How many of you have reflected with regret the night before a paper is due: “Why didn’t I just get started last week?” I remember those feelings of frustration (often mingled with rising panic) from my college days. What I didn’t realize at the time was how procrastination or more generally, poor time management, was related to anxiety and stress. Let’s take a closer look.

There is no quick and easy cure to procrastination, but it helps to understand what’s at play. First of all, when it comes to studying, we have to acknowledge that there is an ongoing battle between what we know we should do and what we want to do. Often this battle is played out in the arena of short-term gratification vs. long term rewards. The more successful students among us are better able to handle short term discomfort in order to achieve better long term results. At times it may feel that this is a permanent part of our personality, but with persistent effort, this can change.  More on this later, but before we get there, let’s continue to dissect procrastination.

Part of what makes procrastination so seductive is that the results are immediate. Think about it, if you’ve got a paper due next week, contemplating all the work you have to do to find a topic, do the research, write and edit the paper puts you in touch with the amount of effort required. But the second you distract yourself — play a videogame, go out with friend, take a nap — those feelings vanish. This makes procrastination powerfully rewarding.

One final word about procrastination. In order to get into the University, everyone has been able to get good grades at the high school level. Even though that’s great, for many of us that means that we were able to procrastinate without experiencing negative consequences. In other words, even though you may have put things off until the night before deadline and might even have resolved to change your ways (the 2:00 am resolution), you were able to finish cramming with a decent grade, so the motivation to change evaporates in the light of day.

Okay, so at this point I hope you can see that procrastination is a formidable foe and takes more than just casual effort to change. Here are some strategies to try:

• Slow But Steady Wins the Race: It can take a while to change bad habits, so don’t be disillusioned. It is much more realistic to be satisfied with small, consistent changes, at least at first. Procrastination needs to be chipped away, rather than blown apart.
• Baby Steps: Thinking of doing a month’s worth of studying at once can be intimidating. One of the first tasks when you sit down to take on a project (reviewing notes, writing a paper, studying for a midterm) should be to identify intermediate goals, things that you can accomplish in a shorter period of time on the way to your ultimate goal.
• Shift your perspective: When we sit down to do a project, we often see the work in front of us as an insurmountable mountain. If you practice viewing the task from the perspective of how you will feel after you’ve climbed the mountain, that can provide enough motivation to get started on the climb. And finally,
• Reward Yourself: Changing you time management habits can be hard work, so if you start making headway, don’t forget to give yourself a pat on the back and some well-earned reward. Thirty minutes of FaceBooking, listening to your favorite music or hanging out with friends can be just the incentive you need to keep you moving forward.

Remember, there are many resources on campus to help you improve your efficiency and time management, including the Teaching and Learning Center. The most important step is to make the commitment to change.

Ron Miyaguchi, Ph.D.

Between busy class schedules, social events and late nights, college life is not always conducive to healthy or regular eating. For many of us, hectic life routines present roadblocks to healthy eating. Time, money, access, attitudes, sleep, mood and even our relationships with food are reflected in our eating habits! For many college students dining halls and the delicious take-out down the street are often the go-to for daily nourishment. Asking yourself the right questions like, “What am I hungry for? What will nourish me? How does the food that I’ve chosen taste and make me feel?” — can lead you toward making healthy choices. Also embracing your creativity, paying attention to food preparation, and balancing a variety of foods are important elements to consider.

So you might wonder, what is healthy eating anyway? Or, how can I eat sensibly, hang out with my friends and study for my chemistry exam? First, let’s define normal eating. According to dietician and therapist, Ellyn Satter MS, RD, normal eating is going to the table hungry, eating until you’re satisfied, taking in at least three meals per day, and even overeating at times (Secrets of Feeding a Healthy Family). Most importantly, she notes that normal eating is flexible and varies according to your schedule, hunger and feelings.
Food provides the human body with essential nutrients that are converted into energy — similar to the way gasoline fuels a car. Food impacts the way we feel and act. Balancing your daily meals with proteins (e.g., lean meats, soy products, beans) and carbohydrates (e.g., pasta, bread, rice) stimulates neurotransmitters that induce feelings of relaxation and alertness. So pairing these foods is important in managing your stress levels and concentration.

Here are some helpful tips that can make eating enjoyable and promote wellness:

• Take a few moments to be present while you eat. Savor each bite, put the fork down to allow for adequate chewing time, and pay attention to your tummy’s fullness!
• Avoid eating when you’re distracted, studying, or sleepy. We often lose sight of what and how much we’re taking in when we’re not paying attention.
• Ask yourself, how hungry am I on a scale of 1-10? What is my mood? What am I hungry for? Will I feel satisfied afterwards?
• Have water handy since drinking water flushes our systems and keeps us alert.
• Prepare food in advance and pack snacks. Munching on fruits, veggies, or mixed nuts in between meals keeps you full and focused!
• Don’t skip meals — this slows your metabolism and may lead to overeating.
• Practice the “healthy plate” by incorporating carbohydrates, proteins and vegetables into your meals.
• Don’t deprive — just moderate! Creating “no-no” food lists and ascribing “good” and “bad” labels to the foods may evoke feelings of frustration and deprivation.
• Avoid replacing food with caffeine and energy drinks void of nutritional value.
• Remember, the way that you eat reflects how you invest in and take care of yourself.

by Ainara Echanove, Psy.D.

