what i do everyday essay

Take a few minutes after work to separate yourself from other thoughts and ideas and dig into your own. If you want, write down ideas, thoughts, and feelings that won’t leave you alone. This way, you know everything is ready to be dealt with tomorrow and can be free to truly relax and recover.

15. Spend time on a hobby

One of the more counter-intuitive habits that can actually help you recover and be more productive is to do more work at home. Rather than just relaxing, engaging in what’s called a mastery task helps you to disconnect from the workday and be more energized and focused the following day.

As Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, author of Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less , explains:

Mastery experiences are engaging, interesting things that you do well. They’re often challenging, but this makes them mentally absorbing and all the more rewarding when they’re proficiently executed.

To get even more from your mastery activities, look for hobbies that include other people (to fulfill our social needs), are healthy (like sports or exercise), or give you space to think and be alone (to bring even more mental solitude).

16. Prepare for tomorrow with a ‘shutdown ritual’

Not everyone has total control over how they spend their time during the workday, which can often mean we get stuck being upset with how things didn’t go as planned. However, creating a sense of control is an important part of calming your brain and staying positive and productive.

In his book, Drive: The Surprising Truth about what Motivates Us , Daniel Pink suggests creating a ‘shutdown ritual’ that gives you back that sense of control, no matter what else happened during the day:

Establish a closing ritual. Know when to stop working. Try to end each work day the same way, too. Straighten up your desk. Backup your computer. Make a list of what you need to do tomorrow.

You get to choose your own ritual. But a few elements that have been shown to help include:

• Writing your to-do list for tomorrow
• Reflecting on your day and writing in a journal
• Closing open browser tabs and cleaning your desktop
• Setting out clothes for the morning (or the gym)

17. Turn off your devices at least 30 minutes before bed

A lack of sleep ruins everything. It doesn’t matter how productive you’re being in other aspects of your life if you don’t get a solid night’s sleep all those efforts are wasted. Unfortunately, getting proper sleep isn’t just about the time you give yourself.

The blue light that is emitted from the screens of our devices can mess with your internal clock and make it more difficult to fall asleep. According to Dr. Adrian Williams, professor of sleep medicine:

"The influence of light on hormonal responses is minimal in the day, but maximal in the evening when it may suppress melatonin secretion and delay sleep."

While stopping your screen time a few hours before bed is preferable, most experts agree that you stop at least 30-minutes before you go to bed.

If you want to make building this habit even easier (and give yourself some added benefits), simply leave your phone outside of the bedroom. This way, you won’t be tempted to check it and you’ll have a better morning by not waking up to a screen full of notifications.

Habits that optimize for energy and health

Not all great productive habits fit into specific parts of our day. And not every routine has to do with how you spend your time at work. How our bodies feel affects our ability to focus and be productive, and ignoring your health isn’t an option when you want to build a productive routine.

As much as possible, you should try and work these few habits into your daily routine.

19. Give your eyes a break

You probably spend a terrifying amount of your day staring at a screen. So much so that there’s actually a condition called computer vision syndrome that occurs in 50-90% of knowledge workers.

When your eyes become fatigued it can have a far-reaching impact, from physical fatigue, decreased productivity, and increased errors, to minor irritations like eye twitching.

There are lots of ways you can protect your eyes during the day like using proper lighting, reducing screen glare, and taking more breaks. However, one of the easiest habits to build is to follow the "20-20-20 rule".

Every 20 minutes of time spent staring at a screen, look away at an option that is at least 20 feet away for 20 seconds.

Another exercise is to look far away at an object for 10-15 seconds, then gaze at something up close for 10-15 seconds. Then look back at the distant object. Do this 10 times to stop your eyes from "locking up" during the day.

20. Drink more water during the day

Water is a miracle productivity tool. Yet most of us skip the water cooler and head for the coffee machine when we’re feeling a lack of energy.

And while caffeine definitely has its place in our workday. Drinking more water is one of the best daily routines you can build. Our bodies run on water, and dehydration doesn’t just result in a dry mouth but causes a lack of energy, focus, motivation, and productivity.

To stay properly hydrated during the day, build a habit of drinking water during the day. Carry a water bottle with you as a reminder to drink more or set a goal for the day.

21. Regular exercise

Lastly, you don’t need another person telling you the benefits of exercise. But I’m going to do it anyways. If your physical health and having a beach body isn’t as much of a priority to you, then listen to these other results.

Exercise can slow down neurogenesis , meaning you’ll keep more brain cells as you age. Over a shorter time frame, it can also give you more energy throughout the day, keep you happy and motivated to work more, and even help you stay mentally focused for longer.

Building exercise into your daily routine doesn’t have to be a huge endeavor. In their book, Make Time: How to Focus on What Matters Every Day , authors John Zeratksy and Jake Knapp explain how modern culture encourages unrealistic expectations about exercise:

"Moving your body is the best way to charge your battery. But you don’t need lengthy complicated workouts."

Instead, the authors suggest a few simple rules:

Exercise for about 20 minutes: Research shows the most important cognitive results can come from just 20 minutes of exercise.

Do it every day: The energy and mood boost from exercise lasts about a day, so it’s important to keep up with your routine.

Don’t stress about perfection: If you do 4 out of 7 days, that’s great. The goal is consistency over the long-term. Not stressing that you missed a day here or there.

This means your routine could be going to the gym for a quick workout, doing some body weight exercises in the office, or even just going for a brisk walk and taking the stairs each day. Like most good daily routines, it’s about being able to do it consistently. Not going for broke every single day.

