Break of Dawn

Where were you when we left the decade? Where were you at 00:00, 1st January 2020?

How was your mental health at the time the previous decade ended? How was your financial status in the last decade? What level was your emotional intelligence in the previous decade? How has your social life been in the last ten years? How has your relationship with God been in the last ten years? Were you psychologically fit in the last few hours of the previous decade? Do you think your life, character, and attitude is worthy of emulation as you read this right now? Which aspect of your life do you want to develop or change completely?

For some of us, this decade will bring to us the future we have been anticipating since our younger age, and for some others, all they look forward to is improving their lifestyles in one way or the other, having been able to hit certain standards they set for themselves. What are you willing to offer to life in this new decade, and not just the new year? What standards are you willing to not just set but to keep up with this year, and decade? What are you looking forward to bringing to the table this year, and decade?

A few weeks before the year and decade ended, I became so conscious and aware of the life and opportunities I look forward to receiving this decade. I knew this decade will have a lot to offer and so I have the responsibility of bringing something tangible to the table. I don’t intend living a passive life because I know I owe a lot to friends, family, and humanity, and so I have to give my best in whatsoever is being laid in my heart to do.

Here are some tips I’ve learned over the years that have shaped me into being who I am and is shaping me into the woman I’m becoming:

1. Time Management: For many people, this has been a hard nut to crack, as there is always so much work to do in so little time. For these people, it seems like they have 14 hours in a day and those that successfully complete all tasks have 36 hours in a day. For me, my secret to cracking this hard nut is multitasking. I tend to multitask almost everything from things like taking a break to visit Instagram while reading to feed my mind, hence resting my brain from academic work to the very little things as reading while eating or memorizing what I read while doing the dishes, which though a bad habit has helped me in time conservation. And just so you know, multitasking can get really stressful and confusing, but well, everything good ain’t good always.

2. Sticking to Schedule: If you don’t map out your daily plans, whether in your head or in a book, be sure to crash land your most hectic days. Here in medical school, eighty percent of my school days end up being hectic, and for the weekends, it’s like there is a total of 24 hours for Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. However, by drawing a schedule of the things I would want to accomplish on a particular day, I’ve been able to get a grip on my days.

3. Avoiding Procrastination: For a lot of people, this one is a big seemingly insurmountable mountain that never goes away, and for some reason, sometimes, I tend to fall into this category of people. For me, I procrastinate when I just feel lazy to get a certain thing done or while I’m just scrolling through the internet, looking for something to feed my eyes. But to be sincere, one way I  figured out to get rid of procrastination is to get up and just do it. You want to have your bath but you feel lazy to, get up and walk into the bathroom; you want to get something from the kitchen but you feel lazy to get up from the couch, well, just lift your ass off the couch and move your legs. However, this doesn’t work for reading. If you want to read a book but you don’t have an interest in it at the moment, find something to do that will arouse that interest or simply make you do something else that is productive. It might not make sense to you as you read this, but when you begin to practice this and slowly put away procrastination of little things, getting the big things done without procrastinating won’t be a battle to fight in your head anymore.

There will be a lot to achieve in this year as well as this decade, especially for those of us still in our late teens. Wasting a second of your time doing nothing will be the worst thing to do. However, in all these hustles and bustles, never neglect or forget the importance of rest and self-care time. Take time to serve yourself accolades for the little things you achieved so far; take yourself out and celebrate if need be. You deserve an applause for consistency and hard work!

P.S: Following the right pages on Instagram has always been one of the best unconscious decisions I took since I joined Instagram for the first time in September 2018!