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POST-SECONDARY PLANNING Navigating University Life as an Influencer: How Sadie Aldis Does It All How do you balance university life with your career in social media?
What piece of advice do you have for incoming students?
Before entering university, I honestly had no idea how I would divide my time between the two things that mean a lot to me — my education and social media. However, I knew this would be something I had to figure out once I went to school and worked out my schedule. What has really helped me is to dedicate my days to specific areas of my life. For example, I spend Monday to Thursday in class and doing schoolwork (as well as a bit of filming for TikTok and YouTube here and there), and then Friday to Sunday is all about social media. It gives me so much peace of mind knowing that I have time blocked off for each responsibility, and my mind doesn’t have to switch back and forth between tasks — I’m the worst at multi-tasking. Conveniently for me, I’m making tons of university vlogs for my channel, which leads me to work simultaneously on school and social media on some days.
One of my biggest worries going into university was how I would make close friends with similar interests and whom I could trust. It’s definitely hard to put yourself out there in a room full of people you’ve never met! My one tip would be to make sure that you don’t sit alone in class. Yes, that’s right. Walk up to any person you see, and ask, “hey, do you mind if I sit here?” There’s a 99 per cent chance they’ll say yes because everyone is trying to make friends, especially in the first few weeks.By doing this, you’ve got an acquaintance, a study buddy, and perhaps an up-and-coming close friend. Keep in mind that you only need to make one really great connection with someone before that snowballs into lots of mutual friendships. Don’t stress. The right friends will come to you if you’re open to them!
Read the full Q&A on yourcareerguide.ca.
A Productivity Plague: How to Overcome Toxic Habits
A Productive Student's Day in the Life
Project Uni tackles the big questions of post-secondary education. Today, we’re answering: “How do I overcome Toxic Productivity?” Isabell Kearn and Matthew Kearn
I
f you think these criteria are at all reasonable, you may be one of the 7.2 billion viewers tuning into TikTok trends, such as “that girl” and “grindset.” Although most students want to be driven, motivated, and passionate, toxic productivity culture poses a detriment to their mental well-being. You can overcome this with a social media cleanse or practicing the Pomodoro method. Social media is ubiquitous; it’s routinely the first thing we wake up to and the last thing we see at night. One way to combat the negative impacts of social media may be taking a week-long break from interacting on unnecessary platforms. Studies show after a mere seven days of absence from social media,
participants experienced a significant increase in mental well-being. Achieving this goal won’t be easy; our brains are hotwired to the dopamine hit that social media offers. However, limiting or deleting the most toxic social platforms for you may result in substantial improvements in your mental health. Furthermore, many students are working against time, leaving them restless and irritable. Channelling anxieties into healthy time management methods can bring you to a better, balanced place. The Pomodoro Technique implements study intervals of 25 minutes followed by five-minute breaks. These breaks can be used as a refresher from any built-up stress. This cycle is repeated four times with a reward of a
Wake up at 5am
Drink 2 gallons of water
Do a 2 hour workout
Do 20 hours of homework
Read 3 books
Don't blink
15–30-minute break afterwards. This improves focus and productivity by ‘brain training’ to work more efficiently as there is a clear end goal. Methods like Pomodoro are more inclusive of what it means to reach a school-work-life equilibrium rather than trying to fit a mould. It is understandably difficult not to get lured into social media niches that make you feel inadequate or lesser than others, but productivity looks different for everyone. If you struggle to find balance and what makes you work most efficiently, utilizing the aforementioned techniques could help you find your own definition of productivity.
If applying to university is hard and if you want to make it easier, check out projectuni.net.
Publisher: Layal El Masri Business Development Manager: Sarah Ferreira Country Manager: Nina Theodorlis Content & Production Manager: Raymond Fan Production Lead: Michael Taylor Designer: Giuliana Bandiera Lead Editor: Karthik Talwar All images are from Getty Images unless otherwise credited. This section was created by Mediaplanet and did not involve the Toronto Star or its editorial departments. Send all inquiries to ca.editorial@mediaplanet.com.
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