Get Organized for College: Week 6 Habits & Self Care

Hi, everyone!  This is Lara Hammock from The Marble Jar Channel and today's video is the sixth in a 7-part series to help you Get Organized for College.  Even though this targets college students, it could be helpful for anyone who is struggling to organize life!  This video discusses how to build good habits, start the day off right, and focus on self care and mental health wellness.

So far in this series, you've set up some great systems to handle your communication, calendar, tasks, notes, and files.  And you've learned some tips on how to be more productive.  And although taking care of your schoolwork is important, it's also really important to take care of your environment and your mental health.  Let's start with
  • Habits - What we do today, we do more of in the future -- both good and bad.  You sleep in -- your body will want to do more of that in the future.  You get to class on time -- that sets you up for more of that behavior.  The key is to start making a habit of doing good things for ourselves that contribute to our goals.  But as we all know -- starting new habits can be challenging.  One idea, if you are finding it hard to remember to do certain habits, one idea is to chain them together with some things you are already doing.  For example, I was having a hard time remembering to drink kombucha every day, so I started drinking my medicine at night with a glass of kombucha.  And I now put a 1/2 tsp of turmeric and ginger in there too.  I chained those 3 habits together and now it's easy to do them every day.
  • Morning routine - create a morning routine for yourself to start the day out right.  There is a saying "If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed."  The idea is that starting your day with a small positive task helps you to do the next task of the day, which helps you do the next.  I encourage you to have a morning routine that chains some things together.  For example, as soon as I get out of bed, I chug 2 12oz glasses of water.  Then I brush my teeth, open the blinds, make my bed, and make my coffee.  Every morning.  All of this happens before I'm even really awake enough for my brain to have any rebellion about it. 
  • Clutter - the state of our environment is a reflection of the state of our minds.  Messy rooms can make us stressed, depressed, and disorganized.  Here are some ideas that might help:
    • Everything has its place - I was sold on this concept fairly late in life, but it has really helped me stay orderly and find things.  Everything in your life needs to have a landing place.  If it doesn't -- either find a place for it or throw it out.  Don't throw it in a doom bin -- which is a spot for a bunch of things that don't have an actual place.
    • Don't put it down, put it away - it takes maybe several more seconds to put things away than to put them down in the wrong place.  Take those extra seconds.  Don't put it down, put it away.  Say this to yourself like a mantra as you are about to put something down.  And finally,
    • 5 Minute Clean - Set a timer for 5 minutes and then go as fast as you possibly can to clean as much as you can.  And when the timer stops, you stop.  It's fun and it's amazing how much you can do in 5 minutes!  Make this part of your morning routine if you need to.
    • Start in a Corner - if you are going to tidy, clean, or organize a room, start in a corner and work out from there.  That accomplishes two things: it allows you to see your progress -- it's disheartening to start putting things away in the middle of the room and 15 minutes later see absolutely no evidence that you made a dent in the clutter.  And the second thing is that it gives you a place to start!  Sometimes just choosing where to start feels overwhelming and contributes to procrastination.  And with a clear demarkation of where you left off, it gives you a place to start again if you are only speed cleaning for 5 minutes at a time for example. 
  • Laundry and other mundane chores -  I hate chores that feel like they are never done -- like laundry.  There always seems like there are clothes to fold or more laundry to put in. So I made a rule and now I only do laundry on Fridays.  If I run out of jog bras -- well, I'm not doing laundry until Friday, so I either have to buy new ones or make do!  For chores that always feel like they are nagging you, assign them to a regular day and put them on your task list to recur weekly.  That way they are out of your mind until that day, but you can be sure they will get done at least once a week.

Self Care
We've talked a lot about productivity and taking care of things, but you need to make sure you are taking care of yourself first and foremost.  Because if your mental health goes south, well, your productivity, school work, and everything else is going down right along with it.   Make sure you are getting enough sleep, eating properly, getting exercise, being outside, spending time with friends, and resting when you need it.   You are not a productivity machine -- you need to recharge by watching dumb YouTube videos or scrolling social media, so give yourself some time to do this.  Unless of course, this leaves you feeling sad and alone, in which case, find another way to recharge. 

Also, listen to your body, if you are dragging around during the day, feeling antsy or anxious, or sleeping too much, see if you can make some shifts in your life to make things better.  These are important ways that your body is signaling to you that it might need something different -- don't ignore it.  It is really important to check in with yourself regularly to see how you are feeling and whether you need to create more balance in your life.  It's particularly important that you have someone to talk to about how you are doing emotionally.  If you don't have a friend, a parent, or a mentor that you can talk to openly about this -- consider seeking out a therapist.  Having a close, emotionally open relationship is crucial to well being and one of the best things you can do for your mental health.

This Week's Tasks
Your tasks for this week will be thinking about what kinds of habits and morning routine you would like to implement, considering ways to eliminate clutter, and brainstorming on methods of self care.  There is a link to a worksheet containing all of these tasks in the description below. 

I'd love to hear how things go.  Comments are always appreciated and thanks for watching!



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