GUYS. Have you ever actually been excited about school starting?? I definitely have not.
Okay, besides last semester.
I seriously cannot believe how much my outlooks about, attitude for, and perceptions of school have changed in the past year. I swear it directly correlates with how much self care I’ve been doing. From having intentional quiet time with my thoughts, to exploring nature (my August goal), to self reflecting about where I can improve my perspective. It’s all made a WORLD of a difference.
At first when I decided to take off a year of school to be a nanny, I was a little scared about how hard it would be to go back to school. Everyone has always told me that if you take time off it’s 10x harder to go back. THANKFULLY that was not my experience!! After taking more time off than I originally planned (it ended up being a year and a half), I feel so much more motivated and excited to learn. I actually WANT to study (like wut?). I’m not saying that it’ll work that way for everyone. But I swear gaining a little life experience and seeing how much having an education benefits you – in more ways than just getting a job – I wouldn’t change a thing about my decisions.
So let’s talk ab my self care goals for this school year!
I think it is SO important to plan. Like the old saying goes, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail”. So going along with that, I put together a list of tools I can use every day to keep my life organized. -Follow this link to see the full list!- This includes a literal hour-by-hour planner, so many highlighters, and allowing myself the time and space to plan for the week BEFORE it starts and I get overwhelmed.
Not only am I trying to stay organized, but as you know if you’ve been following my blog, I’m seeking new hobbies! This may not seem directly related to school.. However, I feel like it IS directly related to my mental health. Which obviously is important to take care of if I plan on doing well in my classes. This month I’m still working on getting outside everyday (I’m currently writing this blog on a wet bench. Haha help). BUT next month will be a whole new adventure! I’m planning on trying a new hobby every month. Join in if you want! I just feel like so far, it has helped me to remember to have “me time”, and I’m already anticipating that is going to be hard to remember if I’m busy and don’t plan time for it. Which is bound to happen when I’m taking 12 credits of classes and working 24+ hours a week.
Fun fact: one of my classes this semester is Trauma Psychology. So you can bet I’m going to be focusing on mental health and securing healthy coping mechanisms. It’s never too late, guys. I’m a Psych major, so I should probably be doing that anyways ha. My hope is that these new hobbies will aid in this venture!
XOXO Carly J
Life With Carly J 