F3e2f1 - Webweaving/comfort/warmth.

i want to live in the peaceful feeling you get underwater where everything sounds softer and the lights are all tinged blue and the world feels silky and light and surreal

How focusing (aka. not multi-tasking) changed my study life

I had heard it occasionally - that multi-tasking was actually not good for the quality of whatever task I was doing. It made sense, but I loved mult-tasking so much. It gave me the illusion of productivity. 

Until I actually tried focusing for a while, did I realise how much I was actually losing by multi-tasking -  educationally and emotionally. Scrolling through tumblr during boring parts of a lecture seemed fine, since there were notes and it probably wouldn’t be tested in such depth anyway. Eating, while scrolling through social media, while watching a tv show, while messaging someone on facebook seemed ‘productive’. 

It turns out it was the opposite. It may seem fine, and at times it may actually be okay, but what matters is the principle. Dedicating your whole being to one task, focusing on it, produces much better results. It’s a quality over quantity thing. It also helped to calm me down emotionally - I used to always feel rushed, like there was so many things to do but not enough time to do them. Focusing on one task at a time - though it was hard at first - helped slow me down because I did everything properly, and didn’t have the feeling like I needed to go back and do things over again. 

Focusing on one thing wholly is also a form of practising mindfulness. Mindfulness ‘meditation’ isn’t something that requires you to sit down and meditate - it can be applied to our daily life. 

Since I started practising this mindful skill of focus, I’ve become much calmer, it’s been so much easier to stay on top of my work load and meet deadlines, I don’t feel rushed, I don’t feel unprepared or unorganised, and I do more quality work than when I used to multi-task.

There are times for multi-tasking and times for focus. Find the right balance and enjoy the task in front of you.

Remember that we only have this one life. Only one. And yet, it is so short. We only have so much time. Look back, and it will seem like you were just born yesterday. See how fast time has flown by? It’s astounding. So take a moment. Right here, right now. Remember how valuable you are. Remember how short life really is. Are you living your dreams? Are you working on yourself? Your relationships? Your talents and goals? Are you genuinely happy? Do you feel contempt? We only have so many days. So many seconds. Please, make sure you don’t waste a single one of them, for they will continue to fly by faster than we can even notice.

Nicole Addison @thepowerwithin (via thepowerwithin)

Sucks that I have to repeat myself, but once again, please respect people who didn’t have access to formal, or even legally required education.

Respect people who had to drop out for their mental health, to take care of family, to get a job, to have a child.

Just respect people who don’t have diplomas for whatever reason.

Your life is a gift. Sadly, this gift won’t last forever. There are only so many years, months, days in which it will be around for. While you possess this gift, be sure to live it fully. You have it, right now, and it’s all yours. This life that you were given, with all of its many ups and downs, is completely yours to do what ever your heart desires. So take this gift, and fully embrace it. Do so every single day until the moment comes when it must finally be returned to its origin.

Nicole Addison @thepowerwithin (via thepowerwithin)