Daily routines are just guidelines for living your best life

All of these habits and tips will help you be more productive. But trying to add them all to your daily routine is probably a bad idea. Instead, you need to experiment and see what works for you. Try one for a week and track your results. Does it work? Why not?

Ultimately, we’ll always default to doing what works best for us. Your body and mind will tell you if certain things aren’t working for you (you’ll get restless, bored, anxious, tired, etc…). Listen to those signs and use them to build your own personalized daily routine.

More articles about Remote Work:

Work From Home Parents: How to Stay Productive

Team File Sharing 101: The 7 Best Business Tools for Keeping your Files (and Projects) in Sync

The secrets and science of a productive four day workweek

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Eight brilliant student essays on what matters most in life.

Read winning essays from our spring 2019 student writing contest.

For the spring 2019 student writing contest, we invited students to read the YES! article “Three Things That Matter Most in Youth and Old Age” by Nancy Hill. Like the author, students interviewed someone significantly older than them about the three things that matter most in life. Students then wrote about what they learned, and about how their interviewees’ answers compare to their own top priorities.

The Winners

From the hundreds of essays written, these eight were chosen as winners. Be sure to read the author’s response to the essay winners and the literary gems that caught our eye. Plus, we share an essay from teacher Charles Sanderson, who also responded to the writing prompt.

Middle School Winner: Rory Leyva

High School Winner:  Praethong Klomsum

University Winner:  Emily Greenbaum

Powerful Voice Winner: Amanda Schwaben

Powerful Voice Winner: Antonia Mills

Powerful Voice Winner:  Isaac Ziemba

Powerful Voice Winner: Lily Hersch

“Tell It Like It Is” Interview Winner: Jonas Buckner

From the Author: Response to Student Winners

Literary Gems

From A Teacher: Charles Sanderson

From the Author: Response to Charles Sanderson

Middle School Winner

Village Home Education Resource Center, Portland, Ore.

The Lessons Of Mortality 

“As I’ve aged, things that are more personal to me have become somewhat less important. Perhaps I’ve become less self-centered with the awareness of mortality, how short one person’s life is.” This is how my 72-year-old grandma believes her values have changed over the course of her life. Even though I am only 12 years old, I know my life won’t last forever, and someday I, too, will reflect on my past decisions. We were all born to exist and eventually die, so we have evolved to value things in the context of mortality.

One of the ways I feel most alive is when I play roller derby. I started playing for the Rose City Rollers Juniors two years ago, and this year, I made the Rosebud All-Stars travel team. Roller derby is a fast-paced, full-contact sport. The physicality and intense training make me feel in control of and present in my body.

My roller derby team is like a second family to me. Adolescence is complicated. We understand each other in ways no one else can. I love my friends more than I love almost anything else. My family would have been higher on my list a few years ago, but as I’ve aged it has been important to make my own social connections.

Music led me to roller derby.  I started out jam skating at the roller rink. Jam skating is all about feeling the music. It integrates gymnastics, breakdancing, figure skating, and modern dance with R & B and hip hop music. When I was younger, I once lay down in the DJ booth at the roller rink and was lulled to sleep by the drawl of wheels rolling in rhythm and people talking about the things they came there to escape. Sometimes, I go up on the roof of my house at night to listen to music and feel the wind rustle my hair. These unique sensations make me feel safe like nothing else ever has.

My grandma tells me, “Being close with family and friends is the most important thing because I haven’t

always had that.” When my grandma was two years old, her father died. Her mother became depressed and moved around a lot, which made it hard for my grandma to make friends. Once my grandma went to college, she made lots of friends. She met my grandfather, Joaquin Leyva when she was working as a park ranger and he was a surfer. They bought two acres of land on the edge of a redwood forest and had a son and a daughter. My grandma created a stable family that was missing throughout her early life.

My grandma is motivated to maintain good health so she can be there for her family. I can relate because I have to be fit and strong for my team. Since she lost my grandfather to cancer, she realizes how lucky she is to have a functional body and no life-threatening illnesses. My grandma tries to eat well and exercise, but she still struggles with depression. Over time, she has learned that reaching out to others is essential to her emotional wellbeing.  

Caring for the earth is also a priority for my grandma I’ve been lucky to learn from my grandma. She’s taught me how to hunt for fossils in the desert and find shells on the beach. Although my grandma grew up with no access to the wilderness, she admired the green open areas of urban cemeteries. In college, she studied geology and hiked in the High Sierras. For years, she’s been an advocate for conserving wildlife habitat and open spaces.

Our priorities may seem different, but it all comes down to basic human needs. We all desire a purpose, strive to be happy, and need to be loved. Like Nancy Hill says in the YES! Magazine article “Three Things That Matter Most in Youth and Old Age,” it can be hard to decipher what is important in life. I believe that the constant search for satisfaction and meaning is the only thing everyone has in common. We all want to know what matters, and we walk around this confusing world trying to find it. The lessons I’ve learned from my grandma about forging connections, caring for my body, and getting out in the world inspire me to live my life my way before it’s gone.

Rory Leyva is a seventh-grader from Portland, Oregon. Rory skates for the Rosebuds All-Stars roller derby team. She loves listening to music and hanging out with her friends.

High School Winner

Praethong Klomsum

  Santa Monica High School, Santa Monica, Calif.

Time Only Moves Forward

Sandra Hernandez gazed at the tiny house while her mother’s gentle hands caressed her shoulders. It wasn’t much, especially for a family of five. This was 1960, she was 17, and her family had just moved to Culver City.

