Category: Spirituality

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Spirituality

Reorganizing Your Life

I’ve been away from the blogosphere!!! But hopefully i’m back now after a tough last few months.

It has taken me many years to realize that I have to constantly try to reorganize my life. Everytime I clean up my room, I end up doing it again two months later. Things Change. University’s been going great in itself and i’ve been super busy (PS. UBC Finance Club has their member social next week) but there’s more than just my education that i’m learning about including life and myself.

I think the key to really vamping/organizing your life up to where you want it to be involves being adaptable to changes and consistent. I noticed that some of the  most organized people at university have developed habits, like using a clipboard to take notes then organizing them into binder when they get home, that builds this ongoing cycle of keeping things in shape. The clipboard thing works wonders because you don’t have to carry around big binders (i’m sure everyone who has come to UBC so far realizes that heavy backpacks are not pleasant) and it also sets you up to review your notes when you get home. After 2 years of telling myself to do it, i’ve finally started. And it feels great!

In organizing your life, one might really want to be on top of things. This includes knowing when things need to be done, how to manage priorities, and effectively getting things done. I found that using Google Calendar really helped for me and i’ve been obsessed with using it, including for scheduling with other friends who have shared their calendars with me. However, this comes back to my idea of being adaptable to changes. Being organized doesn’t mean you fill up every second of your schedule with something you need to be doing. Doing this would take the spontaneity out of your life. A lot of us don’t like spontaneity, but being open to changes and being able to go along with them positively is a great life skill.

Last but not least, my friend mentioned a great point about studying awhile back. Studying isn’t necessarily meant to be fun, don’t force it to be when it’s not. When you set out time to focus, focus on studying. When you set out time to be with friends/family/doing other things, focus on that. Managing these priorities will really help you relieve stress and be the organized person you might want to be.

With that being said, a little mess isn’t always so bad.

Categories
Spirituality

Crunch Time Before School Starts!

I can hardly believe the summer has almost passed. Welcome the new incoming Blog Squad members by the way i’m looking forward to meeting all of you!

It was only yesterday when I remember coming back from Whitewater Rafting on May 2nd and starting my first day as a Chapman Learning Commons Assistant. A month went by and so did two courses, COMM 391 and COMM 392, which are Management Information Systems and Human Resources Management respectively.

Now, two more months of summer have passed and it’s home stretch before school starts. What I did over the summer was make a list on Google Docs of things to do, both personal and work related, and kept working on new things whenever I have time. Here’s a taste of what I did over the summer.

  • Revamped Room
  • Looked up how to start a sponsorship in my name (It’s really expensive and can get complicated fast so avoid it until you’re rich)!
  • Started my website (http://andrewli.ca). Shameless Promotion I know. It doesn’t have too much on it yet.
  • Checked up on a lot of my friends from high school and my dragonboat team manager who I haven’t seen in along time.
  • Began borrowing DVDs from the Library (i’m talking about the Matrix, A Cinderella Story, Life Free or Die Hard)
  • Came in 2nd for U19 Mixed Baddiboomers at Badmintology’s Midsummer Legacy Tournament and won a trophy and a mousepad.

I challenge everyone to keep a list like this all the time. This whole summer was a learning experience for me not just about work but about myself. It’s nice to take some time when you have a break and do some activities that jump and interest you personally.

Question of the Week: What are you most excited about for the first month of school?

Categories
Residence Life Spirituality

“Oh my god who keeps calling me at 4 am”

Currently: Sitting in my house using my laptop at 4:30 am

I planned to sleep early last night cause midterm season has just been brutal with everyone (me included) trying to catch up with notes to prepare for midterms. I finally know what it feels like, and it feels good. So after a good night’s work, I decided I needed a good night’s rest.

I don’t usually have to get up until at least 10 o clock on Thursdays usually because I start late (and I do some promotions for Sauder Squad starting around noon today) and this is actually one of those days where I catch up on some sleep.

But then, I received a call at 4 am.

There was no area code.
There weren’t even 8 digits from what I remember.

I was in bed going crazy thinking who would be calling me at such a time. So I hung up the first time. Then they called back!

I started to panic. Thoughts were running through my head. I heard weird noises before I slept (when I turned my laptop off there was still weird sound coming from outside). I didn’t know if someone was trying to send me a message.

I decided to pick up and it was a voice I hadn’t heard in along time. It was my sister whose been all the way in Hong Kong for about 6 weeks doing her training to become a flight attendant. It’s moments like these when you realize how much you miss family when they’re far away.

Don’t get me wrong; i’m not on res or living on my own or anything. But for the moment of that phone call (lying in the dark with my brightly lit iPhone), I felt like I was far away from my family like I was studying elsewhere. And I really cherish those who can live away from their family for so long/study on res far away.

Because it feels strange. Mad props guys.

Sigh,

Andrew @ 4 am
PS. I jumped out of bed realizing I couldn’t fall back asleep and had to remember this moment. This connection I have with the internet world is so remarkable it even surprises me.
PPS. Family sticks with you even through academic season, no matter how busy it is. Too important in my life. Education wouldn’t be heading where it is without them.

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