Motivation Jar

How to do without To Do’s

DSCN6813November is the month of change. The craziness of the beginning of the semester as passed. The last leaves are falling, the sky is smoggy with white and grey clouds that you can barely delineate and the few sun rays are like a Christmas present warming your nose as you face the river when they decide to beat the clouds.

It’s thus time to get a routine going and to go back to normal life! It’s the end of the weekly everyday party’s and it’s the beginning of people being unavailable as they study in the library from sunrise to dawn.

Soooooo it’s the perfect time to finally build a routine!

It’s always fun to find a certain balance after you’ve been on a rollercoaster for 2 whole months.

As I was walking in the street the other day, back from the adorable street market that is close to my home, with a bag full of fresh fruits and vegetables that taste like you just pick them out of your own garden, I felt it was finally time to settle. Settle to take a breath before the line for the roller coaster is over and I’m up on it again. Settle to make some tea and wake up in the morning to be productive, work on project and stop confusing my Tuesdays for Sundays. Mostly, settle to experience the actual ‘’living’’ abroad part and feel like I have a routine in this new life. Hey, I’m not talking about a boring routine, but just something that makes you experience the best of life without feeling like you’re running everywhere to catch up on the time you’ve lost track of!

So if like me you feel like you need a cozy new routine because you’ve lost it all, here are three tricks to make it happen without going crazy on the To Do’s.


Make some tea.

I feel like one of the first step into building a new routine is to hold on to the same habit every day. For instance, make yourself a tea as soon as you wake up in the morning and always after lunch. That way, you’ll get used to something and find regularity in your days. Plus, it will keep you hydrated to cope for all this German beer.

I’m not even joking.


Find a sport class and go.

It is soooooo easy to skip trainings and sports class when your routine is all over the place. Stop finding excuses, decide on something you love and write it down everywhere. In your agenda, in you cellphone calendar, on your computer yellow squared reminders, on you wall, on your hand, on your mirror… Okay you get the idea, just do it! You’ll feel good afterward anyway and going regularly to the Gym or sports class makes you more happy and productive.

Hello Endorphins!!


Eat three times a day.

It sounds really stupid, but being an exchange student makes it harder to eat normally. No wonder why there are Pretzel’s stands everywhere. Building a new routine require a certain rhythm for food. As you make your tea, eat some oatmeal or cereal. Pack a sandwich for lunch with vegetables and enjoy a great dinner with friends. Snacking is awesome. I adore snacking all day long. But make sure you eat proper meal in between your snacks, or proper snacks in between your meal.

Your body will thank you.

From these extremely simple tricks, you might be able to go back to productive To Do’s and accomplish crazy miracles such as sleeping 8 hours a night. In any case, don’t forget to have fun before finals are coming.


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