We are now into our second week of the New Year and that means a fresh wave of motivation to do the things we didn’t quite feel we achieved last year. But enough of ‘Dry January’, enough of New Year diets – those are the cliché New Year’s Resolutions. I want to know what the students of Staffordshire University are motivating themselves to do this year, and whether in the ten days before I asked them, they’ve stuck to it!
Student B: “My New Year’s Resolution is not to drink fizzy drinks because I want my teeth to be whiter and just in general be a healthier person. I’m doing well so far!”
Yes, I should probably take a leaf out of that book. I have so far been addicted to both Sprite and vanilla Coca-Cola since starting at Staffs. Must stop! Well done on sticking to this one.
Student C: “My New Year’s Resolution is to visit two more countries! I’ve started saving for it so it’s going well. Me and a few friends are going inter-railing so I should hit maybe more than two. I’m staying motivated by looking at travel blogs and Instagrams!”
Ah yes, those beautifully picturesque travel Instas. Despite my hatred for hot countries, I am often convinced that an escape to the Amalfi Coast will be a wonderful experience. This, coming from someone who once got sun stroke in England. I do want to visit more countries though and as I’ve already experienced the glory that was snow-covered Iceland, maybe I’ll stick to Scandinavia? Or I’ll just relocate to Antarctica and live amongst the penguins? All very reasonable resolutions.
Student G: “My New Year’s Resolution was to draw more, but I keep forgetting to fit it in to my day! Would love some tips for reminding myself, and working around an unpredictable schedule because that’s what keeping me from being motivated!”
Aha, some advice is needed! Well Student, I too forget to do every single task I have been set in any part of my life, whether to attend an appointment, ring a relative or even simply watching a TV show (even if it’s one I watch religiously). My only solution is to be glued to the Reminders app on my phone. I set a reminder for every single thing, even ones that are reminding myself to remind someone else to do something. It’s the only way in this fast-paced, crazy lifestyle we lead as students! If your schedule is unpredictable, then set a recurring reminder to draw at the same time every day – chances are at least once, it will pop up at a time when you are free to draw, and that’s your cue to drop everything and get out your sketchbook!
Student J: “Mine are to be more organised as I have 100 thoughts per minute and I’m really bad at planning things. Another one was to eat more healthily without so much bacon, and I’m actually doing really well with this one!”
Firstly, I feel for you with the bacon, because although I don’t eat it regularly, the smell of it cooking is just the end for me, and I am lucky that my housemates don’t cook it often or else this would be a resolution for me too. My advice is actually leave the building when bacon is being cooked if you want to avoid eating it – it is the only way. As for the organisation, a good place to start is to make use of planners and calendars, both the physical items and the apps on your phone, and set yourself reminders to do things at times when you think you are likely to have time to do it. As we covered with Student G – you’re not expected to remember to do every single thing you need to do, so make use of the wonders of modern technology for a little helping hand.
Student L: “Mine is to save money, and I’m already doing really well because I’ve put every single penny of my student loan in to my savings account. I’ll use wages from my job to pay for my commutes into uni!”
Wow, that is dedication. I’ve recently opened my first savings account, and one of my own resolutions is to save money in order to upgrade my photography equipment. My goal is to do this by the summer holidays, so I just need to be thrifty for the next six months! Saving money as a student is important though – you’re unlikely to ever be in a situation again where you are regularly given thousands of pounds but don’t have to pay it back until you can afford to and have years to do so, so save a little bit of it for a rainy day!
Student S: “Successes so far: drink more water, care less what people think/stop comparing myself to other people and stop eating so many takeaways unless it’s a very special occasion. Failures already: cleaning makeup brushes more often and doing light exercises in the morning.”
These resolutions are very relateable for me. I asked for a new water bottle for Christmas in order to encourage myself to drink more water so we’ll see how that goes. As for the takeaways – I’m with you there, it’s far too easy to fall into the takeaway trap as a student so we must resist! Credit to you for including regular exercise in your resolutions, even if it isn’t going too well, at least attempting it was more than I could have motivated myself to do! And cleaning makeup brushes? Tick. Did that this morning too! Will I keep on top of that? Eh. We’ll see.
Well there we are! Here a few random New Year’s Resolutions that I picked up from our fellow Staffs students.
And what is mine, you may ask? Simply: to wear more yellow. Already eyeing up my first mustard scarf as you read this. Will it be waiting for me in New Look when I hunt it down on Friday? Keep an eye out on the @StaffsStudents Twitter account to find out!
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