Learning Challenge: Prolonged Sitting

GET OFF THE COUCH BABY BOOMERS, OR YOU MAY NOT BE ABLE TO LATER

I knew that inactivity could lead to many diseases. One new thing I learned is the amount of sitting that was calculated in a day. It all adds up. An 8 hour day combined with an hour commute in a day amounted to 10 hours. If you calculate the amount of sitting while eating and enjoying activities, it could be 13 hours of sitting. Only 11 hours remain in the day which 9 hours are presumably used for sleep. Therefore there are 2 hours left to move around. I also learned that because of television, it has created more people to be glued to the chair. I am a victim of Netflix. I stay seated while I watch Netflix. A thing I am curious to explore is to move while watching Netflix. I noticed that the article did not say to stop the activity completely but to integrate physical activity about every 30 minutes. It is important to move at least 1 to 2 minutes just to keep the blood flow moving. Sometimes, I will watch Netflix while I am on the treadmill. I would like to act on my curiosity by only watching Netflix when I am on the treadmill or doing some sort of activity.

(Couch potato - Image Source)

Bibliography. "Get Off the Couch Baby Boomers, or you may not be able to later." by Patti Neighmond. Web Source. 

Learning Challenge: Happiness Jar

My plan to obtain happiness this week was to be happier with myself. I find it easy to focus on the negativities in life or in myself. This picture not only represents a smiley face but it represents someone creating their own happiness. Instead of focusing on the negativities, I focused on the positivities. I realize that the person who encourages me the most and the person who holds me back that most is Myself. This week, I focused on the small accomplishments. I am happy with this week, but I know I can do better. I want to challenge myself to be a better Chelsea tomorrow and the days to come. I challenge myself to laugh more, smile more, study more, exercise more, and be happy. 

(Smiley face - Image Source)

Learning Challenge: Time Challenge

3 Steps to Recapture Time by Joynicole Martinez - Website Link

The first step to recapture time is to make the to do list. It is about planning what you want to do and how you plan on accomplishing the goal. The second step it to focus on what is important. If there are anything that prevents you from your goals, such as negative people or responsibilities that have outlived their usefulness, it is best to get rid of them. If a project fails, it is good to recognize the failure and place resources to a better project. It is good to get rid of the clutter in life to focus and prioritize your time to more useful benefits. The third rule is to say no occasionally. As we prioritize, we eliminate space and time for additional tasks. By saying no, we are proactive with our time. The one thing that the article confirmed was the second step. It is important to identify what is important and what is worth doing in order to effectively utilize your time. A new thing that I learned was the first step. I am not normally the person who plans out their day. I go with the flow. I am curious to explore the art of saying no. Sometimes I have a hard time saying no because I want to help people out as much as I can. However, when I do so, sometimes it can distract me from my own tasks. I think I can act on this curiosity by implementing it right now. I am excited to put these new steps into use because I have a lot of upcoming tests and tasks that I need to focus on.

(Time management - Image Source) 

Learning by Challenge: I wish my teacher knew..

I used to read PostSecret every week. I liked how people could submit anonymous postcards to express whatever they were feeling. I think it is an interesting idea to allow kids the same privilege. Some of the "I wish my teacher knew..." were heartbreaking. No one knows what someone is going through unless they say something about it. I think a good way to practice compassion and empathy to while respecting people's privacy is to reciprocate comments anonymously. I have participated in something similar to this. It was at an event called Summit. We were placed into family groups. At the end of the day, we sat in a circle with our families and wrote on pieces of papers anonymously what our worst fears were. Then, the papers were placed into a bag. Each person drew one piece of paper out and read it aloud. Everyone then discussed, gave advice, and give thoughts on the fear. It was really reassuring to see how caring we all were to one another.

(Empathy - Image Source)

Learning Challenge: Sleep zzZ

Currently my sleep schedule is all over the place. Prior to this semester, I planned on waking up at 8 am to get into a routine. However, I don't have classes on Tuesday's and Thursday's which makes it hard for me to wake up that early. Another problem I have is I am a snoozer. I press "snooze" at least two times before getting out of bed. I do know that being sleep deprived is unhealthy. There are times when I notice the difference of being well rested and running on caffeine. In the article "How Sleep Deprivation Decays the Mind and Body," explains the effects of sleep deprivation. I knew that sleep deprivation causes a slew of health related problems. I learned that mood and sleep use the same neurotransmitters. I find this interesting that the chemical changes from the lack of sleep mimic bi-polar symptoms. Like many of the scientists in the article, I am curious on why sleep is a crucial necessity. Learning this new information, I would like to see how being sleep deprived feels but I don't think that would fair well. Therefore, I decided to the opposite. I would like to get into a more routinely schedule and sleep on time. When bedtime comes, my body will know rather than fall asleep between every other blink. 

(Sleeping Red Panda - Image Source)

Learning Challenge: Reading out LOUD

I do not normally read out loud because my throat gets scratchy. I do prefer to read out loud. When I read silently, I tend to read faster and sometimes I skim instead of read. I like reading out loud because the pauses between sentences has a natural rhythm to it. I especially like dialogues so I can pretend I am an actor at a table read. It makes the stories more enjoyable and I  pay more attention to the story. Some downfalls of reading out loud is the slow reading and the location where the reading is done at. I normally only read out loud when I am at home in my room by myself. I do see myself reading stories out loud in the future since it is so much fun to get into the story and character. 

(Reading out loud - Image Source)

Learning Challenge: The Pomodoro Technique

The Pomodoro technique is a strategy to pace workloads by using a timer. It is named from the tomato-shaped timer. It is so cute! I tried this strategy, and I failed several times. I understand that I am a lenient person, so when the timer went off, I would set the timer again. But after a couple tries, I got the hang of it. It required a lot of discipline on my part. It helped me transition from one task to the next. Before, I would spend hours on one subject, neglecting the other, and messing up my schedule. The Pomodoro technique helped me remain on track of time. I have to set a timer while watching Netflix to make sure that I do not waste too much time. This was an effective technique and I recommend it to anyone who needs help keeping track of time! 

(Tomatoes - Image Source)

Learning Challenge: Schedule

Time is something that does not wait for anyone. I feel like the white rabbit in Alice in Wonderland who was running late. The schedule that I planned out for the class was ideally fantastic, however, there are many days where I do not follow the schedule. Fortunately, I have been able to finish the assignments on time. I find myself doing the assignments in my spare time or before bed. The tasks are quite enjoyable, therefore it is not tenuous work to end a full day. The changes that I would want to make next week is to follow my schedule better, or be more productive during the times that I am doing the course.

  

(The White Rabbit - Image Source)