Life Goals and Getting Stuff Done

  I am a firm believer in setting goals and making todo list, every night before I go to bed I sit down and plan out my day for tomorrow (if it is a school night, I set up my weekends different depending on what I am doing that day), by morning, after school, after the gym, and all day. Under the first three tabs I will put any homework, daily routine related things, just anything I want to get down in that period of time. This truly helps me be a more productive person and get more done. Under the all day tab I will put any of my goals for that day like, no social media, eat healthy, etc. I use pen and paper for everything because for me that is what helps me be more productive. I also use a planner to help map out when things are due and when I am going todo what. I currently colour coordinate but that is completely up to you if you want to do that.

  I always make sure what I am putting in my planner and on my todo lists will help me get where I want in life. Everyday you have to stick to a plan in order to succeed, and on that plan we must have things that your future self will thank you for but I also believe that everyday you should be doing something just for yourself. Your grades will be better if you let yourself relax sometimes, you can't always be go go go, but you also can't not do anything all day. Finding balance is key in life. I am type A so I have a very go go go personality but I also know that I need to take time to relax. I still get everything done off of my todo list, besides you will eventually ruin out if you never rest. Your time to yourself dose not need to be spent doing nothing or being lazy, I love to workout so that is my my me time.

  Eating is key, I don't know about you but I can get so much more done when I am eating a healthy diet with lots of fruits and veggies. Also do not be scared of carbs, they are what gives us the energy that we and our brains need to function. Food is fuel so treat it that way. Get the nutrients that you need or else you will feel sleepy and lazy all day and get nothing done. Sleep is also important, no one wants to get anything done when they are sleepy so go to bed earlier! Waking up early is my key to getting stuff done, I am a morning person and I am 10 times more productive in the morning than I am at 22:00, most people are just on their phones then anyway so unless you are at work try to go to bed before 22:30 (10:30pm). That really helps me get more done. I am always happier the earlier I start my day.

  All in all get your life goals done and everyday do something that beings you closer to the. My life goal is to be a healthy, fit, productive, and loving (and so much more) neurosurgeon, everyday I make sure I am working towards something that will bring me closer to those goals, whether it is reading a book related to neurosurgery, watching a video about the brain or a surgery, eating better, working-out, trying to be nicer, study for a test, etc., or doing all of those things. The grind includes everyday, so everyday be productive.  There are no days off from working towards your goals.

Stay Beautiful, Stay You
Claire

How Facebook Has Affected And Changed our Society

Facebook, something that started in a dorm room at Harvard has been able to change our society in drastic ways since it was established in 2004. Our society has changed for better and for worse since Facebook was established. Today I will be focusing on the ways Facebook has negatively impacted and affected our society. Facebook has made us more lazy, gives us everything at our fingertips, and gives us superficial ideas.

 We have been able to be more lazy since Facebook first hit the internet on February 4th, 2004 since we no longer have to move from our computer screens to do anything and everything that we think we need is on the internet anyway nowadays. We can talk to people without taking the time out of your day to truly interact with them, often taking away that special feeling that you used to get when you would get a call or a letter from someone you truly loved and cared about. With not taking the time out of your day to interact with someone we can also see what they are up to with just checking our Facebook news feed to see if they have updated their status and what their latest status is. You can see their latest trip, you they are currently dating, married, or engaged to, if they are expecting, and so much more even if they didn’t tell you about it, often making their best friends feel not as important when everyone knows what they are up to and not just them. In the movie Eduardo’s girlfriend got mad at Eduardo because he didn’t update his relationship status to “in a relationship”, leading to the end of their relationship. Before Facebook none that would of mattered since you would tell everyone you wanted to know that you were taken and that would be it but nowadays your relationship isn’t official unless it is online. People value the opinion of others online too much in today’s world and society  and Facebook has contributed to that with putting everything we need to know about someone or something at our fingertips.

 We also have everything at our fingertips, we no longer have to extensive research on something to find out if it is true. You see what is happening in the world just by refreshing your feed, no more reading the newspaper, no more TV news, taking jobs away from many people. In the movie Mark used Facebook to cheat on his art final/exam, he was able to do this by posting on Facebook about what he needed to know about and people told him the answers. He didn’t even need to open his textbook once or do one ounce of research, everyone did it for him. Some may argue that we have just became more efficient but I would argue that we have gotten more lazy, our rates of ADD and ADHD have gotten higher, we don’t work as hard, we always look for the shortcut that never works long term because we are lazy! All we care about is what’s online, what’s trending, and if you can’t get it at a click of a button it isn’t worth it. Education is less valued because people don’t want to work for it anymore.

