So this week my 3 month break from studying came to an end and I had to complete my first assignment. With a baby. And raging hormones. Whilst worrying about being made redundant. And waiting anxiously to see if we had been approved for a house we had applied for.
Let's just say, it didn't start well. Or end well for that matter. 🙈
The assignment was to create a report on Is the Use of Social Media an Addiction. Well in my head I knew the answer. But I had to do research. I had to create a survey, research professional opinions, do a conclusion, a section on my findings, as well as reference every bit of information using the Harvard Referencing system. Whoever created that system needs to go to hell!
I'd never been good at writing reports at school. And ever since I got pregnant, my brain has gone to mush (baby brain is real and doesn't go away! haha). So I was absolutely dreading this assignment.
I started the easy bits first. I did the front cover and introduction and created the 3 questions for my survey. I created the survey, shared it on social media (how ironic) and then collected the answers and created a pie chart. And it was all pretty straight forward. I did all this around May-May was either sleeping or playing on her play mat.
And then the meltdown began.
I had to then explain my findings, create an argument for and against my reasons, come up with a conclusion and then explain how I could have done things differently and what I felt would happen to the future of social media.
Well I didn't have time to plan my answers properly, so I was going to have to wing it. I asked OJ to help me as much as he could. He's really smart and can explain things so well. But I was getting frustrated. I knew what I wanted to say but couldn't get it across. And when I did want to work on my assignment, May-May would play up, or wake up crying, or want feeding. She's only 3 and a half months and has colic so she can get really upset when she's ready.
I started to get stressed. And I started to think the worse. I wouldn't pass this course, meaning I wouldn't go to university. I'd fail and not be able to have my own events business. I was letting not only myself down, but OJ and May-May. My dream was going down the drain. I cried for 45 minutes. OJ let me cry and told me to stop worrying and panicking. This events was my dream and for once I had to be selfish and not add pressure on myself by doing it for anyone but me.
I called it a day and said I'd carry on the next day. 3 days later I had achieved so much. But there were a couple of sections I was struggling with and I was a day late for submitting the assignment. I took May-May and gave OJ the laptop. He completed the sections for me and submitted it.
That assignment put so much into perspective for me. I need to plan my time. Now OJ is settled into his new job, I can now plan studying on his days off. He will most likely take May-May to a soft play area so I can concentrate. Or I'll go upstairs for a couple of hours. Just having that 2 hours to study will make a huge difference, and I will still have time to spend with the both of them.
When I feel myself getting stressed, frustrated or ready to give up, it means I have overworked myself and I need to take a break. I am currently studying another assignment and after 30 mins of reading, I put my laptop away and do something else. This is helping me so much.
It is going to be difficult. I knew this as soon as I realised I was pregnant. And this first assignment was the guinea pig, my first attempt at what it will be like. Yes it went horribly wrong. But I now know what I need to do to make it less stressful and more productive. And I am lucky enough to have OJ to keep me calm and grounded. Because without his support, it would be a hell of a lot harder.
-x- Michaela -x-
Let's just say, it didn't start well. Or end well for that matter. 🙈
The assignment was to create a report on Is the Use of Social Media an Addiction. Well in my head I knew the answer. But I had to do research. I had to create a survey, research professional opinions, do a conclusion, a section on my findings, as well as reference every bit of information using the Harvard Referencing system. Whoever created that system needs to go to hell!
I'd never been good at writing reports at school. And ever since I got pregnant, my brain has gone to mush (baby brain is real and doesn't go away! haha). So I was absolutely dreading this assignment.
I started the easy bits first. I did the front cover and introduction and created the 3 questions for my survey. I created the survey, shared it on social media (how ironic) and then collected the answers and created a pie chart. And it was all pretty straight forward. I did all this around May-May was either sleeping or playing on her play mat.
And then the meltdown began.
I had to then explain my findings, create an argument for and against my reasons, come up with a conclusion and then explain how I could have done things differently and what I felt would happen to the future of social media.
Well I didn't have time to plan my answers properly, so I was going to have to wing it. I asked OJ to help me as much as he could. He's really smart and can explain things so well. But I was getting frustrated. I knew what I wanted to say but couldn't get it across. And when I did want to work on my assignment, May-May would play up, or wake up crying, or want feeding. She's only 3 and a half months and has colic so she can get really upset when she's ready.
I started to get stressed. And I started to think the worse. I wouldn't pass this course, meaning I wouldn't go to university. I'd fail and not be able to have my own events business. I was letting not only myself down, but OJ and May-May. My dream was going down the drain. I cried for 45 minutes. OJ let me cry and told me to stop worrying and panicking. This events was my dream and for once I had to be selfish and not add pressure on myself by doing it for anyone but me.
I called it a day and said I'd carry on the next day. 3 days later I had achieved so much. But there were a couple of sections I was struggling with and I was a day late for submitting the assignment. I took May-May and gave OJ the laptop. He completed the sections for me and submitted it.
That assignment put so much into perspective for me. I need to plan my time. Now OJ is settled into his new job, I can now plan studying on his days off. He will most likely take May-May to a soft play area so I can concentrate. Or I'll go upstairs for a couple of hours. Just having that 2 hours to study will make a huge difference, and I will still have time to spend with the both of them.
When I feel myself getting stressed, frustrated or ready to give up, it means I have overworked myself and I need to take a break. I am currently studying another assignment and after 30 mins of reading, I put my laptop away and do something else. This is helping me so much.
It is going to be difficult. I knew this as soon as I realised I was pregnant. And this first assignment was the guinea pig, my first attempt at what it will be like. Yes it went horribly wrong. But I now know what I need to do to make it less stressful and more productive. And I am lucky enough to have OJ to keep me calm and grounded. Because without his support, it would be a hell of a lot harder.
-x- Michaela -x-
Comments
Post a Comment