No Excuses

I’ve had a hard time getting inspired lately. Now is the wind down to graduation. 2 and a half months left, time is flying and I’m just “meh”. I feel like I’ve been doing a lot of half-assed work, simply because I’m feeling lukewarm about what I’m doing. Every night I get home, I feel exhausted and I haven’t even started on the stack of homework I have to do. For the last couple of weeks I’ve been making excuses and putting off work until the last minute simply because I feel I’m not physically or mentally capable of doing it.

This is not okay.

I’m an intern at the Liberal Arts Career Development office here on campus and this week is our “Career Week”. Basically this a week long event filled with presentation and activities to get students involved and inspired about their majors and career paths. There have been some fantastic speakers (I even got to present on Monday), but I want to focus on the two that have inspired me the most.

The first speaker I got to see earlier today, Matt Barnes, is very involved in the parkour community and his presentation was all about “Breaking Free” and how he found his inspiration through parkour. He is young, energetic and completely excited about what he is doing in life. You can view a Ted Talk he did at Purdue here which is a small 6 minute snippet of what he talked about today. It was really great to hear about how he got to where he was and the advice he gives to not just young entrepreneurs but students generally. What really struck me the most was him talking about finding that one thing you’re passionate about and pursuing it. If you love to do something, you should spend a lot of your time doing it. Really look at what you’re spending your day on and re-prioritize what you’re doing with your life. There are so many unnecessary  useless things I’m doing in my life that are not helping me in my career path but are instead wasting my time. Do I need to watch Netflix? Nope, but I do it anyway. Instead I could be applying to jobs or doing research for projects. I need to change these habits and re-energize my life.

The second speaker that was really inspiring is Haley Price. She’s also young and energetic and has really accomplished a lot in her life so far. You can view her website here. The most striking thing she said was “Find a way, don’t make excuses.” A lot of the time a situation arises where it would be totally acceptable to make an excuse. Maybe I’m feeling tired or sick and it would be acceptable for me to call off homework or projects for that night. However, finding a way around that and pushing forward will be much more beneficial in the long run. Having that can-do attitude and choosing to be active is how I will be able to overcome challenges. I want to meet those challenges head on every time and not make excuses about them. Getting past those situations and staying strong will make me a stronger and a better person. That’s what I want to do.

Matt and Haley had a lot of other great points that they talked about but those were the things that really spoke to me and inspired me. I want to be like them, I want to have that passion and drive. I’m done with excuses.

Portfolio Website

I’ve been working on my new portfolio website and it’s now up and running! I still have some things to change around and add, but the basics are there and my portfolio can now be viewed.

We had a speaker come in to talk to us in my ‘Professional Practice’ and talk about his experience as a former student in Visual Communications Design and how having a portfolio is really important when looking for a job. My classmates and I all have digital and print portfolios but now is the time to spruce them up!

The link to my portfolio: http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~murrays/

I’ve been getting some great comments on my previous posts so keep them coming!

Organize Your Way to Success

I admit that I am not a naturally organized person. I have to conscientiously make a decision to be organized and stick to that plan. If I don’t, I’ll end up with my entire closet on my floor and unable to find my planner and notebooks the next morning. If this sounds like you, never fear! There are a couple of easy things you can do to become a more organized you.

Keep a planner – Of course we all have smartphones which can hold our calendars and tell us when we have to be at class. However, having an actual planner can make it much simpler. The Purdue mortarboard for example has a week by week layout as well as the overall month calendar. This is great for looking ahead to make sure you’re not forgetting due dates for projects or papers and you’re staying on top of homework. You can also highlight important events coming up that you don’t want to forget and also enables you to scribble down reminders for things you don’t want to forget later. If you have an app on your phone or you prefer using a giant wall calendar that’s okay too, as long as you have a place to keep track of your day.

De-clutter – We all have it. That junk you’ve kept since freshman year. Clothes that don’t fit but you keep in your closet anyway. Having a mess around you can distract from studying or homework and make you feel overwhelmed. The time has come to streamline your belongings. One of the rules of Zen monks is to think about what is necessary in your life. Zen monks only have the basics; shelter, food, basic clothing etc. Now I’m not saying you have to get rid of your belongings and live like a monk, but take an afternoon to evaluate what you own. Decide what you need and what doesn’t serve a purpose anymore. Donate those old clothes to goodwill and go through your papers to decide what’s important. Your living space will feel much better afterwards.

Store things you can’t part with – If you’ve come across some things you don’t want to throw out but don’t have the space for either, consider storing them. Containers for under bed storage are great for getting winter clothes out of the way. There are many organization systems you can buy that will make your life easier and simpler. Or you could just take those things to your parent’s house right?

One thing at a time – Trying to tackle everything on your to-do list at the same time is not going to be beneficial to your or your stress level. Make a list of things you have to do in order of importance. Work on these list items one at a time and don’t try switching between tasks. If you focus yourself on one task at a time you’ll be more productive and effective.

Organize papers – Many people have stacks of paper in their lives. These may be syllabi from class, project papers, papers you’ve written etc. It’s time to organize them so they don’t lie around and cause a mess. Usually when I go through my papers I put them into two piles, keep and throw away. The keep pile is then organized into different sections depending on what the subject is. I have a folder for my art project papers, syllabi for class and homework to turn in. That way I know where everything is and I can get to it easily. Keep the folders near your computer or in your desk draw for easy access.

These are just a few tips to get you on your way to a more organized life. Remember this quote by Confucius, “Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated”.