Stop Procrastinating
Big talk in meetings, with students, and with each other right now has been how busy we are at ISB. It’s true, I’ve been here a while and yes, this is a very busy place. If we are honest, I don’t think we would want it not to be a bustling environment. We love the options, the high performance, and the challenges this type of environment pose. That said, research has now shown that some stress is good and too much is bad. Psychology Today posed an article a few years back titled, ‘The Perfect Amount of Stress: Stress is a killer and a life force. How can you tell the good from the bad, and too little from too much?’.
“That’s because stress in appropriate amounts is the very stimulation that keeps us engaged with the world moment to moment.” (Psychology Today)
As a librarian, we are always conducting research, and we found another article that stated,
‘Research over the past two decades identified stress and the hormones and neurotransmitters released during and after a stressful event as major modulators of human learning and memory processes, with critical implications for educational contexts.’ (Vogel)
As you can see, the research says some stress is good, so maybe the stress we don’t like is when we get behind in our work, and the stress feels really bad. One way we can ensure the stress we are getting is good is to reduce this negative stress. Deadlines and performance assessments can sometimes lead to mixed feelings. Thus, a potential Negative Stressor is the result of procrastination. We avoid or put off work that we know is not going to go away and what results is the pressure that his self-induced. How can we stop procrastinating and avoid bad stress? Here is a great TedTalk titled, ‘Why we Procrastinate Even When it Feels Bad.’ Let’s all try and make sure the stress we are dealing with is the type of stress that helps us and not the bad stress. If you are looking for more research or books on stress stop by the library and we can help.
Have a great weekend
The Main Library
“The Perfect Amount of Stress.” Psychology Today, 2022, www.psychologytoday.com/intl/articles/201203/the-perfect-amount-stress.
Vogel, Susanne, and Lars Schwabe. “Learning and Memory under Stress: Implications for the Classroom.” Npj Science of Learning, vol. 1, no. 1, June 2016, https://doi.org/10.1038/npjscilearn.2016.11.
Ms. Kehe’s Recommendation
A snake falls to earth by Darcie Little Badger (YA-Fantasy) National Book Award Longlist, SORA Big Library Read – November
It is told from the viewpoint of two main characters, Nina, a Lipan-Apache girl living in Texas, and Oli, a 15-year-old cottonmouth snake from the Reflecting Realm. Before her death, Nina’s grandmother tells her a story in an Apache dialect that few understand anymore. In order to find out more about the animal-people in her story, Nina is determined to translate it. In a parallel realm, Oli must leave his home and start a new life on his own. During this time, he encounters other animals who are also capable of transforming into humans. Due to the illness of his good friend, Ami, a toad, Oli must transform into his human form and go to earth for help, even though the earth is dangerous. Here, Nina and Oli’s worlds collide!
Bell’s Recommendation
The Cat Who Saved Books by Sōsuke Natsukawa, Louise Heal Kawai (Translator)
Are you a fan of Haruki Murakami? This is another fantastic Japanese author. This book merges a fantastical cat with a real-life book lover. Rintaro is a high school student who inherits a book store that seems like it might be on its last legs and could fail. However, Rintaro loved working with his grandfather in this bookstore and is sad to see it go when a magical cat shows up. The amazing characters in this book make if fun and exciting. The cat takes him on a journey about why books are important and how one can actually love books. While I am not typically a fan of Fantasy genre books, this one is awesome. It is good for any age level as this book just shares how one can actually love books. It is a short read and well-written. Fun for everyone!
Tech Corner
Macbook Tips and Tricks
Looking for some great ways to improve your inefficiency and fluidity? With all the new Macs coming out and operating system updates we often forget that some of these things often can help our workflow. We are all very busy and maybe there is a new feature that will help you in your day-to-day work. Here is a great article called, ‘MacBook Pro Tips and Tricks: Get the Most Out of macOS‘ published only a few months ago.
Digital Citizenship Corner
I am always on the hunt for great Digital Citizenship content, and I stumbled on one from Temple University on ‘Your Guide to becoming a better Digital Citizen‘.! It has some really easy and straightforward recommendations for new students to the college on being a good Digital Citizen. Take a look at this article which also has loads of resources. My favorite recommendation is to ‘Use more than one search engine. If you always use Google you are basically always going to see the same kind of results, whereas if you mix it up or use a private browser you will get different results and broaden your perspectives. Take a look at this article and become a bit more digitally savvy.