Goals are a part of life, whether you are the type of person who keeps them taped to your mirror or stored in the back of your mind. There are big goals, small goals, important goals, “wishful-thinking” goals (Chris Pine will be mine…), etc. Regardless of the type, all require a certain amount of thought, effort, and organization. Goal-setting is not only a blueprint for your own success but also a powerful tool in motivation–who doesn’t need that?

Everyone struggles with motivational issues at some point. With so many stressors and distractions constantly vying for our mind’s attention (alcohol, TV, alcohol again), feeling motivated to complete tasks can be REALLY difficult. However, it is important that goal-setting be a regularly-used skill in our daily lives. Being a serious procrastinator myself (hey, America’s Next Top Model reruns can be a little distracting, OK?), I have found that setting goals have made my thoughts and actions more organized, efficient, and clear-cut.

So how do you maximize the ability of your goals to motivate you?

Dr. Edwin Locke, a pioneer in the research of motivation and goal-setting (and probably a guest star in one of your PSY101 lectures), provides five characteristics of goals that each contribute to the goal’s effectiveness of promoting motivation. You wanna be successful (uh, duh!), take these into consideration:

Clarity
Goals that are clear are ones that are straightforward, able to be measured, and cause you to take action! Being specific is key—adopting a definite time set for a goal and an detailed description of what you want to achieve allows for a better understanding of potential rewards. Vague goals such as “Lose weight” or “Get ahead on schoolwork” are unlikely to motivate. However, goals such as “Lose 30 pounds by September 1st,” or  “Finish 3 assignments for next week before going out to the keg race,” are more likely to create a more tangible ending, therefore boosting motivation.

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[Welcome to my Weekly Love List. A list, on all things I love. Because if I love them - well then obviously you may (and should) love them too. As the Backstreet Boys song says (and yes I am actually quoting them) "My Love is All I Have To Give." So with that throwback, here are this week's list-worthy things…]

1. My Dropbox – Does your friend have all the good pictures from last night on her camera? Did she just buy the new Britney album that you want but are too embarrassed to purchase? We all know how annoying it is to transfer files via email – that stuff takes forever – and now you don’t have to. My Dropbox is a program you and your friends download. Wanna share some pics with eachother? Just drag em into your box (that’s what she said) and – voila! – any friends who are linked up with you now have the files too. It’s technology at its finest.

2. Healthy Mac & Cheese? 18 grams of fiber in one serving, and it’s GOOD. My late night munching self is in LOVE with this idea.

3. Eco Friendly organization. We all know we are supposed to hold on to every exam all semester long, along with our bank statements, our shopping reciepts, and a plethora of other junk that just ends up splattered all over our desks, and floors, and cars… and the list goes on. So check out these great, eco friendly ways to divide up your important documents and tuck them away in a neat, safe place. I don’t really love these, but my roommates love seeing the kitchen table, so I guess that’s good enough.

4. Laura Mercier ‘Almond Coconut Milk’ Hand Crème - It fits in your purse, makes your hands baby soft, and makes you think you are sipping pina coladas on spring break instead of cramming for your econ final.

5. Frustration Free Packaging. How many times do you spend 25 mintues trying to open up your new phone/Bluetooth/Barbie Doll and you just end up with a missing tooth, a bloody lip and the urge to scream and stomp on the product? Whoever designed that hard plastic packaging should work for national security. But, thankfully, Amazon.com is ready to do away with “Wrap Rage”; they are introducing a line of “frustration free packaging,” in recyclable cardboard boxes. Perfect for those of us with a need for instant gratification. Easy to open AND eco-friendly? Now that I L-O-V-E.

You do it every year without fail. There’s a string of weeks where you’re nice and organized with all your notes in the right folders, laundry done as soon as you’re running low on undies and putting everything where it belongs. And then, you forget your planner and decide you don’t feel like really carrying it, or you’re too tired to do that load of laundry…

Okay, it might not happen to you, but it happens to me.