Gray skies and chilly temperatures ever get you down? You’re probably not the only one. Many UO students — particularly those from warmer climes — struggle with the winter blues.

In ancient times, winter was a season for staying inside, making art and telling stories. Stories are not just for our amusement and escape. Great stories can feed our souls, connecting us to the larger web of life. Winter can be a time to curl up with a good book or a great movie. Or a time to enjoy candle-lit dinners with friends. The UO Craft Center is a wonderful place to discover and explore your artistic side.

Winter can challenge us to stay active – especially those who enjoy the outdoors. The lack of activity can drag down our spirits since we know that exercise enhances mood and burns off stress.

Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to stay active during the winters here. The UO Rec Center has reopened, offering workouts, swimming and intramurals. Also, you might consider an outing to the mountains through the UO Outdoor Program. They offer a number of ski, snowboarding and hiking trips to meet everyone’s tastes. They also rent equipment at greatly reduced rates. This can be a great way to get out in the winter and make new friends.

You may not realize it but some of the most beautiful days at the Oregon Coast are to be had during the winter. Sunny days with little or no wind and few tourists. The second half of March is a great time for whale watching too.

So if you think of winter as a bleak time that you have to slog through, I encourage you to step out of your comfort zones and try something new. You may be surprised by what you discover.

These are the best years of your life . . . why aren’t you enjoying yourself?

You may have heard words like these from a family member or a friend. Perhaps from their perspective everything looks fine: you’re in a great college, you get reasonably good grades, you have a group of friends. Yet, on the inside, you feel like there’s a chain around your neck, like you’re drifting along at the bottom of the sea.

Depression is the second most common complaint of students who seek help at the Counseling Center. Yet, often students don’t come in saying, “I’m depressed.” This is because depression can feel less like something that afflicts us like the flu or a cold — and more like a dark glass through which we look at the world. Since it affects all areas of our life, it can be hard to recognize and name as something distinct from who we are and how the world is.

Depression has many different causes. For some, it is an outgrowth of low self-esteem and excessive self-criticism. For others it is the accumulation of loss that was never properly grieved. Sometimes there is a genetic vulnerability. For some depression is born of stress and struggle that wears down one’s resilience. For instance, students who struggle academically may come to see themselves as failures and question whether they have a good future. Sometimes a sense of isolation plays a role, and we know that strong relationships can help support a student’s mood. Yet, this is complicated, since someone who is depressed can have good friends and a loving family and yet subjectively feel that no one really cares.

The good news is that depression readily responds to talk therapy. By talking things out one can clear away the weeds that choke the mind and spirit and develop a new relationship with life and oneself. Also, therapy breaks down the sense of isolation that depressed people often feel. Moreover in therapy students often learn coping strategies that lift their mood, such as exercise, staying socially engaged and challenging their negative thoughts. Some students find that medication can be helpful. Taking medication, like entering therapy, is a personal choice. In my own practice, I tend to think of medication when a student finds it very difficult to function, for instance, being able to get up in the morning and go to class.

It would be a mistake to think that all depression is bad, something to be stamped out wherever it springs up. Some have suggested that we live in a manic culture, and this too has its costs, such as superficial relationships, trainloads of stress and a blindness to others’ suffering. Depression can lead one to explore the soulful depths of life, and out of the depths often comes wisdom. Moreover, working through the issues that give rise to depression can lead to inner richness and strength of spirit.

If you sometimes feel like you are lost in a dark forest, know that we at the Counseling Center are here to help you find the path through and out.

by Mark Evans, Ph.D.

Welcome, dear reader, to our blog. This blog has been inspired by our years of working with students as they struggle with internal and external barriers, define their values, have their hearts broken, find inner strength, achieve important goals and ultimately grow and flourish. Many of us also can draw upon our own experiences of facing and overcoming major challenges that led us to a career in helping others. Much of our collective wisdom comes from working with students like you.

Here’s what you can expect.

We plan to post blog entries biweekly, typically on Monday or Tuesday. Some entries will be topical – like how to overcome sleep problems or cope with a breakup. Sometimes we will respond to events happening in our community where we feel that we can lend important perspective and insight. You will also find shorter posts that respond to questions we collect from students. We invite you to suggest a topic or question on our Ask a Question page. But keep in mind that we will not provide online counseling here or delve deeply into a particular student’s mental health issues. Rather, we will take up topics and questions that are likely to be widely relevant for UO students.

I hope that many of our posts will speak to you. I can recall several mentors, teachers and friends whose words continue to inspire and empower me. I also want to acknowledge that we all come to the UO with diverse backgrounds, life experiences and physical make ups. What’s effective for another person may not work for you, and vice versa. And since the seeds of healing and wisdom are found within each of us, I also trust that in the course of living your life you will discover answers and solutions that work best for you.

So for now, I wish you well — and remember to breathe as you face the challenges ahead.