How to Force Yourself to Finish Your Thesis ASAP

Before you do anything, you need to remind yourself that moderation is key to everything. If you want to finish your thesis, alive and healthy, you need to prepare yourself and your body by:

• Eating well. You need to eat well so your body will stay healthy even when you need to sleep late or sleep less than 8 hours a day. 

Take your vitamins daily. You would not want to get sick in times when you need to finish your processing or thesis writing. Getting sick means less productivity. And the longer you're sick, the longer you take in finishing your thesis.

• Sleep at least 8 hours a day. You need rest every after a long day's work. Don't force yourself to work 24 hours a day because that's ridiculous. You're probably too tired to think to be productive.
• Ignore negativity. Some people, those who have nothing else better to do with their lives, usually try to bring other people down with them. They would tell you that you won't be able to reach your goal - which is to finish your thesis asap. Delete them from your immediate circle. You don't need those kind of people.

Once you have settled with these preparations, then you are now ready for the bigger task at hand in order to force yourself to finish your thesis ASAP.

Make daily goals. Use a calendar to write down your daily goals. Take one day of your thesis days to write EVERYTHING that you still need to do, whether it's a minor detail like polishing a chapter of your thesis, or a major one like writing down the analysis for the entire research. What matters is that everything is written down, and you can clearly see how much needs to be finished before your target date. Follow your daily goals. 'Things to do' stay as 'things to do' if you do not accomplish them, so I suggest, if you want to clear up your entire calendar, is to finish everything as soon as you can. If you really can't follow your daily goals, then move them in such a way that you can implement them in the following days.

Don't get frustrated. There will be a time when you will have to repeat or redo some things that you have already done. Don't kill yourself when that time comes (haha). Just fix your daily goals again and make sure that you fit your schedule to the target date that you have set.

Update your adviser. Email, text, whatever, let him know what you have been doing, and what still needs to be done. If you can inform him of every step that you have done, let him know. Because if you don't, you might end up having to repeat your entire thesis if he finds something fishy about what you have done. If this happens, please don't kill your adviser. (haha) Do what he suggest you to do, as soon as possible. It is most likely that his theories would fail, but if it doesn't then start praying that you will be able to finish everything on time.

• Declare your target date publicly. 
Tell everyone - your friends, your family, your adviser, facebook, everyone - about your target date of finishing your thesis. Why? Because you'd be pressured to live up to what you said. :)
• Pray and make it happen. If you're not decided to make it happen on the date that you declared, it is not gonna happen, even if you pray all night long every night. So stop wishing that you can do it, and actually start doing it and you'd be done in no time.

So that's it. You now know the different things that you need to do so you can force yourself to finish your thesis as soon as possible. Good luck! :)

I'm a Nomad

Last Christmas' Eve and New Year's Eve, I was yet again a nomad. For the 4th consecutive New Year's Eve and for 3 Christmases, I was again, an "ampon" of the Añonuevos. Even if they welcome me into their familial events, sometimes, I still cannot help but think that I might be imposing myself too much into their family. Oh well, next time, I will bring lots of goodies to make up for my presence again! Ahaha.

But that's not really the point of my blog entry. The point is, when I met one of SJ's childhood friends a.k.a. also one of his village friends, he asked me where I lived. And for a split-second, (actually, it was not a split-second, it took me like 3 seconds to think of how to answer) I did not know how to answer the simple question. Was he asking me my "permanent address", where I was born and where I grew up? Or was he asking me my "semi-permanent address", where I resided for almost 6 years during my college years? Or was he asking me where I went home everyday because it's the house that shelters me, my dog and my stuff?

And so, I answered him, "Pasig", thinking that I should just mention the place where my Lola lives, so if he asks about it, I could just mention my grandmother. End of story. And yet, SJ mentions the boarding house. Oh yeah! My boarding house is also IN Pasig. Stupid me! How could I forget? I guess, it is because I also wanted to say that I 'also' live in Davao City, and yet I do not even memorize the address where my mom, sister and brother lived in now. That is because, for the nth time, they moved to another house again. A new address to memorize again.