Barely two weeks into the semester, and my room is still pretty navigatable, but far from clean. I can’t see the desk calendar where I put all of my due dates and meetings down anymore. I just don’t have the patience to be neat. I’m sure it’s a problem – I’ve been messy all my life – but I don’t really feel like fixing it. Read More »

OK, so you’re running late for your Monday morning class (again). You would have been on time, but you spent all Sunday watching TV (again), and had to stay up extra late to get your assignment done (again). Now, where the heck did you put that assignment? You tear through the pile of papers on your desk until you find it, crumpled and stained with last night’s coffee.

Sound familiar?

Now that you’re in college, you don’t have parents to bug you about keeping your room clean, or to tell you to turn off the TV and do your homework. As Spiderman says, “With great freedom comes great responsibility,” but when you’ve got no one to help you out, how do you stay organized?

You may not like it, but you’re going to have to make a sacrifice or two to get truly organized, starting with your precious weekend. Cancel your plans and put away your going-out top. It may suck now, but in the long-run, it will be worth it.

The first thing you need to stay organized is the right set of supplies. Get yourself up at a reasonable hour on Saturday morning and get your butt down to the school bookstore, or your local Staples or Target. You should buy:

-A notebook for each class – Or, even better, one large notebook divided into sections, so you can keep all your notes in one convenient, not-as-easy-to-lose place.

-A two-pocket folder or small binder for each class – to store all of those pesky class hand-outs that always seem to go missing

-A day planner – Each day should have enough space to write down your class schedule and any assignments you get. My personal fav is the Moleskin Weekly Planner, because it has an extra blank page next to each week, but whatever works best for you.)

-Lots of your favorite kind of pen (or pencil) – Don’t deny it. You know you have a favorite.

-A stapler – Especially if you write a lot of papers—your teachers will thank you.

-An accordion file Read More »

I woke up the other day and realized, “I’m moving into my dorm room in a week.” Although an exciting thought, I immediately became aware of how stressed I was considering I hadn’t pack up a thing…or cleaned my room all summer.

I looked around my room, which literally looked like the Tasmanian Devil came through, and began to freak. My clothes were everywhere (and not laundered), my desk was littered with piles of mail from Alabama, bank statements and various other stuff that had piled up and I was in no way ready to pack up and ship out.

I took a breath and relaxed. The packing needed to commence. So, before I even touched this hazardous scene, I thought of things I could do to make my packing experience easier. I made a list lots of lists. A list for the kitchen, living room, bathroom, my room, school supplies, etc. I shopped, I packed, I conquered. Here are some tips I’ve learned on how to pack for college:

1. Take a breath and calm down! You’re finally going to college. This is going to be the most exciting time of your life, so stop stressing out and just enjoy the fact that you’re starting a new part of your life.

2. Write down what you have and what you need. Like I said before, LISTS. If you have something, you don’t need another one. I made lists of what I have, what I have that I need to replace, what I need, what I can get when I arrive at school, and what my roommates are bringing. I promise you, lists will keep you so organized when you’re packing because you actually see what has been done and what you still need to get. Read More »

Last time, I went room by room and identified what needed to be done to organize and make most efficient use of the space in my small house. School is starting again in a month and I wanted to have everything in its place and better systems for some of my everyday activities.

I started in the office, concentrating in the computer area. College seems to bring with it numerous credit card offers and bills and notifications that always seem to be tucked in various places on the desk, asking to be thrown away or forgotten. So I got very a simple, $3 silver mail sorter that went nicely with our translucent blue desk (who says you can’t be functional and stylish?.) There are slots for outgoing mail, my mail and my boyfriend’s. Using this simple system, we have been able to keep track of our mail much better. Now I can pay my bills on time and not have mini heart attacks when I can’t find that one, really important piece of mail.

