will need a piece of paper and a pen or pencil.
Step one - What’s working about your current routine? Make a quick list of the things that are serving you. Some examples might be;
-I always put my backpack in the same spot so its easy to find. I easily locate my homework and have it ready to turn in. I have a great system to remember what is due and when.
Step two - What NOT working about your current morning schedule? List out the frustration and pain points. Some examples might be;
-I’m failing a class because I can’t ever find the homework I know I did! I always lose the stuff my Mom’s supposed to sign. I forgot we had a quiz, for the 4th time!
Step three - Make a change, even if its the wrong one. Motion towards a goal is always better than no motion at all. Some examples might be;
-Set a digital calendar reminder for date and time specific tasks. Example, 7:30 am reminder “Quiz on Thursday”.
-Create a capture tool, this is a folder where you put everything you gather throughout the day; homework, permission slips, notes from a class lecture etc. or possibly a notebook or notes app where you keep everything. The key to a capture tool is taking a few minutes at the end of the day to process things and put them in their proper place. We’ll talk about review and processing in another article.
Start here, share your results and I’ll see you next week!