5 Tips For Beating Procrastination In The New Year

By Elissa Rosenthal

So your new years resolution is to beat your procrastination habit, well I have some tips for you from a proven procrastinator, me! Since my junior year in high school I have been working on my procrastination habits and there are five key factors which help me when I need to get stuff done.

#1 Put Away Distractions

Now you have probably heard this before over and over again, but it really does work. By having your phone off and away from your working area it really does help with productivity. It makes you less likely to go diving into your social media or other online entertainment. Though the thing with this, is it not only has to do with your electronic devices.

Put your hunger and/or thirst away before going into your work area. From my own experience, nothing is a better procrastination excuse than being hungry in the middle of a project or paper. "Oh, it will only be a snack.", I say in my head as my stomach rumbles, causing me to lose focus on what I was doing. Then it ends up being where I realize it's around dinner time, make myself a full meal and a few hours has passed by. The only slight exception to this is if you are going to be working for a long period of time on something and you know you will get hungry. Have a filling snack and a beverage close at hand within your work area, this way you don't get distracted from your project or paper by the demon I call The Stomach Monster. 

#2 Make Your Work Environment Work For You

Do you work better in complete silence, or if you have music playing? Do you work better sitting on the floor with your plans spread out before you or in a chair at a desk? Finding what works for you can help immensely! Personally, I used to love the quite and still do periodically, however, I've grown more accustomed to having some minor sounds in the background while I work so if a room is completely silent it bugs me to where I find it hard to get stuff done. So if no one is around when I'm working I'll turn some music on low in the background, nothing with lyrics though those have a tendency of getting my mind off track. 

Sometimes in order to get your ideal work area is next to impossible, particularly if you have other humans or animals to take care of, however, there are ways to get creative to get close to what you need. Do you like working in a quiet environment but you have kids? If they are young enough try to work while they are napping, or see if your partner or a friend can take care of them while you get some work done. However, if they are older children, but still need your vigilance to make sure they don't burn the house down see if you can get them to work on something while you do. 

Note: No I do not have children, however, these are tips I have picked up from people who I've known who have children or take care of them for a living. 

#3 Be Okay With Telling Others You're Busy

If you live with your parents you may know what I mean when I say they can be a big distraction to productivity. Though this tip does not only pertain to parents, in my own life they were the main inspiration for this tip. If you know anyone who will go over to you and start talking and talking while you're working, getting you off of task and pulling you away from what you're doing, be okay with telling them that you need to be working. Of course this is different if you are at your job and the boss it talking to you, but it still does apply if a co-worker starts talking to you while you're not on a break. 

You do not need to be rude while mentioning this, though be ready for some people to take it that way. Most people will understand that you're in the middle of something important to you and will stop talking to you for the time being. You can mention how you can start up the conversation later during your work break or when you're done with what you have to do for today. 

#4 If You Can, Do The Harder Parts First

If you have a massive research paper due for class, you need to do the research first, however, in other projects you may have a bit more flexibility on what you can do first. Figure out which parts of your project will take the most time and can happen first, and do them first. By having the harder parts out of the way the rest of the work will seem easy in comparison. Plus, from my own procrastination experience, if I did the easy work first instead I would take around twice as long on those tasks than they needed because I didn't want to do the hard stuff afterward. By doing the hard parts first everything is given its proper amount of time and effort. 

#5 Try To Make Your Work Interesting

There is nothing worse than doing something for a long time that you hate. If you have any flexibility in what you do, some way to make it a bit more fun, try it. If you are doing a research paper, do a creative twist on it which may make it more fun for you to write about. For example, if you are doing something for school, ask how flexible the subject matter can be for your project or paper.

If these tips have helped let me know in the comments! Let's have a conversation!

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Happy Holidays From The Elissa Post

By Elissa Rosenthal

Hello to everyone who reads my, currently, little blog. Thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy schedules to read my writing and sometimes share it. I am very grateful.