Flash forward to 2019. Sandra sits in a rocking chair, knitting a blanket for her latest grandchild, in the same living room. Sandra remembers working hard to feed her eight children. She took many different jobs before settling behind the cash register at a Japanese restaurant called Magos. “It was a struggle, and my husband Augustine, was planning to join the military at that time, too.”

In the YES! Magazine article “Three Things That Matter Most in Youth and Old Age,” author Nancy Hill states that one of the most important things is “…connecting with others in general, but in particular with those who have lived long lives.” Sandra feels similarly. It’s been hard for Sandra to keep in contact with her family, which leaves her downhearted some days. “It’s important to maintain that connection you have with your family, not just next-door neighbors you talk to once a month.”

Despite her age, Sandra is a daring woman. Taking risks is important to her, and she’ll try anything—from skydiving to hiking. Sandra has some regrets from the past, but nowadays, she doesn’t wonder about the “would have, could have, should haves.” She just goes for it with a smile.

Sandra thought harder about her last important thing, the blue and green blanket now finished and covering

her lap. “I’ve definitely lived a longer life than most, and maybe this is just wishful thinking, but I hope I can see the day my great-grandchildren are born.” She’s laughing, but her eyes look beyond what’s in front of her. Maybe she is reminiscing about the day she held her son for the first time or thinking of her grandchildren becoming parents. I thank her for her time and she waves it off, offering me a styrofoam cup of lemonade before I head for the bus station.

The bus is sparsely filled. A voice in my head reminds me to finish my 10-page history research paper before spring break. I take a window seat and pull out my phone and earbuds. My playlist is already on shuffle, and I push away thoughts of that dreaded paper. Music has been a constant in my life—from singing my lungs out in kindergarten to Barbie’s “I Need To Know,” to jamming out to Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space” in sixth grade, to BTS’s “Intro: Never Mind” comforting me when I’m at my lowest. Music is my magic shop, a place where I can trade away my fears for calm.

I’ve always been afraid of doing something wrong—not finishing my homework or getting a C when I can do better. When I was 8, I wanted to be like the big kids. As I got older, I realized that I had exchanged my childhood longing for the 48 pack of crayons for bigger problems, balancing grades, a social life, and mental stability—all at once. I’m going to get older whether I like it or not, so there’s no point forcing myself to grow up faster.  I’m learning to live in the moment.

The bus is approaching my apartment, where I know my comfy bed and a home-cooked meal from my mom are waiting. My mom is hard-working, confident, and very stubborn. I admire her strength of character. She always keeps me in line, even through my rebellious phases.

My best friend sends me a text—an update on how broken her laptop is. She is annoying. She says the stupidest things and loves to state the obvious. Despite this, she never fails to make me laugh until my cheeks feel numb. The rest of my friends are like that too—loud, talkative, and always brightening my day. Even friends I stopped talking to have a place in my heart. Recently, I’ve tried to reconnect with some of them. This interview was possible because a close friend from sixth grade offered to introduce me to Sandra, her grandmother.  

I’m decades younger than Sandra, so my view of what’s important isn’t as broad as hers, but we share similar values, with friends and family at the top. I have a feeling that when Sandra was my age, she used to love music, too. Maybe in a few decades, when I’m sitting in my rocking chair, drawing in my sketchbook, I’ll remember this article and think back fondly to the days when life was simple.

Praethong Klomsum is a tenth-grader at Santa Monica High School in Santa Monica, California.  Praethong has a strange affinity for rhyme games and is involved in her school’s dance team. She enjoys drawing and writing, hoping to impact people willing to listen to her thoughts and ideas.

University Winner

Emily Greenbaum

Kent State University, Kent, Ohio 

The Life-Long War

Every morning we open our eyes, ready for a new day. Some immediately turn to their phones and social media. Others work out or do yoga. For a certain person, a deep breath and the morning sun ground him. He hears the clink-clank of his wife cooking low sodium meat for breakfast—doctor’s orders! He sees that the other side of the bed is already made, the dogs are no longer in the room, and his clothes are set out nicely on the loveseat.

Today, though, this man wakes up to something different: faded cream walls and jello. This person, my hero, is Master Chief Petty Officer Roger James.

I pulled up my chair close to Roger’s vinyl recliner so I could hear him above the noise of the beeping dialysis machine. I noticed Roger would occasionally glance at his wife Susan with sparkly eyes when he would recall memories of the war or their grandkids. He looked at Susan like she walked on water.

Roger James served his country for thirty years. Now, he has enlisted in another type of war. He suffers from a rare blood cancer—the result of the wars he fought in. Roger has good and bad days. He says, “The good outweighs the bad, so I have to be grateful for what I have on those good days.”

When Roger retired, he never thought the effects of the war would reach him. The once shallow wrinkles upon his face become deeper, as he tells me, “It’s just cancer. Others are suffering from far worse. I know I’ll make it.”

Like Nancy Hill did in her article “Three Things that Matter Most in Youth and Old Age,” I asked Roger, “What are the three most important things to you?” James answered, “My wife Susan, my grandkids, and church.”

Roger and Susan served together in the Vietnam war. She was a nurse who treated his cuts and scrapes one day. I asked Roger why he chose Susan. He said, “Susan told me to look at her while she cleaned me up. ‘This may sting, but don’t be a baby.’ When I looked into her eyes, I felt like she was looking into my soul, and I didn’t want her to leave. She gave me this sense of home. Every day I wake up, she makes me feel the same way, and I fall in love with her all over again.”

Roger and Susan have two kids and four grandkids, with great-grandchildren on the way. He claims that his grandkids give him the youth that he feels slowly escaping from his body. This adoring grandfather is energized by coaching t-ball and playing evening card games with the grandkids.

