Elven Zheng, Period 7, 11/16/2022

Elven Zheng

Period 7

11/16/22

Modern Mythology 2023

Atomic Habits & Growth 

• At this current point in time, what specific standards have you set for yourself? 

• How and why did you come to craft these standards? 

• How do you demonstrate resilience towards achieving these standards? 

• How do you assess yourself? What adjustments do you make? How often?

Senior year has been very hectic. College applications, difficult courses, extracurriculars, and other parts of life are biting me nonstop. They’re overwhelming, but the stress and exhaustion humbles me. Sometimes, they sweep me off my feet, so I set standards to prevent me from losing my footing. Specific standards I’ve set are to stop procrastinating, stay level-headed, and engage more. These are niche standards, but these standards affect my day-to-day functioning. Procrastination may be the biggest problem I have. With texting, eating, or gaming, I often get distracted and lose motivation to work. Procrastination has led to all-nighters being pulled for the sake of finishing an assignment on time. It disrupts my sleep, and it brings an unnecessary burden to my schedule. Next, is staying level-headed. Because of stress and a rapid pace, I’ve adopted a hot temper. This hot temper promotes rash decisions, disregarding future consequences. While these decisions are mostly minor, they’re signs of a bad habit. The in-the-moment decisions may return to bite me in the future, so I’d want to avoid that. The last standard is to increase my engagement, specifically with friends. Because there’s so much work to be done, I’ve enclosed myself in my room, grinding out essays and studying for exams. As a result, my interactions with friends have taken a hit. Plans of going to eat, playing basketball, and other activities were all canceled because there were too many deadlines. These are habits that seeped into my daily life that plague my habits and threaten my growth. 

The root of all evil is procrastination. The other limitations of mine are a result of my procrastination, so I have to work hard to stop procrastinating. To help me with my problems, I’ve started using a calendar to build my day. This helps me manage my time, making sure I spend my time wisely. I’ve also put restrictions on social media and gaming for myself, as those activities cause most of my procrastination. When starting work, I now isolate myself from as many distractions as possible, and try to immerse myself in my work, hoping to complete it and not get sidetracked. With less assignments stacked on the deadline, it gives me less stress and a clearer mind. In addition, this creates more time for me to socialize as I have more free time. 

My biggest assessor is Google Classroom. There, I’m able to monitor my assignments. This allows me to see what assignments are coming up and the distance between deadlines. This allows me to not get overwhelmed by many assignments at once. On the occasion I do see a lot of deadlines piled up, I will adjust my calendar accordingly, giving myself enough time to work on the assignment without cramming everything. I try to review my decisions and temper every night, trying to hold myself accountable for my choices and my actions made during the day. When I notice a mistake, I learn from its aftermath and try to fix it the next day. The biggest difference that I can notice is an increase in free time, because with lower procrastination rate, there is more time for hanging out with friends and doing leisure activities.