I really can't believe the countless times my mom decides to move from one house to another. And because of that, I guess, I have her to blame of not having childhood and village friends like SJ does. I dont' have friends, who I actually "grew up together with." I don't have friends who live in the same village I lived in ever since I could walk. And I will never have that. Ever. It sucks that I do not have friends who I could talk about the things we used to do 20 years ago. Damn! I don't think I even have a childhood bestfriend, like Klar does! I don't know who I will choose as my "maid of honor" when I finally decide to get married. Who will know me best? Who will be able to help me decide which would be the best wedding dress? The best venue? Etc etc. And it really sucks to think I do not have anyone in mind! But then again, that is still a long time from now. In 5-6 years, I might find someone who will be my bestfriend, who I might decide to be my "maid of honor" someday... ;)

And thinking about it, it all just boils down to this need of "permanency." To have one address to answer when someone asks me where I live. To have one home to go home to. To have a place that I could call my "own" and maybe finally have "village" or "condo friends" who I could be friends with for the next 30 years or so... Hay. Someday! Someday I will have that!

And for those with friends that I do not have, cherish them. Not everyone has them.

30 THINGS TO DO BEFORE I TURN 30

After reading Anna Oposa's article - "25 THINGS TO DO BEFORE I'M 25" - made me realize that I haven't really been goal-oriented since I graduated college. When I was in Grade school, my goal was to graduate with distinguished awards in High school. When I got to High school, my greatest goal was to get in UP Diliman. When I got in UP, I wanted to graduate with Honors. And I got them all. But after college, I had no goals, no direction, no plans. I just took whatever came - a scholarship for a masters degree - which I immediately grabbed because it offered a monthly stipend, which was way more generous compared to a monthly income had I practiced my undergraduate course.


And so, I went with the flow of getting a masters degree: taking classes and currently doing research for my thesis. And now I'm stuck, with no other goal but to finish it. ASAP. Because I am at the end of my scholarship contract and the monthly stipend is about to end by October. By next semester, I have to find ways to earn while doing my thesis... And then what?!

"I don't know." or " I haven't really thought about it." are my typical answers when I am asked about my future plans after finishing my masters degree. Dr. Miguel Fortes asked me the same question and I think he was not happy about my answer. Haha. He told me, I should have planned ahead at least two years of my life. And I don't have a plan! Now what?? Maybe, it will just dawn on me when I am not so mind-boggled by my darn thesis. As for now, I will settle for some things I want to do before I turn 30, which is less than 6 years to go! It's not as big-time as Anna's goals, but their quite big-time for me! Haha.

Professional/Academic:
1. Finish my thesis.
2. Present my research in an international conference. (Goal: ICRS 2012)
3. Teach in UP Diliman.
4. Get involved in more environmentally concerned researches.
5. Give talks in local/international conferences.
6. Publish more researches/papers.
7. Take an MS in Environmental Engineering or a PHD maybe in Australia or Japan. :)
8. Start or get involved with environmental projects.
9. Push for zero-trash field works/surveys.


Travel:
10. Mindanao-Visayas-Luzon backpacking Trip
11. Go back and dive again in Apo Reef and Coron.
12. Dive in Apo Island, Tubbataha Reef and Great Barrier Reef.
13. South East Asia backpacking Trip
14. Visit other Asian countries.
15. Europe backpacking Trip
16. Visit other continents like Africa. :)


Health/Fitness:
17. Learn and master Aikido.
18. Compete with a Frisbee Team.
19. Join amateur triathlons.
20. Get a bike and use it as a means for commuting.
21. Become a free diver.
22. Get better at surfing and skim boarding.


Personal/Relationship:
23. Buy a smaller but heavy duty laptop (maybe MacBook Pro or Air?)
24. Own a condo unit/house.
25. Own a diesel and super gas saving car.
26. Save up for a big time wedding and for a future life with a husband.(haha)
27. Take courses on bar tending/cocktail mixing. :)
28. Start and maintain/flourish different businesses.
29. Become a CMAS dive master/instructor and start instructing.
30. Start a charity/scholarship foundation. :)


There's so much to do! I hope I get to do everything before April 10, 2017! Some may not be accomplished due to financial or time constraints, but I will find a way. =D

Ikaw na bahala Lord! ;)