UC San Diego Wellness Center Blog

Midterms, final exams, papers, projects, clubs, volunteering, research, writing, family, friends, finances …Feeling Stressed? No doubt about it, college life can be very intense. Yet, success in college is not solely dependent on hard work, creativity, or intelligence; success is also dependent upon on how well you manage your time.

In his book First Things First, Dr. Steven Covey suggests that time management is actually personal management or managing ourselves rather than managing time. The essence of time management is to organize and execute around priorities.

All your tasks can be divided into for categories:

1. Important and Urgent (crises, deadline-driven projects)
2. Important, Not Urgent (preparation, prevention, planning, relationships)
3. Urgent, Not Important (interruptions, many pressing matters)
4. Not Urgent, Not Important (trivia, time wasters)

Make a four quadrant (2X2) matrix of the characteristics of all of your activities, classifying them as “urgent or not urgent”, “important or not important.” List the activities screaming for action as “Urgent.” List the activities contributing to your mission, values or high-priority goals as “Important.”

Quadrant I activities are urgent and important - often called problems or crises. Focusing on Quadrant I results in it getting bigger and bigger until it dominates your life. Urgency can become “addicting.” We can get a temporary high from solving urgent and important crises. However, effective people spend less time in Quadrant I, and more in Quadrant II.

Quadrant II activities are important, but not urgent. Working on this Quadrant is the heart of personal time management. These activities are in the areas of preparation, prevention, planning, relationship building, and values clarification.

Quadrant III activities are urgent and not important, and often misclassified as Quadrant I. These are such things as interruptions, certain phone calls, e-mail, and meetings. These activities may be meeting others’ priorities and needs, but not your own.

Quadrant IV is the escape Quadrant - activities that are not urgent and not important: busy work, “escape” activities, and excessive TV for example. Effective people stay out of Quadrants III and IV because they aren’t important. They shrink Quadrant I down to size by spending more time in Quadrant II.

Effective time management involves reducing time wasters, not responding to urgent and not important activities and focusing on important, but not urgent activities. This will help you “do the right things.”

“Doing more things faster is no substitute for doing the right things,” says Covey. Our real purpose is “to live, to love, to learn, and to leave a legacy.”

Your legacy starts today. Go out there and start building it!

Robert is a Biology Major, a junior, an ultimate Frisbee player and a son. He works hard, and he is a happy, productive member of society. He also happens to be recovering from depression.

Like many other Americans recovering from mental health problems, Robert has fought a tough battle against stigma. Countering the aura of shame and blame associated with mental health problems is critical to everyone, especially to mental health consumers who must identify the need for and seek mental health treatment and continue to live healthy and productive lives.

Studies show that people with mental health problems do get better, and millions recover completely, leading full and active lives. But stigma prohibits too many from seeking the diagnosis and treatment necessary for improved mental health.

Stigma has many faces: Social isolation, labels like “psycho,” “schizo,” or “crazy,” and outright discrimination all work to inhibit people with mental health problems from getting the help they need.

Reducing the stigma and discrimination associated with mental health problems is critical in helping more people recover from them. We’ve joined a new Federal initiative whose goal is to create a more accepting environment for people with mental health problems. This initiative includes a national public service advertising campaign. The materials are upbeat in tone and focus on the important ways people with mental health problems contribute to our lives every day. February 11 through Feb 15 UC San Diego Psychological and Counseling Services will be launching an anti-stigma campaign for mental illness. The campaign - What a difference a friend makes - is designed to decrease the negative attitudes that surround mental illness and encourage young adults to support their friends who are living with mental health problems.

Sign the Stop the Stigma Petition For more information on mental health awareness and reducing stigma, please visit whatadifference.org or psychservices.ucsd.edu. I hope you’ll help us spread the word that mental health is part of all our lives.
 

It’s easy to choose healthy options for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. Little changes can make a big difference.

 Here are some great tips from a Registered Dietician!

