Over the years, education has had different meanings in my life. Sometimes I enjoyed the education I was getting, and sometimes I would dread the mornings of waking up for school. It seemed like the older I got, the harder school became and it seemed like a lot of pressure was building. I think that by managing stress and changing my attitude can help me become a happier student by looking at things in a positive prospective. Pressure is something that I never enjoyed, I would always get headaches and would want to stop everything that I am doing. That is why I constantly try to find ways of distracting myself while working on homework or schoolwork. Although, I noticed that if I am being entertained while learning, I stay focused and there is no need for a distraction. I can be open-minded when it comes to learning new things and trying to find what suits me.
Math is one thing that frustrates me the most when it comes to my education. It seems like every time I go into a math class, I already assume the worst. Therefore, I already have this thing in my mind where I think, “I will always hate math and math will always hate me.” Then again, I could always be wrong and try to find ways of getting along with my enemy. “The problem, as gilbert and company have come to discover, is that we falter when it comes to imagining how we will feel about something in the future… What Gilbert has found, however, is that we overestimate the intensity and the duration of our emotional reactions -- our “affect” -- to future events.” (The Futile Pursuit of Happines 8) So maybe if I just try to push myself a little harder and try not to think about math as a form of an enemy, I can become friends with it and try not to overwhelm my thoughts.
One thing that I can try doing while in school, is trying to reach that point of “flow.” So that I can feel satisfied with everything that I am doing and enjoy every aspect of it. Instead of beating myself up for thinking that, it is hard work and that hard work is frustrating. “When in a state of flow we enjoy both peak experience and peak performance: we experience pleasure and perform at our best. Athletes often refer to this as being in the zone.” (Happier 86) Instead of always overwhelming myself with negative feelings about something, I should rethink and try to find the positive in that thing that I am doing. By changing my mindset about school and trying to make everything a good experience, I can enjoy the effort and the work that I put into a class, homework or anything that could be beneficial for me in the future.
Something that I would always do the most, is distracting myself when things are getting too hard or too complicated. Especially when I am at home. There are so many distractions and sometimes I lose focus. But that is only when things get too complicated and I take breaks so that my brain does not fry. Some of the things I do are text, watch some television or simply just fall asleep because I become exhausted. Sometimes these things can help ease my stress for a short while. But then if I distract myself for too long all the work starts piling up and it becomes even more stressful then it was in the first place. So maybe trying to find out a balance where I can take breaks that are productive, instead of taking a lot time away from the things that I should be working on at home.
While in the classroom though, it seems to be a different story. Sometimes I think it is because of the enviornment. On the other hand, maybe because everyone’s main focus is to atleast try and learn something new. I have always liked listening to people and learning new things, whether it is about them or something that can be useful or helpful towards me. I also feel that if I am having a good time while learning, then it is not so hard and it gives you a sense of calmness. “..there are two distinct ways of hurting students’ prospects of experiencing flow. First, by creating a stressful enviornment, leading to anxiety; second by creating an enviornment that is devoid of struggle and challenege, leading to boredom.” (Happiness 88) In my case, it is usually the first one. I do not know why it happens, but I am guessing it is because I cannot really handle many things at once. Taking things one-step at a time would work better for me. However, since im an expert at procrastinating, it gets difficult to prioritize and organize the things that need to be done first.
Overall, I just need to try my hardest to stay focused and feel good while doing the things that I need to get done. Learn how to manage my time so that I do not procrastianate with the most important things. I can ease the pressure and tension by getting all the important things I need to get done out of the way early and try not to distract myself as often. Also, trying to be “in the zone” while dealing with school and hard work. While also taking the time to change the way I feel about any particular subjects that I dislike. As for math, I know that we are enemies, but who knows, maybe I will grow to love it and we can become the best of friends!
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