With the end of uni fast approaching, Sian tells us how she's been keeping productive.
My last term of university is well underway now, and finally the snowy weather is beginning to turn to spring. I submitted my first assignments of the term, the end is now in sight. Unfortunately, my last assignment is by no means going to be the easiest, as it’s my dissertation… But, I know it’s going to be a whirlwind of a term – I always find the spring term goes the fastest! I’ve decided to accept that I won’t be able to finish university in person, but I’ve given up hoping for change, and instead accepted that this is my final term, and hopefully graduate life will begin on a better foot.
Studying from home in lockdown is anything but ideal, but I’m making the best of it. As someone who suffers from chronic back pain, I’m having trouble sitting for long periods of time at my makeshift home office and am missing my university set up. Although, it means more excuses for going out for walks and taking breaks which is a bonus.
One thing that’s keeping me going is the promise of spring. Just seeing the blossom on the trees will make a nice change to the monotony we’ve all been living with for far too long. Dreaming of summer has definitely distracted me on far too many occasions than I’d like to admit, but it really helps my mental health and concentration when I eventually get down to work.
To improve my productivity, I’ve been trying out the Pomodoro technique. I set a timer on my phone and work for that period of time, trying not to look at messages from my friends and memories of a pre-Covid world that I vaguely remember. At least it helps me drown out the distractions of TikToks, Instagram posts and Netflix, but still, they’re never far away.
One thing that lockdown has taught me is that I need to listen to what my body and mind want. If I’m having a low motivation day, a high pain day or just a day where I am feeling down, I try not to be too hard on myself. I try to take it slow and take the days one at a time.
"One thing that lockdown has taught me is that I need to listen to what my body and mind want"
Lockdown has ways of messing with us all and the main message from this entry is to not be hard on yourself if you aren’t quite as productive as you were before. I guess the lack of hangovers has its perks!
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