Rapid learner skills(9)——How to finally stop feeling stressed and guilty

How to finally stop feeling stressed and guilty

Stress and guilt are two emotions familiar to most students. The first is the most obvious, stress. That feeling you get when you have looming deadlines or important exams that you feel unprepared for. The other emotion, guilt, is also common, particularly when the threat of deadlines and failures has been taken away.

Dealing with stress and guilt successfully will require you to have a system. The essential features of a system are as follows:

1.The system must tell you what work to do.
2.The system must tell you what work not to do.
3.The system must tell you when to work.
4.The system must tell you when not to work.

That is it. Four decisions. What to do, What not to do. When to work, When not to work.

If you have a system that provides simple answers to these questions and works effectively (meaning it actually delivers the results you desire if you follow it), you will start trusting the system. Instead of relying on your gut feelings about whether you need to work or quit, you will have faith that sticking to the system will lead to results. Feelings of guilt and stress will go down, and you will get more done to boot.

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Words:

• loom:verb.
  If an unwanted or unpleasant event looms, it seems likely to happen soon and causes worry

Phrases:

• gut feeling:
  a strong belief about someone or something that cannot completely be explained and does not have to be decided by reasoning
• go down:
  to be reduced in price, value, amount, quality, level, or size
• to boot:
  in addition