Much love, Shaudeh Farjami

It’s halftime! 2 years through college and 2 more years to go. Catch your breath, re-access your game plan, and refocus mentally, physically, and emotionally. Who’s on your team? Who’s on your starting line up? What’s the play book looking like? I’m leaking my best plays for you and your team for back to school: college edition. 

Master how to effectively organize your play book before you get to building it. HOT TAKE: Google calendar has Apple calendar beat. As a student who’s relied on Apple Calendar to log my courses, events, and open table reservations since the beginning of college, I know how complicated it seems to switch platforms this late in the game. Hear me out, Google calendar is way more customizable. You can view monthly, weekly, and daily layouts simultaneously. It is so accessible and user-friendly. If you’re a sucker for a color coded schedule, this one’s for you. Your schedule should not be screaming bold colors at you, find a way to make it easier on the eye.

Make the most of that calendar by carving out time to get moving and stick to it. Schedule your workouts to align with your class schedule. My day feels instantly more productive with the satisfaction of knowing I hit the gym. Ironically, rather than running out of breath on the treadmill, I catch my breath during my workout knowing it has a perfect fit in my agenda. You don’t need to block out hours on end for an extensive workout plan. Start by just putting aside 15 minutes. When you find a workout you love and look forward to, you will be more motivated to put longer blocks aside. You will go out of your way to find that time, hop on the stair master, and press play on your favorite podcast. Make a habit, start it now. Habits turn into routine. 

Do not stop reading after I recommend this edition to your play book: wake up at the same time, everyday. Seriously. There is nothing more rewarding than maximizing your day. Even if you’re having the night of your life downtown until 2:00am, wake up at 9:00. Make it routine. Stick with it. Consistency leads to greater productivity. Waking up at the same time every morning is an investment in your physical and mental well-being. As a result, your body will be more energized because it is operating cycles and functions efficiently. This will help maintain your routine so you can get moving, make the time to eat right, put that social battery to action, and get work done all in one day. Yes, I know, this is easier said than done. Tear out that snooze button from your play book. Leave your phone somewhere that you would have to physically get up on your feet to shut off the alarm. The only thing between you and a productive work day is that snooze button, sayonara snooze.

Ring season? What’s your team’s goals? Set goals based on how you want to feel. You don’t want to leave an exam feeling anxious and hopeless. Set a goal to feel confident and content leaving your midterm. With an end feeling in mind, forge a game plan with tactics to reach that state.

Maintain your equipment, keep your space clean. Leave the field the way you found out. Take 10 minutes at the end of each day to organize your space. 10 minutes everyday will save you the weekly hour on Sundays that it takes to organize the heaping piles of clothes on your closet floor from choosing outfits all week and the clutter of miscellaneous papers stacked your desk. I’m guilty of trying on 4 outfit options on a Friday night and leaving the 3 losing outfits on my bedroom floor instead of taking 30 seconds to hang them back up properly.  Hang it up, it’s so easy. Don’t be lazy. I promise, you will find yourself in a better mood returning to your space knowing it’s organized and clean. Adding this 10 minute habit will go miles. 

Practice effectively. Some people can study from their bed or couch and get work done. I’m not one of those people. I need to have a space to call “my study space” whether it’s a desk, a study room, a library, or an outdoor table. As long as it’s somewhere separate from my resting space. Not only is it easier to focus, I know that if I get to business at the library for 2 hours, I truly studied for 2 hours today. Boom. Checked off the to do list. See what I mean? The goal is a feeling. To feel productive. To feel efficient. To feel satisfied checking off another box on the to do list. No matter how many hours I’m working bundled up in bed, I don’t receive the same feeling of productivity regardless of how long I’ve been typing away. Find a space that sparks productive studying. As a result, you’ll find your personal space as a retreat for relaxation and peace after a productive day rather than a space of avoidance and distress. 

Fuel your body so you play to your highest potential. You need to put your best foot forward for not only yourself, but your teammates. Food is a sensitive subject for high school and college students. To be frank, it is a subject I am still becoming comfortable with by the day. I have found myself at my highest potential when I fuel myself with whole foods rather than low-calorie substitutes with unpronounceable ingredients. I want to feel nourished. I want to feel energized. I want to feel happy, not go to sleep regretting how much I ate at the throughout the day. To reach these goals this school year, my tactic is to block out a time for groceries on a consistent day every week. A weekly habit I hope to turn into a routine. Going overboard with Trader Joe’s snacks and dreaming up ambitious meal prep plans is my toxic trait when it comes to groceries… you only need enough to get you through the week. Be realistic. Nonetheless, we all know the feeling of resenting a meal because you ate every day for two months. Switch up your meals. Eating healthy should not be boring or limited. Fuel your body so you can perform at your peak of productivity consistently. It’s PR after PR this year.

At the end of the day, your team is as strong as your weakest link. Keep friends around you that encourage your energy. Friends that encourage you to stay true to yourself. Friends that encourage you to be the best you can be. Here’s the blatant truth, not everyone is going to accept the offer to join your team. Not everyone has to be apart of your team either. Crazy concept! Friendships come off as so simple: you hangout, you’re nice to each other, you treat them how you want to be treated… but it’s a lot more complex than that. At times, even more complex than romantic relationships. Friends might leave your team and join back years later. It’s a complex, distorted phenomena, but that’s what makes friendship so precious. I find that each member of my team compliments me in very different ways. Hence, they play separate roles in my life that are incomparable. There’s friends you can always count on to bring out your social side, friends that never let your social battery die. There’s friends that you can count on for a girls night in. There’s friends that you can count on to hype up a goofy, senseless plan. There’s friends you can count on for the truth, and the rationality, with your best interest in mind at all times. I am lucky to be surrounded my so many loving friends. I am lucky to play on their teams as well, year-round. I am lucky to be going into my first full year at a school that encourages my energy like no other. I cannot begin to explain how excited I am to meet so many new friends, new roommates, and keep the old just as close.

Teammates that will never leave your side are your family members. Prioritize time for your family this school year. Take that surprise trip home. Treat your sibling on a tour of your college town. It means more to them than you will ever know. I’m talking to you, first children out of the nest. Sending your oldest off to college comes all too fast and hits all too hard… ask my mother. It took me moving out to college to realize how the value in my relationships with my parents and sister. Nurture them, prioritize them. You will regret missing out on memories with your family, even more so once you have moved out of the house. They’ll never be traded off of your team, even if you tried. They are here through the championships, win or lose. 

Here’s to working hard and playing harder. 

Much love,

Shaudeh Farjami