Vicky Tang, Period 6, 11/4,22

Vicky Tang, Period 6, 11/4/22

Modern Mythology 2023

Atomic Habits & Growth

My current standards for myself revolve around productivity and time management. I have a habit of procrastinating, particularly if it’s a task I find tedious. This was a habit that I have wanted to fix for quite a while. I did not have as much of an issue with this habit until quarantine lockdowns started. Previously, I was so busy that I did not have the time to procrastinate because I had no time to even think about procrastinating. Once everything was closed because of the lockdown, many people including myself found themselves to have a large amount of spare time. I finally had a break from my busy life and I enjoyed it so much that anything that I considered to be something that I did not want to do was pushed back until the last minute. Although many people have found comfort in having the time to do what they wanted, I found everyday to be very tiring. There was no more of that busy life, and as a reaction to my previously terribly managed and busy lifestyle, I wanted to enjoy the feeling of doing nothing for as long as possible. Things that you do often, regardless of whether they are good or bad, can unconsciously become a habit. 

Once schools were in person again, I had decided that I needed a change. My grades over the lockdown period left much to be desired. I’m not particularly athletic or academically inclined, but I do think that putting effort into anything you do is important, even if you are terrible at it. I determined that the cause of all of my problems were poor time management and procrastination. Nothing can be fixed immediately, but small steps can ensure success over time. I decided to observe different parts of my life and see why I do not procrastinate when doing certain things. I decided to think about why I always woke up without multiple alarms and spend time preparing food, even if it does take longer. These habits that I do have been done unconsciously over a long period of time. They are also things that I am motivated to do.  The biggest reason is that when I wake up in the morning, I am awake, so I do not see why I should sleep a couple more minutes when I have to get ready for the day. I cook a warm breakfast because I like to cook and because I think it creates a wonderful start for my day. I decided to apply this to anything that I needed to do. When I come home, I often sit down and use my phone for a while, instead of taking a shower or doing homework. Starting the first step to anything can motivate me to finish. I do this with homework assignments, checking emails, and any tasks that have due dates. 

Time management is also a skill that I have been working on. This was a problem since before lockdown. I was not busy in middle school, so even if I spent a long time on assignments, I could still finish them before the due date without rushing. In highschool, extracurricular activities, school assignments, studying and hobbies are difficult to balance. If I have multiple tasks that are not due for a while, I try to get started on each so that I am motivated to finish everything before its deadline. I will also take the time to work on assignments if I have the time, even if it is not due for a while. If I have any task that needs to be done, I set a time limit. This creates a sense of urgency. I can also decide when to have breaks this way so that I do not feel overwhelmed. I still have a long way to go until I perfect my time management system, but I am improving. This year’s English class has many projects and we have plenty of time to complete them. Although this means that I do not need to worry about time management as much, it is still important to do a little bit of the projects each day. 

Many people have reflected on their lives over lockdown and realize that they needed a change in their lives. Although I definitely did not take this in the right direction during lockdown, I was able to use self reflection to my own benefit to assess my current life. I have much more free time over the weekend, and that is a great time to use to reflect over my progress. Occasionally I do end up waiting until the last minute to do assignments but I have improved. I have observed an improvement in sleep quality and grades. It is easier to see improvement in time management since I can determine that based on how well I can finish my to-do-list in a certain amount of time. I tend to try figuring out ways to make adjustments once I notice that some part of my procrastination and time management system is not working too well. No one is perfect and neither am I. Occasionally I fail. Obsessing over mistakes along the way does not help. Understanding why and moving forward is better.