 Having everything at our fingertips makes us think we think we need to be a certain way, need to wear certain things, giving us superficial ideas about ourselves, others, and life in general. We see someone wearing a certain dress on Facebook and that the post got 300 likes and 200 comments so then we feel the need to go and buy that dress so people will tell us that we are pretty as all. We value the opinion of others to a point that it seems that their opinion is all we care about and without their validation that we are nothing. We go to the store and buy the dress you saw on Facebook in a different colour, one that complements your skin tone better. On the way home you stop for ice cream, but you can’t eat it until after you take the photo because you don’t want to appear chubby in the photo because according to our society that isn’t beautiful. Once you get home you do your makeup and hair, put on the dress take a couple of photo and upload them to Facebook so all of your “friends” think you are going out on a Friday night, having fun. As quickly as you put on the dress you take it off slip into your favourite pair of pajamas, take off your makeup, and put your hair in a bun. You sit on your couch eating the Ben and Jerry’s you bought earlier that day, crying as you upload the photo of you in the dress waiting for the likes and comments to pour in, for that superficial validation to pour in so you’ll feel better about yourself. In the movie Sean Parker who only cared about being in the club, money, fame, what people thought of him, and superficial ideas in general, he took Mark under his wing who never cared about anything the least bit superficial completely changed. Soon he only cared about superficial things, ruining his friendship with Eduardo who didn’t care about superficial items or things at all. Superficial ideas and items have the power to ruin our self esteems, friendships, relationships, and so much more.

 Facebook in just under 12 years has had the power to completely change our society in more ways than Mark ever thought would be possible, it started off in his dorm room at Harvard but has now completely changed the way people live, communicate, and go about their day to day lives. Our lives and society will never be the the way it used to be because of Facebook. We have never been more lazy, had more things at our fingertips, or had this many superficial ideas, as we have had in the past 12 years. Everything has changed.

 

The 5 Best Apps To Do Well In School

Sorry I didn't get a blogpost last week! I was with my friend for the whole weekend so I didn't get a chance to upload one! Now on to todays topic!

1. Quizlet - This is a great app for creating flashcards if you are not at home, don't have any blank ones, don't want to carry them around, or simply are too lazy to write them out (typing is faster, okay?). While I personally still like to write out my flashcards on actual flashcards this is great for on the go. Another benefit is that you can share you flashcards with friends and even find other peoples flashcards on the same topic as what you want! The website for quizlet allows you to make a practice test with all of your definitions. Quizlet is available to download onto your phone (mobile does not offer the test option but is still great) or you can check out their website.

2. Study Lock - This app (and many others like it) allow you to set a timer on your phone but it encourages you not to go off of it or to any apps, preventing you from going on youtube while you should be studying. It keep tracks of you successes and failures and if you are like me that is enough to motivate you not to go off the app. There are plenty of apps that do this.

3. Khan Academy - Have you ever been studying for a test and all the sudden not get what something means like what the heck is mitosis (cell division and reproduction)? Or maybe you don;t get your homework but it is due tomorrow and you have noway of getting in touch with your teacher until class starts. Well that is what Khan Academy is good for! They have videos on so many topics, never leaving you wondering what mitosis (or anything for that matter) is. They will be sure to answer your questions through educational videos. Of course you still may need to talk to your teacher the next day but at least you tried to do it!

4. PowerSchool (does not apply to all) - Not all schools use this but if your school does use this (or something similar to it) take full advantage of it! This app alerts you of your grades, due dates, things that are late, what you haven't passed in, and so much more. You gives you a real time look at your grade. Report card day will never be a surprise again. I swear by this app and it has truly made me a better student. Being able to see your grades before you get a test back and your average before report card day truly make me less anxious.

5. Google class, docs, slides, drive, etc.  - If your teacher uses google classroom download the app, it allows you to see upcoming assignments, notes, or whatever else they think is important. You can also pass in your papers and projects via google classroom. Things like google docs and drive are nice because they allow you to do your work online, never making you need a USB again and taking away the excuse of leaving your USB at home. They are very easy to use and easy to share with other people and teachers. Most importantly they are FREE!

Until next time,
Stay Beautiful, Stay You,
Claire