With only one month left of the school semester, my to-do list seems endless. It’s crunch time with final papers, exams, grading and copious amounts of readings. Reflection at this point is not a priority and in most cases nonexistent. I get it. But today I will try and convince you otherwise. Scholar Culture has created “#ScholarSunday” to help you prioritize reflection and focus on positive affirmations, here’s why:

Before I get into why you should be prioritizing reflection, you might be thinking – what is “Scholar Sunday”:

Every Sunday Scholar Culture will post a positive affirmation on Instagram, as well as my own reflection on the following:

1. One thing that was positive in the past week
2. One positive thing I hope for the week ahead

So why am I doing this and why is it so important?

Acknowledgment of your learning and feelings

Amongst the busyness, let’s take a minute to actually acknowledge what we are doing. We have the privilege to be grad students, we have made it this far, we are (hopefully) doing what we love, we are learning lots and we don’t want all of these moments to pass us by. It’s important to take a minute to acknowledge what we are learning and apply these learnings to our own lives.

On the same note, it’s a time to acknowledge your feelings. As grad students, we can be so eager to finish tasks and quickly moves onto the next thing, without realizing that we are on the path to burnout. Sunday’s are a good time to ‘check in’ and acknowledge any feelings from the past week.

Build community – you are not alone

It is always nice to be reminded that we are not alone. Often as grad students, we are working in silos, so caught up in the pile of books that we forget that we are in this together. Turn to your colleagues or the #ScholarSquad for support. Normalizing our feelings and workloads can help motivate us for the week ahead.

Promote a positive mindset

Part of my aim at Scholar Culture is to promote a positive mindset and lifestyle. However, some weeks are going to be more difficult than others. Try to remember that having a challenging week is not a bad thing. Instead, let’s try and reframe our thinking into learnings and a positive takeaway from the week that has past. For instance, if you didn’t do as well as you thought you would on an assignment, instead of feeling down about it – take the next week as an opportunity to set up appointments with your professor to see where you can improve. Reframing into a positive mindset can help us move forward.

To be present, while also looking forward

On Sunday, take that time to reflect on your past week, what you have learned and a positive takeaway. Take time to ‘check in’ and be present with yourself. But also take some time to look forward, don’t dwell on the past, it has come and gone, now is the time to trust yourself while you move forward into the next week. What is one positive goal you can take forward? So remember,

Your potential is unlimited

Squeeze in that 5 minutes of reflection, you have the potential to do it – and you won’t regret it!

As always, let me know what you think about this idea or what strategies you use for reflection?

 

 

 

Until next time,

 

 

 

P.S Don’t forget to use #ScholarCulture #ScholarSquad and now #ScholarSunday to keep me updated on your experiences as grad students.

P.P.S Applying to grad school for the 2018/19 school year? Check out this FREE eBook on 5 steps to a successful grad school application. Are you in grad school and struggling to find easy lunches to bring to campus? Check out three FREE recipes and full nutritional information here.