The last thing on his list was church. His oldest daughter married a pastor. Together they founded a church. Roger said that the connection between his faith and family is important to him because it gave him a reason to want to live again. I learned from Roger that when you’re across the ocean, you tend to lose sight of why you are fighting. When Roger returned, he didn’t have the will to live. Most days were a struggle, adapting back into a society that lacked empathy for the injuries, pain, and psychological trauma carried by returning soldiers. Church changed that for Roger and gave him a sense of purpose.

When I began this project, my attitude was to just get the assignment done. I never thought I could view Master Chief Petty Officer Roger James as more than a role model, but he definitely changed my mind. It’s as if Roger magically lit a fire inside of me and showed me where one’s true passions should lie. I see our similarities and embrace our differences. We both value family and our own connections to home—his home being church and mine being where I can breathe the easiest.

Master Chief Petty Officer Roger James has shown me how to appreciate what I have around me and that every once in a while, I should step back and stop to smell the roses. As we concluded the interview, amidst squeaky clogs and the stale smell of bleach and bedpans, I looked to Roger, his kind, tired eyes, and weathered skin, with a deeper sense of admiration, knowing that his values still run true, no matter what he faces.

Emily Greenbaum is a senior at Kent State University, graduating with a major in Conflict Management and minor in Geography. Emily hopes to use her major to facilitate better conversations, while she works in the Washington, D.C. area.  

Powerful Voice Winner

Amanda Schwaben

Wise Words From Winnie the Pooh

As I read through Nancy Hill’s article “Three Things That Matter Most in Youth and Old Age,” I was comforted by the similar responses given by both children and older adults. The emphasis participants placed on family, social connections, and love was not only heartwarming but hopeful. While the messages in the article filled me with warmth, I felt a twinge of guilt building within me. As a twenty-one-year-old college student weeks from graduation, I honestly don’t think much about the most important things in life. But if I was asked, I would most likely say family, friendship, and love. As much as I hate to admit it, I often find myself obsessing over achieving a successful career and finding a way to “save the world.”

A few weeks ago, I was at my family home watching the new Winnie the Pooh movie Christopher Robin with my mom and younger sister. Well, I wasn’t really watching. I had my laptop in front of me, and I was aggressively typing up an assignment. Halfway through the movie, I realized I left my laptop charger in my car. I walked outside into the brisk March air. Instinctively, I looked up. The sky was perfectly clear, revealing a beautiful array of stars. When my twin sister and I were in high school, we would always take a moment to look up at the sparkling night sky before we came into the house after soccer practice.

I think that was the last time I stood in my driveway and gazed at the stars. I did not get the laptop charger from

my car; instead, I turned around and went back inside. I shut my laptop and watched the rest of the movie. My twin sister loves Winnie the Pooh. So much so that my parents got her a stuffed animal version of him for Christmas. While I thought he was adorable and a token of my childhood, I did not really understand her obsession. However, it was clear to me after watching the movie. Winnie the Pooh certainly had it figured out. He believed that the simple things in life were the most important: love, friendship, and having fun.

I thought about asking my mom right then what the three most important things were to her, but I decided not to. I just wanted to be in the moment. I didn’t want to be doing homework. It was a beautiful thing to just sit there and be present with my mom and sister.

I did ask her, though, a couple of weeks later. Her response was simple.  All she said was family, health, and happiness. When she told me this, I imagined Winnie the Pooh smiling. I think he would be proud of that answer.

I was not surprised by my mom’s reply. It suited her perfectly. I wonder if we relearn what is most important when we grow older—that the pressure to be successful subsides. Could it be that valuing family, health, and happiness is what ends up saving the world?

Amanda Schwaben is a graduating senior from Kent State University with a major in Applied Conflict Management. Amanda also has minors in Psychology and Interpersonal Communication. She hopes to further her education and focus on how museums not only preserve history but also promote peace.

Antonia Mills

Rachel Carson High School, Brooklyn, N.Y. 

Decoding The Butterfly

For a caterpillar to become a butterfly, it must first digest itself. The caterpillar, overwhelmed by accumulating tissue, splits its skin open to form its protective shell, the chrysalis, and later becomes the pretty butterfly we all know and love. There are approximately 20,000 species of butterflies, and just as every species is different, so is the life of every butterfly. No matter how long and hard a caterpillar has strived to become the colorful and vibrant butterfly that we marvel at on a warm spring day, it does not live a long life. A butterfly can live for a year, six months, two weeks, and even as little as twenty-four hours.

I have often wondered if butterflies live long enough to be blissful of blue skies. Do they take time to feast upon the sweet nectar they crave, midst their hustling life of pollinating pretty flowers? Do they ever take a lull in their itineraries, or are they always rushing towards completing their four-stage metamorphosis? Has anyone asked the butterfly, “Who are you?” instead of “What are you”? Or, How did you get here, on my windowsill?  How did you become ‘you’?

Humans are similar to butterflies. As a caterpillar

Suzanna Ruby/Getty Images

becomes a butterfly, a baby becomes an elder. As a butterfly soars through summer skies, an elder watches summer skies turn into cold winter nights and back toward summer skies yet again.  And as a butterfly flits slowly by the porch light, a passerby makes assumptions about the wrinkled, slow-moving elder, who is sturdier than he appears. These creatures are not seen for who they are—who they were—because people have “better things to do” or they are too busy to ask, “How are you”?

Our world can be a lonely place. Pressured by expectations, haunted by dreams, overpowered by weakness, and drowned out by lofty goals, we tend to forget ourselves—and others. Rather than hang onto the strands of our diminishing sanity, we might benefit from listening to our elders. Many elders have experienced setbacks in their young lives. Overcoming hardship and surviving to old age is wisdom that they carry.  We can learn from them—and can even make their day by taking the time to hear their stories.  

