Hi guys! Now that classes are back in full swing, and I'm getting into the routine of thesis prep(In other news, I changed topics this week! I'm officially an Americanist(?) with a minor concentration in Medieval!) I wanted to share a few ideas on planning ahead and things you can do to really start off the week on a good note. '

On another note, I've been terrible at keeping to a Monday-Wednesday-Friday posting schedule! So sorry guys. With 20 hours of TA-ing, a full load of classes, and thesis research, its been a crazy few weeks! I'm also hoping to have floors soon! Walls went in last week! We will see how the semester goes, it may be that when school is happening I only post twice a week, but I will let you know!

1. Plan Ahead!  

  Make list of all the things you need to do, make a timeline for those things, and put it on a calendar, or your planner. I like to put things in two different places. Having it on the computer is nice and will be with me pretty much all the time, but there’s something fun about writing it down in a notebook!

2.     Color your planner!

I have one color for thesis due dates/meetings, one color for my medieval course, and one color for my american seminar. It’s an easy way to distinguish which task goes with which course, and it makes the weekly view prettier to look at! I also have a few different highlighters which Ill use to highlight the important tasks, as well as highlight those tasks when they’re done. 

My planner has a section at the end of the week it has a "gratitude" box, I really like having that space to add something I'm thankful for each week!

3. Never Underestimate the Power of a Good Outfit:

  Plan your clothes ahead of time – I like to go ahead and make a tentative plan for the entire week, but even just picking out clothes for the next day can make your Monday mornings so much easier! And it'll save you from finding the perfect shirt only to realize it needs to de-wrinkle before you could wear it out the door! This also goes for packing your bag, backpack, or briefcase the night before.

4. Outer Order leads to Inner Calm:

Straighten up your living room before you turn in for the night – I like to arrange my couch pillows and fold up the blanket before I go to bed, that way it’s clean and pretty looking when I wake up! & the perfect spot for my morning coffee!

5.Happiness is Not Having to Set an Alarm:

That being said, turn off the “snooze setting”! By not waking up at a consistent time, your body’s internal clock doesn’t adjust well, which keeps it from starting to wake itself up naturally(which it does when you get into a good sleep pattern!) Even if you are in a good sleep pattern, and only hit snooze every once in a while, your body won’t prepare your body to wake up the second time, which can leave you feeling more groggy for just a little bit of extra snoozing! Plus, if I know I have to wake up by 7:30, Id rather not have the last 15 minutes of sleep interrupted by setting the first alarm to go off at 7:15!