Five Things To Think About For Five Minutes on the subject of THINGS TO DO WHEN YOU DON'T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO
During the course of a student leader year, there will be moments where you are extremely busy. You will be living from day to day, moment to moment, feeling overwhelmed and unsure if you can get everything done. But it's not always that way. In fact, there will be some moments where there really isn't anything pressing. There isn't anything that needs to be done right now.
It is during these points, that we can refuel our energy tanks, we can play catch up on some other things that need our attention. But just because we have "down" time doesn't mean we have to be unproductive. Here are some things to consider doing when all the doing seems to be done.
1. Reflect.
I've heard it said that experience is the best teacher. But I'm not buying it. I know a lot of people, with a lot of experience who aren't much smarter then they were years ago. No, the best teacher is evaluated experience. Reflection is the process of siezing the teachable moments from the experiences that we've had. So find a quiet place and think. Think about what has happened to you recently, about the interactions that you had, about what worked and what didn't work. Often we're too busy to take the time to reflect and miss out on the important lessons that it can teach us.
2. Write notes to people.
Perhaps there are some people that you need to thank or express your appreciation for. It may be that you need to drop a note to someone whom you haven't spoken to for awhile and want to keep the communication lines open. It's different when you jot a note to someone just because versus writing them a note because you need something from them. The time that you take to write a note is a quality investment that adds value to your relationships.
3. Plan ahead.
You probably already feel the crunch of the school year. Getting close to midterms and many of your major projects starting to come due. You begin to live from event to event. All you can focus on is the NEXT thing that's coming due. But when you get a little free time, it's good to take a glance at the bigger picture. What's coming up in the next month, the next two months. If you are able to do this, it will breathe a little extra excellence in your efforts because you are better prepared for what lies ahead.
4. Help someone else.
I think there is nothing more invigorating then helping someone else achieve something meaningful. If you come up with some free time or down time of your own, why not think about giving some of it away to someone else? Perhaps there's a project or event where you can lend your expertise. We all need help. It's often easier to ask for it when we've given it away on a regular basis.
5. Develop "someday" projects.
I have a list of small projects that I keep with me. It is a compilation of good ideas, things I'd like to do, activities that seem important but not important enough. These are my "someday" projects. They sit there waiting for the moment when I am able to give them the attention that they need. When there are some down moments and I'm not being pressed by the urgent task, I will take a look at my "someday" list and invest some time into one of the items.
My hope in offering these five things to think about is not too make your life busier, but to assist you in being effective. For many of the students I know, whenever the schedule lightens up a bit and the workload isn't as taxing, the best thing that they can do with their down time is take a nap. I think that's #6...sleep!!
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Posted by: Sham | October 09, 2006 at 01:22 AM