Nancy Hill, who wrote the YES! Magazine article “Three Things That Matter Most in Youth and Old Age,” was right: “We live among such remarkable people, yet few know their stories.” I know a lot about my grandmother’s life, and it isn’t as serene as my own. My grandmother, Liza, who cooks every day, bakes bread on holidays for our neighbors, brings gifts to her doctor out of the kindness of her heart, and makes conversation with neighbors even though she is isn’t fluent in English—Russian is her first language—has struggled all her life. Her mother, Anna, a single parent, had tuberculosis, and even though she had an inviolable spirit, she was too frail to care for four children. She passed away when my grandmother was sixteen, so my grandmother and her siblings spent most of their childhood in an orphanage. My grandmother got married at nineteen to my grandfather, Pinhas. He was a man who loved her more than he loved himself and was a godsend to every person he met. Liza was—and still is—always quick to do what was best for others, even if that person treated her poorly. My grandmother has lived with physical pain all her life, yet she pushed herself to climb heights that she wasn’t ready for. Against all odds, she has lived to tell her story to people who are willing to listen. And I always am.

I asked my grandmother, “What are three things most important to you?” Her answer was one that I already expected: One, for everyone to live long healthy lives. Two, for you to graduate from college. Three, for you to always remember that I love you.

What may be basic to you means the world to my grandmother. She just wants what she never had the chance to experience: a healthy life, an education, and the chance to express love to the people she values. The three things that matter most to her may be so simple and ordinary to outsiders, but to her, it is so much more. And who could take that away?

Antonia Mills was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York and attends Rachel Carson High School.  Antonia enjoys creative activities, including writing, painting, reading, and baking. She hopes to pursue culinary arts professionally in the future. One of her favorite quotes is, “When you start seeing your worth, you’ll find it harder to stay around people who don’t.” -Emily S.P.  

  Powerful Voice Winner

   Isaac Ziemba

Odyssey Multiage Program, Bainbridge Island, Wash. 

This Former State Trooper Has His Priorities Straight: Family, Climate Change, and Integrity

I have a personal connection to people who served in the military and first responders. My uncle is a first responder on the island I live on, and my dad retired from the Navy. That was what made a man named Glen Tyrell, a state trooper for 25 years, 2 months and 9 days, my first choice to interview about what three things matter in life. In the YES! Magazine article “The Three Things That Matter Most in Youth and Old Age,” I learned that old and young people have a great deal in common. I know that’s true because Glen and I care about a lot of the same things.

For Glen, family is at the top of his list of important things. “My wife was, and is, always there for me. My daughters mean the world to me, too, but Penny is my partner,” Glen said. I can understand why Glen’s wife is so important to him. She’s family. Family will always be there for you.

Glen loves his family, and so do I with all my heart. My dad especially means the world to me. He is my top supporter and tells me that if I need help, just “say the word.” When we are fishing or crabbing, sometimes I

think, what if these times were erased from my memory? I wouldn’t be able to describe the horrible feeling that would rush through my mind, and I’m sure that Glen would feel the same about his wife.

My uncle once told me that the world is always going to change over time. It’s what the world has turned out to be that worries me. Both Glen and I are extremely concerned about climate change and the effect that rising temperatures have on animals and their habitats. We’re driving them to extinction. Some people might say, “So what? Animals don’t pay taxes or do any of the things we do.” What we are doing to them is like the Black Death times 100.

Glen is also frustrated by how much plastic we use and where it ends up. He would be shocked that an explorer recently dived to the deepest part of the Pacific Ocean—seven miles!— and discovered a plastic bag and candy wrappers. Glen told me that, unfortunately, his generation did the damage and my generation is here to fix it. We need to take better care of Earth because if we don’t, we, as a species, will have failed.

Both Glen and I care deeply for our families and the earth, but for our third important value, I chose education and Glen chose integrity. My education is super important to me because without it, I would be a blank slate. I wouldn’t know how to figure out problems. I wouldn’t be able to tell right from wrong. I wouldn’t understand the Bill of Rights. I would be stuck. Everyone should be able to go to school, no matter where they’re from or who they are.  It makes me angry and sad to think that some people, especially girls, get shot because they are trying to go to school. I understand how lucky I am.

Integrity is sacred to Glen—I could tell by the serious tone of Glen’s voice when he told me that integrity was the code he lived by as a former state trooper. He knew that he had the power to change a person’s life, and he was committed to not abusing that power.  When Glen put someone under arrest—and my uncle says the same—his judgment and integrity were paramount. “Either you’re right or you’re wrong.” You can’t judge a person by what you think, you can only judge a person from what you know.”

I learned many things about Glen and what’s important in life, but there is one thing that stands out—something Glen always does and does well. Glen helps people. He did it as a state trooper, and he does it in our school, where he works on construction projects. Glen told me that he believes that our most powerful tools are writing and listening to others. I think those tools are important, too, but I also believe there are other tools to help solve many of our problems and create a better future: to be compassionate, to create caring relationships, and to help others. Just like Glen Tyrell does each and every day.

Isaac Ziemba is in seventh grade at the Odyssey Multiage Program on a small island called Bainbridge near Seattle, Washington. Isaac’s favorite subject in school is history because he has always been interested in how the past affects the future. In his spare time, you can find Isaac hunting for crab with his Dad, looking for artifacts around his house with his metal detector, and having fun with his younger cousin, Conner.     

