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Back to school is upon us once again.  This time of year makes me feel like anything is possible, even more so than New Years’.  You could argue that going back to school is almost like a second new year and that this is just another chance to make resolutions.

Let’s address the massive, purple elephant in the room. This year is unlike any other. We will be returning in many different forms and paces as we gradually come out of our respective quarantines. So my back to school post this year will be a bit different than the others.

There are no lecture halls this year: no crowded buses, no labs or packed schedules. Everything is online and socially distanced. So, my plans for this year reflect that. Instead of looking outward, I want to look inward to prepare. Instead of creating a whole new list of expectations to adhere to, I think I will instead take this as an opportunity to hold myself accountable to vow’s I have already made.

Usually, this is when I make all kinds of promises to myself, that I will find a way to try harder, or do be more efficient than last year.  But this year, I am going to review my New Year’s resolutions to see how I have been keeping up.  

I still stick by my first day essentials, listed out last year.  I do have a couple of gadgets listed, to help make these transitions smoother. You may see some affiliate links below. These are products that I love and thought I would pass on if you wanted to give them a try. I promise that your day will be exponentially more relaxed if you follow that list.  I know I will be.

No Procrastinating

I have been doing pretty well on this one.  My days tend to be very long between work and school, so I don’t have much left over time to procrastinate.  I am not entirely sure if that is a good or a bad thing because it also leads me to feel overwhelmed quite often.

One trick I have is using the Pomodoro method in order to get myself into the swing of working when I am feeling sluggish. The Pomodoro method is a productivity hack that has you spend 25 minutes focusing on whatever tasks you need to do; then, you get a 5-minute break. Simple right?

You repeat this of four intervals, and then you get a longer 20-minute break. This is a severely underrated productivity hack. I don’t want to go into to much detail here; you can watch a deep dive, or read the article if you follow this link. What I will say is that it is much easier to convince yourself to work for 25 minutes than to sit down and commit to a 2-hour session. With the Pomodoro technique, you will quickly find that these blocks add up, and as they fly past, you will find you are getting more done than you thought you would.

If you want to give the Pomodoro technique a try, or you are already a die-hard advocate, try out this cute timer. It is super portable regardless of whether you are working on your desk, or out in the field. It is also incredibly versatile and can be used for workouts too.

We have an entire set of guided Pomodoro style study sessions that are pre-timed for you. There is a mix of white noise, focus friendly music, and even cafe sounds. Try one out the next time you have tasks to cross off.

I think that a focus of mine going forward needs to be to stick to my self-care regimen.  I often feel close to burn out, and even though I am one of those weird people who find studying relaxing, other elements of school and work are incredibly stressful for me.  

I feel a lot of guilt tied up in taking time off to take care of my needs.  This may cause some of my inhibition to have a nap or relax while doing a facemask without forcing myself to multitask.  But I need to make myself believe that I am worth it and that things will not all fall apart if I take a couple of hours off. I try my best to spend Sundays unplugged and focus on friends and family. The trouble is that I always feel like there is just one more task that I need to do before I can relax.

Do you ever have this problem where you feel guilty for not packing your days full of productive tasks?

Drink more water!

The jury is still out on this one.  I have been trying really hard to get enough water, but sometimes it just seems impossible.  I did purchase a soda stream, which lets you carbonate water yourself. I find drinking this much easier when I used infused water or the flavoured syrup that they also offer. 

They have options that have much less sugar than pop that you buy at the store, so I allow this to comfort me. I need to try harder on this one, but I am sure I will eventually succeed.  I will admit, when I see my friends emptying their waters, I do feel a bit envious because it seems so much easier for them.

I just picked up the cutest infuser so that I could add mint and cucumber to my water. I will link to it as well. I thought it might tell to add some flavour, and so far, it is working. There are so many different flavours I want to try infusing. I actually picked up two so that I could prepare them the night before and leave them in the fridge. This allows the flavour to distribute a little better. If you have some great flavour combos for me, leave them in the comments. Maybe we can start a challenge.

Take a full day off once a month.

I have failed miserably at this one.  I have never been particularly good at relaxing.  All the while, I am usually mentally planning what I have to do the next day.  This generally leads to feelings of anxiety over how much I have to do, followed by the bright idea to get things ready to go for the following day. Ultimately, it turns into me just starting the list and foregoing the entire concept of a day off.  

With the ever-looming reality of burnout overhead, I need to force myself to take a step back and have this break.  In the second part of this year, I need to refocus on this goal and make it a reality.

Post Regularly

You don’t need me to tell you that I fail at this one.  This is due to a very similar reason above; I am always so busy.  Making time to upload on the blog is really tight. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by all of the ideas I have for the site and the lack of time to see them all to fruition.

The second reason is that I do not want to do anything halfway.  I am a perfectionist at heart, and I’m not too fond of the feeling that I could have done a better job at something but cut corners.

So why do I keep at it?  Because I am determined to build something for myself.  I have so many things I want to share, so much experience, and I really think that others can benefit from it.  I could find a job and get paid to do this, but that would involve building someone else’s empire.  

I have spent so much of my life furthering other people’s companies and ambitions, its time to do it for myself.  Leaving my previous employment and setting up shop as a solo consultant might be the scariest thing I have ever done. I miss being able to fall back on a regular salary, but at the end of the day, that’s just not me. I have always loved being the scrappy starter that goes after the big fish or the hard to get clients. From here on, I am doing this for me, though.

How have you been doing with your New Years Resolutions?  Are you going to be making a new set of resolutions for back to school?  Let me know in the comments below!

In the meantime, check out this list of first-day essentials.  Getting back into the grove will be made so much more comfortable with these suggestions.  You can also see the up and coming plans for the website here.  Check back often for new offerings and exciting updates.

I would like to be transparent so that there are no misunderstandings, as an affiliate I may earn a small commission from any products linked in this post. This is not a sponsored post and I was not asked to recommend these products. These are products that I truly love and wanted to share with my audience.