While helping set up plans with family for this years' holiday celebration, the word grateful had popped up in my head quite a bit. The question in my head of what I am grateful for swirled around. I know how I always heard the stereotypical: being grateful for your family, house, food, and the like; however I never heard of my answer to what I'm grateful for this year, so I thought I'd share it with you.

I am grateful for those who make the days in life a little brighter. For me that is you guys who read my blog. Though they are also the stranger who goes out of their way to help someone, people who try to understand before they judge someone, those kinds of people.

What are you grateful for this year? Leave a response down in the comments!

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Book Review: Adulting: How to Become a Grown-Up in 468 Easy(ish) Steps

By Elissa Rosenthal

Adulting: How to Become a Grown-Up in 468 Easy(ish) Steps by Kelly Williams Brown is a well worth read! Brown has gathered information useful for both those new to the life of adulthood, and the old timer who wants some advice from others. Her book touches on practical subjects, like cleaning and cooking, as well as personal subjects, like love and family relationships. 

While reading this book I could not put it down! Being a young adult, I found the advice she presented as quite useful and I can see myself referencing to it often in the future. My favorite part was when she broke down the idea some people have, that induces them to think, that everyone should care for their needs, whether or not they know them personally. I laughed so hard at this early part of the book since I see this idea pushed many times over within my age group. 

I would recommend anyone who enjoys advice with a dash of comedy thrown in to read this book. The chapters go by quickly, so I am thankful it is not a particularly thin book. It is well written and the categories are well structured so it is easy to find information. 

The only real critic I have on this book is how she steps around the topic of radically unpleasant or abusive family when it comes to her chapter on how to deal with the lot. In this particular chapter she does address how unhealthy families exist and, though I do understand that she is trying to address the larger crowd of readers, I would be interested on her views on what to do in unsavory family circumstances. Some examples could be: if your parent is a drunk or if your cousin is a radical racist by following the ways of their parents. I would find it interesting. Who knows, maybe she is making that a book on it's own! If she publishes it I will be delighted to read it!

Have you read this book? Leave your points down in the comments! Let us have a discussion!

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Seattle Snow and Little Joys

Photos and story by: Elissa Rosenthal

On Thursday night we saw one of those rare glimpses of snow in the city of Seattle. While some worried about their after-work trek home, I marveled at my luck with not having to be anywhere in the morning. The sight of the white fluff gave a peaceful glimmer outside of my window, which drove the child-like need to go out and have some fun.

My partner and I went out into the snow with our gloves, coats, and waterproof shoes. The snow made the city noise mostly disappear into the background. A crisp crunch was underneath our feet as the snow grew in thickness. I picked up some snow from a nearby railing, packed it into a loose ball, and gently threw it in her direction. She of course returned the gesture. 

We walked in wonder at this moment, where everything appeared to be peaceful and quite. We hoped the snow would last through the next day. The snow however, did not last long at its' original strength once the night had passed and Friday morning was here. The streets which had been littered with snow were now mostly clear, a happy sight for the commuter, not so much for the snow lover. 

I am not bitter though. It is times like these when I am thrilled to have taken the time to enjoy the little joys in life. It means so much to make as many good memories as possible, no matter how short. Those memories are what makes life worth living that much more. 

About Me : Photo Reveal

Hello Everyone,

My name is Elissa Rosenthal, and besides my name, I have been contemplating on how much I want to share on this blog. I want to share some experiences of mine, however I want this space to be professional too.

One of the main subjects I have been contemplating, is if I want to present my face to the public or keep the illusive profile picture of flowers I took a while ago. Recently I have come to a conclusion and it is this, I will show my readers my face. Not in a cartoonist drawn fashion, though there is nothing wrong with those who choose that route, but in a photo taken by my partner in life. She is a photographer and her specialty is portraits. If you, my readers, wish to know more about her work please comment in the comments section!

So here it is, me in my glasses and all! :) I will be making this my profile picture, starting tomorrow.

I know I am not perfect, but then nobody is. All we can do in this life is embrace what we have, and do the best we can.