Lily Hersch

 The Crest Academy, Salida, Colo.

The Phone Call

Dear Grandpa,

In my short span of life—12 years so far—you’ve taught me a lot of important life lessons that I’ll always have with me. Some of the values I talk about in this writing I’ve learned from you.

Dedicated to my Gramps.

In the YES! Magazine article “Three Things That Matter Most in Youth and Old Age,” author and photographer Nancy Hill asked people to name the three things that mattered most to them. After reading the essay prompt for the article, I immediately knew who I wanted to interview: my grandpa Gil.      

My grandpa was born on January 25, 1942. He lived in a minuscule tenement in The Bronx with his mother,

father, and brother. His father wasn’t around much, and, when he was, he was reticent and would snap occasionally, revealing his constrained mental pain. My grandpa says this happened because my great grandfather did not have a father figure in his life. His mother was a classy, sharp lady who was the head secretary at a local police district station. My grandpa and his brother Larry did not care for each other. Gramps said he was very close to his mother, and Larry wasn’t. Perhaps Larry was envious for what he didn’t have.

Decades after little to no communication with his brother, my grandpa decided to spontaneously visit him in Florida, where he resided with his wife. Larry was taken aback at the sudden reappearance of his brother and told him to leave. Since then, the two brothers have not been in contact. My grandpa doesn’t even know if Larry is alive.         

My grandpa is now a retired lawyer, married to my wonderful grandma, and living in a pretty house with an ugly dog named BoBo.

So, what’s important to you, Gramps?

He paused a second, then replied, “Family, kindness, and empathy.”

“Family, because it’s my family. It’s important to stay connected with your family. My brother, father, and I never connected in the way I wished, and sometimes I contemplated what could’ve happened.  But you can’t change the past. So, that’s why family’s important to me.”

Family will always be on my “Top Three Most Important Things” list, too. I can’t imagine not having my older brother, Zeke, or my grandma in my life. I wonder how other kids feel about their families? How do kids trapped and separated from their families at the U.S.-Mexico border feel?  What about orphans? Too many questions, too few answers.

“Kindness, because growing up and not seeing a lot of kindness made me realize how important it is to have that in the world. Kindness makes the world go round.”

What is kindness? Helping my brother, Eli, who has Down syndrome, get ready in the morning? Telling people what they need to hear, rather than what they want to hear? Maybe, for now, I’ll put wisdom, not kindness, on my list.

“Empathy, because of all the killings and shootings [in this country.] We also need to care for people—people who are not living in as good circumstances as I have. Donald Trump and other people I’ve met have no empathy. Empathy is very important.”

Empathy is something I’ve felt my whole life. It’ll always be important to me like it is important to my grandpa. My grandpa shows his empathy when he works with disabled children. Once he took a disabled child to a Christina Aguilera concert because that child was too young to go by himself. The moments I feel the most empathy are when Eli gets those looks from people. Seeing Eli wonder why people stare at him like he’s a freak makes me sad, and annoyed that they have the audacity to stare.

After this 2 minute and 36-second phone call, my grandpa has helped me define what’s most important to me at this time in my life: family, wisdom, and empathy. Although these things are important now, I realize they can change and most likely will.

When I’m an old woman, I envision myself scrambling through a stack of storage boxes and finding this paper. Perhaps after reading words from my 12-year-old self, I’ll ask myself “What’s important to me?”

Lily Hersch is a sixth-grader at Crest Academy in Salida, Colorado. Lily is an avid indoorsman, finding joy in competitive spelling, art, and of course, writing. She does not like Swiss cheese.

  “Tell It Like It Is” Interview Winner

Jonas Buckner

KIPP: Gaston College Preparatory, Gaston, N.C.

Lessons My Nana Taught Me

I walked into the house. In the other room, I heard my cousin screaming at his game. There were a lot of Pioneer Woman dishes everywhere. The room had the television on max volume. The fan in the other room was on. I didn’t know it yet, but I was about to learn something powerful.

I was in my Nana’s house, and when I walked in, she said, “Hey Monkey Butt.”

I said, “Hey Nana.”

Before the interview, I was talking to her about what I was gonna interview her on. Also, I had asked her why I might have wanted to interview her, and she responded with, “Because you love me, and I love you too.”

Now, it was time to start the interview. The first

question I asked was the main and most important question ever: “What three things matter most to you and you only?”

She thought of it very thoughtfully and responded with, “My grandchildren, my children, and my health.”

Then, I said, “OK, can you please tell me more about your health?”

She responded with, “My health is bad right now. I have heart problems, blood sugar, and that’s about it.” When she said it, she looked at me and smiled because she loved me and was happy I chose her to interview.

I replied with, “K um, why is it important to you?”

She smiled and said, “Why is it…Why is my health important? Well, because I want to live a long time and see my grandchildren grow up.”

I was scared when she said that, but she still smiled. I was so happy, and then I said, “Has your health always been important to you.”

She responded with “Nah.”

Then, I asked, “Do you happen to have a story to help me understand your reasoning?”

She said, “No, not really.”

Now we were getting into the next set of questions. I said, “Remember how you said that your grandchildren matter to you? Can you please tell me why they matter to you?”

Then, she responded with, “So I can spend time with them, play with them, and everything.”

Next, I asked the same question I did before: “Have you always loved your grandchildren?” 

She responded with, “Yes, they have always been important to me.”

Then, the next two questions I asked she had no response to at all. She was very happy until I asked, “Why do your children matter most to you?”

She had a frown on and responded, “My daughter Tammy died a long time ago.”

