Memorial Day Weekend Recap

I'm so thankful for all those who have risked their lives in order to protect our freedom, "home of the free because of the brave." I hope everyone had a relaxing Memorial Day Weekend spent with loved ones and friends! 

Memorial Day Weekend is usually my official kick off to summer, despite what the calendar may say. As a kid, I always attended the Memorial Day Parade in my town and then went in my pool for the first time for the summer. As I've gotten older, I tend to work on Memorial Day and the past few years the weather hasn't exactly cooperated. Memorial Day this year felt more like one of the first days of spring and was raining on and off throughout the day so swimming wasn't on my itinerary for the day.

Summer Reading List & Recommendations

One of my favorite parts of summer is actually having time to read! It always amazes me when people say they don't enjoy reading because I find it a great way to relax and unwind. I love being able to escape reality with a good book. I tend to read young adult romance(ish) novels and recently I've been buying books that take place in Europe. To be completely honest, I'm trying to relive my moments abroad vicariously through books, but hey who can really blame me. Although I do love reading on my phone usually, it's not exactly ideal for reading outside in the sun, so I've been picking up some books from Barnes & Noble and Amazon. I'm hoping to have some free time this summer to sit back and relax by the pool or on the beach and enjoy reading a good book! 

The College Guide: Staying Motivated & Focused

Now that spring break is over, it can be hard to stay motivated and focused to finished off the semester strong. Personally, I feel like I've lost my motivation and find myself constantly procrastinating. Here are some tips I've come up with to help stay motivated and focused to finish off the semester strong:

1. Find a study space: this may be your dorm room when your roommate isn't in the room, the common room, the library, or another place on campus. Where ever it may be, it should be a place where you won't be distracted and some where you can go to stay focused on the work you need to accomplish.

2. Listen to relaxing music: music can help you stay focused or it can easily distract you. I find that listening to music I know all the words to actually distracts me because I find myself singing along instead of focusing on my work. I try to listen to calming music such as John Mayor, Jack Johnson, Lhe Lumineers, etc. There are plenty of relaxing spotify playlists to check out and I came across a coffee shop playlist that in obsessed with! 

3. Make to do lists: making a to do list will help you figure out what needs to get done. Your to do list can range from things you need to do around your room to homework you may have. By writing it down you'll know exactly were to focus your time and will feel accomplished once you can check the items off. I got my super cute note pad in the picture above from Marshall's!

4. Check your grades: checking your grades can be extremely motivating. It'll either make you want to keep up the hard work if you have good grades or try that much harder if your grade could use some work. 

5. Set time deadlines: setting deadlines for myself for when I want to get things done keeps me focused and motivated. Although I tend to always wait until the last minute, having a deadline for myself will help motivate me to get it done in a timely manner.

6. Reward yourself: this can be something as simply as rewarding yourself when you finish one assignment with a break or this can be something such as rewarding yourself with shopping if you get a grade you are after in a class. I think I might reward myself with Jack Rogers if I get all As this semester!

7. Write out your goals: this will help motivate you to accomplish your goals if they are written out on paper. It never hurts to set both long term and short terms goals to keep you motivated and focused on what exactly it is you want to accomplish. 

8. Write down all your assignments: writing everything down in your agenda will help you not only remember all your assignments that are due but will also keep you focused on what needs to get done and when it needs to get done by. If for whatever reason you don't have an agenda yet, I've seen Lilly Pulitzer agendas at Marshall's lately.

9. Put electronics down: I'm not going to lie I'm terrible at this, however, I've found that if I put my electronics down I'll be more focused. I try rewarding myself with my electronics, for example I'll allow myself to check my phone only after I've doing a certain amount of an assignment.

10. Plan ahead: it can be hard in college to balance all your work and when stress piles up it can be hard to be focused on what needs to be done. If you plan ahead and know when you have time for each assignment, this will allow you to be focused on one thing without worrying about everything else. 

I'm going to link some products down below to help you stay motivated and focused!

Thanks for Reading!

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