• Enjoy your food and eat slowly
• Pay attention to your body
• Eat fruits and veggies at every meal. It will fill you up make sure your plate has lots of color
• Drink lots of water and stay hydrated. Sometimes when you feel hungry, you really are just dehydrated
• Have half a cup of brothy (not creamy soup) before your meal, it will help you fill up so you don’t eat so much
• Stop eating when you feel full if you have a craving for something not so healthy or filled with calories
• Have just a small portion and enjoy it use hummus or avocado instead of mayo or cheese on sandwiches and wraps
• Use peanut butter instead of butter
• Drink fat free 1% or 2% milk instead of whole try soy milk
• Choose whole grains: brown rice, whole wheat tortillas, whole grain breads, whole wheat pasta
• Have pizza with lots of veggies and less cheese and meat try tofu go “veggie” one day a week
• Choose baked chips instead of regular
• Try using half the amount of salad dressing, then toss more to spread it around
• Use mostly low calorie dressing and add just a drop of full fat dressing on your salad
• Substitute chicken or fish for meat
• At least 3 days each week
• Choose tomato based sauces rather than cream/pesto sauces

Courtesy of Debbie Pino-Saballett, MPH at UCSD Student Health Education and UCSD Housing and Dining Nutritionist  Becky McDivitt, RD.

LiveWell Tip of the Week

LiveWell TMC!
January 18th, 2008
Welcome to the UCSD Wellness Blog. LiveWell TMC is our first Wellness Center Program. Over 100 students have registered to take the Winter LiveWell Challenge:

The Challenge: 1. Complete an online wellness survey 2. Meet twice with a peer wellness coach 3. Participate in 4 or more wellness workshops.

Check out the LiveWell Facebook group LiveWell TMC Facebook Group

Find out even more on our LiveWell TMC link UC San Diego Wellness Center

Did you know that we will be having a LiveWell TMC program in the Spring? Stay tuned to the Wellness Website for when to register.

Who are the members of the Wellness Center and LiveWell TMC?

Psychological and Counseling Services

Location: Galbraith Hall (beneath CLICS)

Hours: Monday- Friday 8am-4:30pm

Website: http://psychservices.ucsd.edu/

Phone Number: (858) 534-3755

Purpose: Psychological and Counseling Services (P&CS) provides individual, group, couples, and family psychotherapy, as well as emergency and crisis intervention services, to registered UCSD students. Counseling and consultation services are free of charge for students and are funded by student registration fees.

Student Health Services

Location: On Library Walk across from Price Center

Hours: 8-4:30 M, T, Th, F (9-4:30 W)

Website: http://studenthealth.ucsd.edu/

Phone Number: 858-534-2419

Purpose: To promote and preserve the health and well-being of all registered students so that they may pursue their academic goals.

Mission Statement: To identify, establish and promote activities that contribute to a healthy campus. To enhance the personal health of students and the collective health of the campus/community by creating a healthy environment and supporting students in establishing and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

The Center for Ethics and Spirituality

Location: 201 University Center

Office Hours: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday 8:00 am - 1:00 pm and by appointment

Phone number: (858) 534-2521

Mission Statement: The Center for Ethics and Spirituality provides accessible spiritual and ethical guidance and support for students, faculty, and staff at UCSD.

UC San Diego Recreation- RIMAC

Location: RIMAC, Main Gym, Aquatics, Outback Adventures

Hours: vary according to facility

Website: http://recreation.ucsd.edu/

Phone Number: (858) 534-4037

Purpose: UC San Diego Recreation provides diverse, dynamic and high quality programs to the university that promote fitness, enjoyment, relaxation and play. Through recreational experiences, participants learn skills and develop habits that improve health, happiness and the quality of life.

Mission Statement: The UC San Diego Recreation Department is committed to providing a broad scope of high quality, dynamic recreational experiences that benefit students, staff, faculty and the University Community.

Intergroup Relations Program

Location: Student Services Center, Suite 527

Hours: 8:00 am - 4:30 pm M-F

Website: http://irp.ucsd.edu/

Phone number: (858) 534-6708

Mission Statement: The Intergroup Relations Program fosters the understanding and practice of effective intergroup relations. The unit provides programs and services that build individual and institutional capacity for appreciating diversity and engaging respectfully across differences.

Career Services Center

Location: On Library Walk

Hours: M, T, Th: 8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., W: 8 a.m. - 7 p.m., F: 8 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Website: http://career.ucsd.edu/index.shtml

Phone number: (858) 534-3750

Purpose: assists undergraduates, graduate students, and alumni with career-related matters