If you are anything like me, disorganization is not simply limited to your desk. No maam; it extends also to planner and mind. It’s difficult to remember due dates in the midst of piles of homework, so I got a small dry erase board from a dollar store and stuck it to the nearest wall with all the due dates for our monthly payments. It’s not written down and forgotten about in some small place in my planner or on a note that will get lost; it’s in a place that I can’t help but look at. Read More »

Last time, I looked up some great websites for ideas on how to help me de-clutter and reorganize my fairly cluttered and unorganized home. Since then, I’ve been using my internet resources and going room by room to identify problem areas and reorganize things to make more efficient use of space and less complicated day by day living.

I started in the room that gave me the most problems, the office. But, as I realized when I started to go to work in this room, doing anything drastic here would be fairly fruitless. It serves a very practical purpose of housing all the things that we have no place for elsewhere and serves as my boyfriend’s dressing room for work. What I’m saying is, most of the stuff in here is his to do with as he pleases.

I’m concentrating on the computer area, where I am going to create a more efficient filing system, a better bill paying system, a better storage system for desk supplies and for old school work.

My bedroom is small as it is, made more so by the volume of things we have in it. My main objective in this room is to create more space, organize my shoes and accessories, create a tidier laundry system, and find a way to store my pants in my ridiculously small closet. Read More »

I never have dealt well with “going” to work or “answering” to a boss. I know it sounds rather hopeless, but I have an entrepreneur-esque mind and I set out to never “go” to work or “answer” to anyone I didn’t want to answer to. And so far, I’ve achieved that goal.

I work 100% freelance. I make my own schedule. Some days I don’t work at all. I sleep in when I want to. I go out ’til 7 am if I want to. Hell, I take off to California if I want to. There are no rules, really, and many a friend have drooled their envy all over my face without taking a minute to really understand how NOT easy working for yourself can be. If you’re considering pursuing this lifestyle, but you’re not sure if it’s for you, maybe I can be of some help.

MOTIVATION

You’ve gotta be able to be self-motivated. You’ve got to make money and build your career REGARDLESS of the fact that there’s an X-Files marathon on channel 17. Read More »

I have no damn space. I swear my ass may get stuck in my own hallway if I eat another Cadbury Egg.

Like many college students, I have been forced to find a way to sleep, eat and basically shower/sh*t/etc. all within 5 feet of each other. Books are piled on top of stacks of clothing, shoes are collecting dust bunnies under my bed along with a variety of other dust collecting partners; bills, blankets, bras and the one sock I’ve been looking for forever. I can never find anything and generally am forced to throw on whatever happens to be crumpled under my feet. Organization? I’m sure that I wouldn’t be able to give the definition of the word if a million dollars were on the line.

…Until the other day, when I had a calling from what must have been a divine being…something told me to hop into The Container Store on my way home from work.

The moment I stepped foot into the store I was sure I had been saved. As a notoriously messy person, it had seemed like nothing would be able to shake me of my slobbish ways. How wrong I was. Read More »

Dorm life is a double-edged sword. Getting along with your roommate is amazing…letting her get away with a filthy mess isn’t. When your room is messy, your life is messy.

I remember freshman year when I was stressed beyond all belief, had 2 midterms a day for 3 days, and basically stopped sleeping. By the end of day 2 my bed turned into a dumping ground for everything from clothes to empty food containers to looseleaf papers and textbooks. With nowhere to even entertain the idea of sleep, I very nearly had a mental breakdown.

So, while you may think it’s totally worth it to let the mess grow until it’s time to go home for Thanksgiving, these quick and easy organizing tips will keep you sane enough to get through midterms, finals and (most importantly) those Friday night impromptu pre-game sessions!

Step One: Get a (big) garbage can and USE it!

I don’t think you’re stupid but I am going to assume you’re lazy. So, this is why I say you must get a big garbage can and throw away everything you don’t need. Old notes, papers that are cluttering your desk, old chinese food containers. Get it out of the room!

You live in a virtual shoebox, right? It’s time to accept the fact that you only have room for the essentials: a bed, desk, that handle of Georgi that you’re hiding from the RA in the back of the closet. That’s it. Then? Take the trash out (regularly)!

Feel better yet? Read More »