Then, at this point, the other questions were answered the same as the other ones. When I left to go home I was thinking about how her answers were similar to mine. She said health, and I care about my health a lot, and I didn’t say, but I wanted to. She also didn’t have answers for the last two questions on each thing, and I was like that too.

The lesson I learned was that no matter what, always keep pushing because even though my aunt or my Nana’s daughter died, she kept on pushing and loving everyone. I also learned that everything should matter to us. Once again, I chose to interview my Nana because she matters to me, and I know when she was younger she had a lot of things happen to her, so I wanted to know what she would say. The point I’m trying to make is that be grateful for what you have and what you have done in life.

Jonas Buckner is a sixth-grader at KIPP: Gaston College Preparatory in Gaston, North Carolina. Jonas’ favorite activities are drawing, writing, math, piano, and playing AltSpace VR. He found his passion for writing in fourth grade when he wrote a quick autobiography. Jonas hopes to become a horror writer someday.

From The Author: Responses to Student Winners

Dear Emily, Isaac, Antonia, Rory, Praethong, Amanda, Lily, and Jonas,

Your thought-provoking essays sent my head spinning. The more I read, the more impressed I was with the depth of thought, beauty of expression, and originality. It left me wondering just how to capture all of my reactions in a single letter. After multiple false starts, I’ve landed on this: I will stick to the theme of three most important things.

The three things I found most inspirational about your essays:

You listened.

You connected.

We live in troubled times. Tensions mount between countries, cultures, genders, religious beliefs, and generations. If we fail to find a way to understand each other, to see similarities between us, the future will be fraught with increased hostility.

You all took critical steps toward connecting with someone who might not value the same things you do by asking a person who is generations older than you what matters to them. Then, you listened to their answers. You saw connections between what is important to them and what is important to you. Many of you noted similarities, others wondered if your own list of the three most important things would change as you go through life. You all saw the validity of the responses you received and looked for reasons why your interviewees have come to value what they have.

It is through these things—asking, listening, and connecting—that we can begin to bridge the differences in experiences and beliefs that are currently dividing us.

Individual observations

Each one of you made observations that all of us, regardless of age or experience, would do well to keep in mind. I chose one quote from each person and trust those reading your essays will discover more valuable insights.

“Our priorities may seem different, but they come back to basic human needs. We all desire a purpose, strive to be happy, and work to make a positive impact.” 

“You can’t judge a person by what you think , you can only judge a person by what you know .”

Emily (referencing your interviewee, who is battling cancer):

“Master Chief Petty Officer James has shown me how to appreciate what I have around me.”

Lily (quoting your grandfather):

“Kindness makes the world go round.”

“Everything should matter to us.”

Praethong (quoting your interviewee, Sandra, on the importance of family):

“It’s important to always maintain that connection you have with each other, your family, not just next-door neighbors you talk to once a month.”

“I wonder if maybe we relearn what is most important when we grow older. That the pressure to be successful subsides and that valuing family, health, and happiness is what ends up saving the world.”

“Listen to what others have to say. Listen to the people who have already experienced hardship. You will learn from them and you can even make their day by giving them a chance to voice their thoughts.”

I end this letter to you with the hope that you never stop asking others what is most important to them and that you to continue to take time to reflect on what matters most to you…and why. May you never stop asking, listening, and connecting with others, especially those who may seem to be unlike you. Keep writing, and keep sharing your thoughts and observations with others, for your ideas are awe-inspiring.

I also want to thank the more than 1,000 students who submitted essays. Together, by sharing what’s important to us with others, especially those who may believe or act differently, we can fill the world with joy, peace, beauty, and love.

We received many outstanding essays for the Winter 2019 Student Writing Competition. Though not every participant can win the contest, we’d like to share some excerpts that caught our eye:

Whether it is a painting on a milky canvas with watercolors or pasting photos onto a scrapbook with her granddaughters, it is always a piece of artwork to her. She values the things in life that keep her in the moment, while still exploring things she may not have initially thought would bring her joy.

—Ondine Grant-Krasno, Immaculate Heart Middle School, Los Angeles, Calif.

“Ganas”… It means “desire” in Spanish. My ganas is fueled by my family’s belief in me. I cannot and will not fail them. 

—Adan Rios, Lane Community College, Eugene, Ore.

I hope when I grow up I can have the love for my kids like my grandma has for her kids. She makes being a mother even more of a beautiful thing than it already is.

—Ashley Shaw, Columbus City Prep School for Girls, Grove City, Ohio

You become a collage of little pieces of your friends and family. They also encourage you to be the best you can be. They lift you up onto the seat of your bike, they give you the first push, and they don’t hesitate to remind you that everything will be alright when you fall off and scrape your knee.

— Cecilia Stanton, Bellafonte Area Middle School, Bellafonte, Pa.

Without good friends, I wouldn’t know what I would do to endure the brutal machine of public education.

—Kenneth Jenkins, Garrison Middle School, Walla Walla, Wash.

My dog, as ridiculous as it may seem, is a beautiful example of what we all should aspire to be. We should live in the moment, not stress, and make it our goal to lift someone’s spirits, even just a little.

—Kate Garland, Immaculate Heart Middle School, Los Angeles, Calif. 

I strongly hope that every child can spare more time to accompany their elderly parents when they are struggling, and moving forward, and give them more care and patience. so as to truly achieve the goal of “you accompany me to grow up, and I will accompany you to grow old.”

—Taiyi Li, Lane Community College, Eugene, Ore.

I have three cats, and they are my brothers and sisters. We share a special bond that I think would not be possible if they were human. Since they do not speak English, we have to find other ways to connect, and I think that those other ways can be more powerful than language.

