I’ve been feeling a bit down when I’m able to get the grades I want and seeing others ahead of me… I need to balance between my violin, my games and my studies… what would be a practical approach in your opinion? Thank you so much!
Hey @choc_kitkat , I hear you. It sounds like there are many things you are trying to juggle and balance. But, when we cannot do so, these emotions often affect our motivation and cause us to feel upset, frustrated and exhausted.
I want to encourage you to take a step back and reconsider what you want in life and what you are doing to get there. Remember, we do have choices we can make to influence the outcomes we want to achieve.
Here are some guiding questions that will help you in this progress:
Want
- What do you want instead of the problem?
- What is your picture of a quality life, relationship, etc?
Doing
- What are you doing? (acting, thinking, feeling, physiology)
- When you act this way, what are you thinking?
- When you think/act this way, how are you feeling?
- How do your thoughts/actions affect your health?
Evaluate
- Is what you are doing, helping you get what you want?
- Is it taking you in the direction you want to go?
- Is what you want achievable?
- Does it help you to look at it in that way?
Plan
- What are you prepared to do/think differently that will take you in the direction you want to go?
- Are you clear about what you are going to do?
- Is it achievable?
- How will you know you have done it?
- Can you start doing it immediately?
- Is it in your control?
- Are you committed to doing it?
You can download this worksheet to help you (1).
As you evaluate the priorities in life, don’t forget to build social support and connection with people. Social connection can help us regulate our emotions, lead to higher self-esteem and empathy, and improve our immune systems. You can learn more about it here (2).
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Hello Joy here again 
Thanks for the reply! To be honest, I’m not sure where I should go and face the problem… I don’t know what the problem is but my grades have been suffering, and that has been affecting my mood too… I really want to do better, but I’m not sure how I can study efficiently instead of last minute. I really need help from my smarter peers but I have a bit of anxiety and I’m not sure how I can approach them… Would it be okay for me to ask for advice? Thank you!
Hello @choc_kitkat!! I faced the same problem as you when I first entered poly as well!
However, I grew to adapt to a new method of studying. Basically by taking notes with the help of pre-reading resources before class starts
Along the way during lesson, I will open up a blank powerpoint presentation slide to take note of important headers and words and fill them up after class.
This way before exam, I can compile and read everything again with visual graphics and wordings all together! Hope this helps!