I’ve been doing my best to act upon the stress-factors in my life today. We learn in Psychology that everything you’re thinking about right now, be it a line from a song, a phone number, a memory of a conversation or thinking “I better phone so and so!” is part of your Working Memory (WM) - the effective CEO of your frontal lobe. It decides what you do, what you pay attention to - all of it.
Your intelligence isn’t measured by how much you can remember, but how many of those things you can deal with or ‘juggle’ at once. Now, this might not be modest but I do have some modicum of intelligence - I wouldn’t be at uni otherwise. Therefore, logic dictates I can deal with these different things in my life. So this is how I’ve done it:
- I’ve rejoined WW: it takes an element of the decision-making off my hands, the amount I can eat is set out for me.
- I’ve spent last night with my new organiser, and planned out the next 3 weeks of appointments, little things I need to take care of etc. so it’s all there in black and white.
- I’m planning ahead: whether it’s when I’m going to write essays or go to the gym, it’s in that organiser.
- I’m taking care of my future - I’ve just been granted a paid Research Assistant post which will not only provide me with invaluable experience, but also some extra money!
I feel empowered today, and that’s good. I have to acknowledge the fact that I’m a person who needs to have plans, and I think I have. So planning it is! I feel better now 
Wow. That’s really inspiring. Thank you for sharing such a positive attitude. I’m also studying psych, and one of the things I was struck by recently is the distinction between people with a internal locus of control, that allows then to take responsibility for their actions and their lives, and people with an external locus of control, who believe that life “just happens” to them, and they don;t have much say. I like to think that what I do and how I react is up to me. But it sure is a big responsibility
October 21, 2008 @ 5:46 pm