HOW TO SPEND
TIME WELL
Learn how to spend you time better!
APRIL 2021 ARTICLES
HOW TO SPEND TIME WELL DURING A GLOBAL PANDEMIC
by Jooyoun Park
How are you doing during the never-ending global pandemic? I am guessing you might be sad and depressed about this endless pandemic and/or hopefully you are be excited about we are seeing some hope as vaccination started in some parts of the world! I have mixed feelings because I think I am kind of used to life under pandemic. Today, I would like to share some tips on how to spend time well during pandemics and this is based on my personal experience.
First thing first, do not be too stressed out about the situation. Indeed, it is really important for us to be careful and do our best not to be exposed to the pandemic. However, keep in mind that everyone in the world is facing unexpected challenges and you are not the only one so don’t worry. Try to do at least one thing that makes you excited and happy, it is not easy at the beginning but for me, I discovered that I like doing chores which is something I did not expect before the pandemic. Trust me, it will definitely boost up your sense of achievement and self-confidence!
Secondly, you might feel that after the pandemic, time is going slower and everything just feels as if they stopped working. However, be aware that time is still passing and we need to move on and do something in our lives! Our times are precious and everyone is given the same amount of time and how you use your time well is all up to you. For me, I think spending too much time complaining about how unfair my life was. I appreciate the time because I was able to look back on my life, however, I am still regretting the fact that it took too much time for me to realize I should keep up with my work. So, if you don’t want to regret it like me, I recommend you to pay attention to your surroundings and find something that can inspire you! You will not regret this!
Thirdly, don’t forget to stay healthy! Although we are not exposed to outdoor dangers we should still do something to maintain our health. Do some exercise and try to eat as healthy as possible! There are many online indoor sports videos that you can access easily so don’t forget to do exercise at least once a week! You can refer to our previous articles about healthy diet to maintain your health!
Last but not least, contact the people you love frequently because they must be missing you a lot as much as you do! For me, I am away at my home staying at the dorm, so I am unable to meet the people I love as much as I want so I always text them or call them whenever I miss them and it gives me a strong sense of belonging during a hard time!
I sincerely hope my tips can help you with coping with difficult times and I believe that we can overcome this pandemic together! Stay healthy and stay inspired!
DECEMBER 2020 ARTICLES
HOW TO SPEND TIME WELL DURING COVID-19
by Jooyoun Park
How has covid-19 pandemic changed your life and your hobbies? I personally think this pandemic has changed my life significantly in terms of my daily routine and hobbies. To be honest, I hate this pandemic but I love the changes it brought to my life because I think I am spending the most efficient time ever in my life. Today, I would like to share some of my tips on how to spend time well especially under pandemic.
Firstly, I think it is the best time for me to live as a student. Before the pandemic, I had a lot of unnecessary appointments that disturbed me from studying, for example I had all sorts of boring dinner appointments with random people in my life that really disturbed me. I’m sure that you also might had similar situations where you had these appointments that you didn’t wanted to attend but you had to because there was no excuse to cancel them. If you are an indoor learner like me, it is the best time for you to study efficiently because we are free from these annoying meetings and appointments. My efficiency in studying enhanced greatly because I was able to achieve what I have planned for the day in certain time periods and spend rest of my time on extra readings or my hobbies. Thus, your time is in your control so make the greatest use of it!
Secondly, find your indoor hobbies! I was really into sports since I was little so I felt really depressed when I realize I was unable to go out and play sports with my friends. However, one day I accidentally find out there were a lot of online indoor yoga and Pilates lessons that I can access easily. That was the moment when I started to do yoga and it was much more interesting than I expected it to be. I really enjoy doing it so I am trying to do at least an hour a day on them these days! Therefore, I think you can also look for some activities that you can access easily but really suits your interest. There are actually a variety of things that you can try such as self-teaching instruments playing, yoga, cooking, etc. You might unexpectedly find life-long hobby “thanks to” the quarantine.
Finally, if you are staying with your family members or roommates, enjoy the moment with them! I grew up abroad so I barely spend time with my cousins and grandparents, however, due to the pandemic I got to spend time with them. I am really enjoying the moment and I am finding the true values in my life spending time with them. I hope you can also enjoy the moment with your family and if you are staying alone than I also think it is a good time for you to grow and become more independent!
It is really unfortunate that we are unable to go out and meet people as we did before, however, if we can’t avoid it then we should enjoy the moment as much as we can! I encourage you to find your new passion and at the same time enjoy the moment with the people around you!
NOVEMBER 2020 ARTICLES
HOW TO SPEND YOUR TIME WELL?
By Yukta Tyagi
People often mention that time flies quickly. They say that life vanishes right before one’s eyes and that time is shorter than what one imagines it to be. The saying raises two questions. Firstly, ‘Is the time we have short?’ and secondly, ‘How do we spend our time wisely?’
On the first question, time is not short; we invest it in irrelevant activities. To help explain this ideology, let us understand the philosopher Seneca’s take on time. Seneca states that time is just like money. When money is invested efficiently, it grows and benefits the investor. Similarly, when one invests their time on the critical events of life, they grow as an individual. Another comparison I would like to make is that one does not spend their money on unnecessary things. So, why should we be obligated to pay our time on irrelevant events? A good investor will always prioritize and spend their time wisely.
On spending time wisely, the following are the steps we can take towards utilizing our time efficiently:
Decide the long-term goals you want to achieve to have a joyful and satisfactory life.
