One of the best things about living in a dorm, high up, is being able to get a good view of the snowstorm. Nothing beats a winter storm than when classes are cancelled. Looking outside and not being able to see the buildings while I'm here comfortable in my dorm is a blessing to be counted. In these winter storms it's the perfect time to not only catch up on school work, sleep, laziness but also self reflection. I've been reading this book called Designing Your Life by Bill Burnett & Dave Evans and I did a practice the book recommended. The practice I chose today is called an Activity log. An activity log provides insight on your interests by showing you what increases your energy and focus. As well as, what does not. Here I provide an example of what mine looks like, it does not have to be pretty, it's there to provide more information about yourself:
All you have to do is find a peace of paper and write down your activities, and make an engagement and energy gauge. Engagement gauges and energy gauges are a drawing so you can see if what your experiencing is positive or negative energy. Your engagement gauge shows how engage you are in an activity. The flow box above the engagement diagram is for when you loose track of time and enjoy what your doing. It's a check box that's important to note. I also added in there a duration log because I want to know how long I'm spending on certain activities. This practice helps provide you insight on what really interests you. Instead of binge watching your favorite TV show I recommend trying to cozy up with a hot beverage and do the activity log.
Once you finished all your day activities I plan on making a pie chart to see how much time I spent being unproductive and how much I spent being productive. This helps better assess what I need to improve upon and to figure out what activities bring the life back into me. The book recommends logging in everyday, every other day, or at the very least twice a week.
In the end, it's important to know yourself so you can get on the right path to loving your life.
Other means to practice self reflection is to journal and write down what you are thinking, how your feeling, what are you grateful for, what are some things you want to improve upon etc. Really check in with yourself to help better decide if there are some things you may want to improve on your life.
I hope this article helps provide some information on how you can practice self discover. Perfect time is in the heart of a snow storm. When the world is quiet and there's no rush. Just enjoy your day.