Balance.

Balance is something I struggle with a lot. Navigating the delicate art of balance has become my personal odyssey. I’m often overwhelmed with the amount of PLP work due to personal commitments, hindering my quest for balance in my life.

This project was called New Year, New Me, and was our first project in our new class, Personal Growth and Productivity (PGP). Our driving question was: What strategies can I use to maintain balance in my life and support my own well-being? Guided by our driving question, we uncovered valuable insights and developed effective tools to navigate the complexities of our daily lives. Keep reading to find out about the organization strategies that worked for me, and the lessons I’ve learned along the way. 

Operation Organization 

The first step towards balance is an organizational system that works for you. Firstly we cleared our physical, digital, and mental clutter. I cleaned my desk, organized all my digital files, and processed everything that was on my mind as part of this process. Then, as a class, we learned to harness the full potential of the Calendar and Things apps. If my old self were to have looked at my calendar and things apps now, I wouldn’t have been able to recognize it due to the amazing renovations. Things is my task manager: it helps me stay on top of my tasks, projects, and life goals. Things make me feel in control of my daily life by clarifying my mental clutter. It has helped me categorize my tasks into projects and organize projects within specific areas of my life. I’ve included serious areas like PLP, school, my future, and clean up time, but also fun areas like my awesome life, friends and family, and health. I’ve come to understand the importance of incorporating enjoyable activities into my to-do list because, when I solely focus on the things I need to do, reviewing my tasks feels like a chore.

Here is my Things before and after the renovations:

I will be using Things moving forward. It allows me to establish clear priorities and enables me to focus on the things that matter the most. 

Moving on to the Calendar. Calendar is my time management app. It’s where all my events belong. No matter if it’s school, sports, or serenity. The calendar app helps me manage my busy schedule and reduces my feelings of overwhelm by providing me with a concise overview of my upcoming events, commitments, and deadlines. I will also continue to use the Calendar app this year, as it has proved to be a very handy tool in helping me lead a more balanced life.

Here is my Calendar app before and after the renovations.

Power of Positivity

Incorporating positive brain training into my routine has proven to be a game-changer. During this project, we did several positive brain training exercises such as meditation, conscious acts of kindness, exercise, journaling, and gratitude. I enjoyed all of these exercises, except for the meditation. Meditating in a classroom environment was super hard, and I wasn’t too good at it, although I do believe it has potential. 

I love journaling so much and I hope to make some more time for it in my life. Journaling about the best parts of my day allows my brain to relive it. All of these positive brain training exercises have helped me have a more optimistic mindset by encouraging positive thought patterns and reducing negative thinking. Training my brain to focus on the positive aspects of my life has helped increase my happiness, leading to an improvement in my overall mental well-being and a greater ability to navigate life’s challenges with a positive attitude. 

Here are some of my favourite brain training reflections:

We watched a TED talk by Shawn Achor on the power of positive thinking. While we often think that our external world determines our happiness, the truth is that it only contributes to about 10% of our long-term happiness. The other 90% depends on how our brains process the world. Something that stuck with me was that we need to train our brains just like we train our bodies. I also remembered that our brains in a positive state are 31 percent more productive than our negative, neutral, or stressed brains. 

This principle is relevant to all aspects of my life. Take hockey, for instance; my performance peaks when I’m in a positive and content state of mind. 

The lens through which you approach challenges, whether you see them as roadblocks or oppurtunities, is entirely shaped by your mindset. Ultimately, it’s a choice – how you perceive and respond to the hurdles that come your way. I encourage you to try having a positive mindset and see what impacts it can have on your experiences and overall well-being.

Be-You-Tiful Blogs

Part of renovating me was renovating my blog. I updated my About Me page (go check it out!) and updated my widgets. I want to change my blog tagline from “Hello World!”, but I don’t know what to change it to. Comment below if you have any suggestions!

Overall this project has been a long journey for me. Self-improvement takes time, and I’m not always super patient when it comes to confronting my weaknesses. It is also challenging for me to break my bad habit of staying up too late doing homework when I have so much work to do, to be successful in the project. 

This semester I have lots of work in PLP Humanities and PLP Maker, but it balances out by having P.E. And woodwork, which gives less homework. I’m scared for my next semester. Navigating through two PLP classes alongside Science and Math is bound to be a demanding journey, further complicating the task of maintaining balance in my life. Effectively managing this heavy workload will require a lot of effort, and I’m placing trust in the organizational strategies I’ve recently adopted to serve as my guiding light.  

While I haven’t quite mastered the art of balance, I am wholeheartedly committed to the ongoing journey. I know that the strategies I’ve acquired during this project—such as the  practice of positive brain training and the practical use of Things and Calendar—will undoubtedly be my most loyal companions on this adventure. These systems are laying the groundwork for my more efficient and productive approach to this year.

Entering the next chapters of my life, I carry with me the clear understanding that the pursuit of balance is not a sprint but a marathon of personal growth and resilience. It’s a revelation that life’s true beauty lies in the commitment to living it well.

Thanks for reading! See you in 2024 for some more PGP! The next Careers project is all about who (not what!) I want to be.