To achieve the long-term goals, plan short term goals. Achieve the short-term goals by organizing yourself and taking minor steps towards accomplishing them.
Calculate the variables that may hinder the maximum utilization of your time. Find solutions to overcome the obstacles that prevent you from efficiently investing your time.
Assess your daily productivity to see how much you have worked towards accomplishing your short-term goals. Completing the short-term plans will eventually lead to the accomplishment of the long-term goal.
Getting rid of procrastination is not easy. Every time you feel like procrastinating think of the difference in the quality of your work when you are doing it at an average pace utilizing the entire time that given in comparison with the quality of work when it was rushed because you chose to procrastinate—the quality of work decreases when the completion of the task is rushed and does not display your best capability.
Sleeping or taking a nap is a good utilization of your time if the hours of sleep have an acceptable limit. That extra hour of sleep or rest will give you the boost of energy you need to complete the remaining of your tasks for the day. Therefore, choose to sleep over binge-watching your favourite web-drama or Netflix series.
One will realize that they have a lot of time once they start utilizing it productively. Do not sacrifice your present in worries for the future for the present is guaranteed, whereas the future is uncertain. Once one gets old, all they have left is their memories. Therefore, invest time on making memories that will be beneficial and help one grow rather than making memories which will eventually blossom as regrets. Time is not short; the time one has is a function of how one chooses to spend it.
OCTOBER 2020 ARTICLES
THE BENEFITS OF LINKEDIN
By Dail Jung
With the rise of COVID-19 finding jobs has become increasingly difficult-many job sectors even move to remote work. An app that can definitely help in such difficult times is LinkedIn. LinkedIn itself is an online platform where people can find jobs and seek employees. LinkedIn is available as a website and an application for smaller devices. What is great about it is that it considers and caters to both parties in a workplace: the employer and the job seeker-employee-. The employer can list any job with the job description, job requirements, and any other details needed for the employee in clear fashion. In other words, the employer’s demands can be expressed thoroughly for job seekers to see, which results in the most qualified applicants to apply. On the other hand, the job seekers or employees can search for jobs that match their personal aspirations, preferences, and skill sets. LinkedIn even matches the skillsets of job seekers with the job recommendations they get to catalyze the process of finding a job. Essentially, LinkedIn is the catalyst that accelerates the process of finding a job for job seekers and finding the most qualified employee for the employer.
Additionally, LinkedIn provides news from the industries you may be most interested in such as technology, entrepreneurship, marketing, etc. People can interact and connect through different posts for networking in order to open up new pathways in their professional careers. Reading up on industries you are interested in and networking with people are both invaluable methods of enjoying your pastime and being productive by securing your future. If you are looking for a method to be productive and to work on your professional career, getting a LinkedIn account is paramount. It is the first step towards building your future career and organizing your professional internet profile online. It can also give you a look into what skillsets your future dream job is seeking from you and be a good indicator of where you are now and how you can improve to get there. In terms of long-term productivity, apps like LinkedIn are a must to get!
MUST-HAVE APPS TO KEEP TRACK OF YOUR UNIVERSITY LIFE
By Yoo Na Koo
University can be quite overwhelming especially when you’re first starting. The never-ending assignments, quizzes, exams, and Zoom sessions that feel like forever might shock you. It shocked me too. You might be worried as to how you’re going to keep track of everything going on. I did too! However, I have stumbled upon a few apps to help lessen your worries. These apps would be useful in keeping track of your university life (e.g. courses, assignments, etc).
Google Calendar
One of the apps that have saved my university life is Google Calendar. Google Calendar is both available as a desktop version and as an app-version on your phone. The reason why I strongly recommend getting Google Calendar and inputting everything there is because it’s online and syncs with all devices that are logged in one Gmail. Therefore, it is easy and efficient to access your schedule anywhere and anytime.
Firstly, I would recommend inputting your course schedule into Google Calendar. You can do so by ‘creating a new event’ and inputting the name of the course and the time. To keep things organized, color-code your courses so that it’s easy to identify which is which. Aside from that, you should also add corresponding Zoom links (or ID and password) to the description section of each course, as seen below. This will be helpful since it’s easier and faster to find the links this way than looking through each course in YSCEC.
Aside from that, you should add important exam dates and assignment due dates into your Google Calendar so that you can keep track of them. This is beneficial since you will now know when you should start studying for the exam or when you should start working on your assignments.
Google Calendar also has a function where you can add ‘reminders’. Reminders are extremely useful for assignments that have a certain time due date or for non-class Zoom sessions. If you have the Google Calendar app on your phone, the reminders will go off before the time you set it too. Therefore, you won’t forget about submitting certain assignments. You can also use this feature for other tasks you need to do outside of university.
2. Microsoft OneNote
With classes being 100% online this semester, it can be hard to focus during the Zoom lectures. Sometimes taking handwritten notes can be too exhausting which is why I recommend taking digital notes. Microsoft OneNote is the perfect recommendation since you’re able to take notes there and the pages are endless so that you can arrange your notes as you like. Aside from that, it also syncs with all devices logged into the same Microsoft account. Therefore, it’s convenient to take notes in OneNote because typing is faster and you can access it everywhere.
As seen in the picture below, Microsoft OneNote has a ‘section’ feature where you can organize your notes by the courses you take. In each ‘section’, you can add a ‘page’ where you can take your notes. You can either title each ‘page’ by topics or lecture dates. It depends on how you like to organize your notes.
