I love structure. I love planning, and pencilling events in my diary, writing to-do lists, and keeping busy. My diary and university workbooks are always bursting with vibrant colour-coded inks (I will take a picture of one of my diary’s pages to show you what I mean). Juggling three jobs, attending university, and having a healthy balance of free time requires obedience and structure.
This year in particular has seen my organisational skills improve tremendously. I’m at the point where I have so much going on that I need to create weekly lists of things to do for my tutoring students, for my website, for work, for university, and for friends. It feels overwhelming when I look at all I have to do in one week, but when I reach the end of a week and see all of my list content ticked off, I feel really happy with myself, and feel that I have used my time effectively.
There are some weeks where I plan way too much, then try and figure out how on earth I will have time to do normal things such as wash my hair and style it so I don’t look like Hagrid when I leave the house. This week is one of those weeks. I have so much due at the moment (yet, I sit here and write articles instead), and I have so much planned over the next few days. I know I’ll get it done, but it will just take some super thoughtful planning and some super strong coffee.
Keeping active and busy is so important to me, too. I love having things to look forward to. I love working towards becoming a teacher and involving myself in all sorts of events and opportunities related to education. I've said this before, but I strongly believe that it is so important to find your passion in life and work towards it. Education and teaching is what keeps me going. Every little bit of experience I encounter in that field is helping me develop as a teacher. I’ve already learnt so much in the past two years, being in the real world and looking at the classroom from a different perspective. It’s so exciting.
One other thing I'm very passionate about is human interaction. I love observing people, listening to people talk about what inspires them, watching people grow and develop and experience things, and I love learning from people. I really value the relationships that I have with others. You learn so much from every individual you encounter. Every single person in this world has something to offer you, just as you do to them. I always make sure that I have time every day to - in some way or another - show people how much I value them. Hence, I find it very important to find the time to socialise with others. A different opinion, an issue being brought to the surface, or a lengthy discussion about life can really alter the way you view the world. Be open to listening to other's discuss their thoughts - it will allow you to reflect on your experiences, too.
Use your time effectively and keep busy. Involve yourself in anything and everything - experience makes you a richer person. Work harder and smarter than you've ever worked before. Be open-minded and involve yourself in things that might be a little out-of-the-ordinary - there are so many exciting things going on in the world and so many brilliant people in it, too. Take the time to reflect on whether you're using your twenty-four hours a day wisely. An opinion article from me is never quite complete without a quote from my favourite author. As Randy Pausch said, “luck is where preparation meets opportunity.”
-N
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