—Maya Dombroskie, Delta Program Middle School, Boulsburg, Pa.

We are made to love and be loved. To have joy and be relational. As a member of the loneliest generation in possibly all of history, I feel keenly aware of the need for relationships and authentic connection. That is why I decided to talk to my grandmother.

—Luke Steinkamp, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio

After interviewing my grandma and writing my paper, I realized that as we grow older, the things that are important to us don’t change, what changes is why those things are important to us.

—Emily Giffer, Our Lady Star of the Sea, Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich.

The media works to marginalize elders, often isolating them and their stories, and the wealth of knowledge that comes with their additional years of lived experiences. It also undermines the depth of children’s curiosity and capacity to learn and understand. When the worlds of elders and children collide, a classroom opens.

—Cristina Reitano, City College of San Francisco, San Francisco, Calif.

My values, although similar to my dad, only looked the same in the sense that a shadow is similar to the object it was cast on.

—Timofey Lisenskiy, Santa Monica High School, Santa Monica, Calif.

I can release my anger through writing without having to take it out on someone. I can escape and be a different person; it feels good not to be myself for a while. I can make up my own characters, so I can be someone different every day, and I think that’s pretty cool.

—Jasua Carillo, Wellness, Business, and Sports School, Woodburn, Ore. 

Notice how all the important things in his life are people: the people who he loves and who love him back. This is because “people are more important than things like money or possessions, and families are treasures,” says grandpa Pat. And I couldn’t agree more.

—Brody Hartley, Garrison Middle School, Walla Walla, Wash.  

Curiosity for other people’s stories could be what is needed to save the world.

—Noah Smith, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio

Peace to me is a calm lake without a ripple in sight. It’s a starry night with a gentle breeze that pillows upon your face. It’s the absence of arguments, fighting, or war. It’s when egos stop working against each other and finally begin working with each other. Peace is free from fear, anxiety, and depression. To me, peace is an important ingredient in the recipe of life.

—JP Bogan, Lane Community College, Eugene, Ore.

From A Teacher

Charles Sanderson

Wellness, Business and Sports School, Woodburn, Ore. 

The Birthday Gift

I’ve known Jodelle for years, watching her grow from a quiet and timid twelve-year-old to a young woman who just returned from India, where she played Kabaddi, a kind of rugby meets Red Rover.

One of my core beliefs as an educator is to show up for the things that matter to kids, so I go to their games, watch their plays, and eat the strawberry jam they make for the county fair. On this occasion, I met Jodelle at a robotics competition to watch her little sister Abby compete. Think Nerd Paradise: more hats made from traffic cones than Golden State Warrior ball caps, more unicorn capes than Nike swooshes, more fanny packs with Legos than clutches with eyeliner.

We started chatting as the crowd chanted and waved six-foot flags for teams like Mystic Biscuits, Shrek, and everyone’s nemesis The Mean Machine. Apparently, when it’s time for lunch at a robotics competition, they don’t mess around. The once-packed gym was left to Jodelle and me, and we kept talking and talking. I eventually asked her about the three things that matter to her most.

She told me about her mom, her sister, and her addiction—to horses. I’ve read enough of her writing to know that horses were her drug of choice and her mom and sister were her support network.

I learned about her desire to become a teacher and how hours at the barn with her horse, Heart, recharge her when she’s exhausted. At one point, our rambling conversation turned to a topic I’ve known far too well—her father.

Later that evening, I received an email from Jodelle, and she had a lot to say. One line really struck me: “In so many movies, I have seen a dad wanting to protect his daughter from the world, but I’ve only understood the scene cognitively. Yesterday, I felt it.”

Long ago, I decided that I would never be a dad. I had seen movies with fathers and daughters, and for me, those movies might as well have been Star Wars, ET, or Alien—worlds filled with creatures I’d never know. However, over the years, I’ve attended Jodelle’s parent-teacher conferences, gone to her graduation, and driven hours to watch her ride Heart at horse shows. Simply, I showed up. I listened. I supported.

Jodelle shared a series of dad poems, as well. I had read the first two poems in their original form when Jodelle was my student. The revised versions revealed new graphic details of her past. The third poem, however, was something entirely different.

She called the poems my early birthday present. When I read the lines “You are my father figure/Who I look up to/Without being looked down on,” I froze for an instant and had to reread the lines. After fifty years of consciously deciding not to be a dad, I was seen as one—and it felt incredible. Jodelle’s poem and recognition were two of the best presents I’ve ever received.

I  know that I was the language arts teacher that Jodelle needed at the time, but her poem revealed things I never knew I taught her: “My father figure/ Who taught me/ That listening is for observing the world/ That listening is for learning/Not obeying/Writing is for connecting/Healing with others.”

Teaching is often a thankless job, one that frequently brings more stress and anxiety than joy and hope. Stress erodes my patience. Anxiety curtails my ability to enter each interaction with every student with the grace they deserve. However, my time with Jodelle reminds me of the importance of leaning in and listening.

In the article “Three Things That Matter Most in Youth and Old Age” by Nancy Hill, she illuminates how we “live among such remarkable people, yet few know their stories.” For the last twenty years, I’ve had the privilege to work with countless of these “remarkable people,” and I’ve done my best to listen, and, in so doing, I hope my students will realize what I’ve known for a long time; their voices matter and deserve to be heard, but the voices of their tias and abuelitos and babushkas are equally important. When we take the time to listen, I believe we do more than affirm the humanity of others; we affirm our own as well.

Charles Sanderson has grounded his nineteen-year teaching career in a philosophy he describes as “Mirror, Window, Bridge.” Charles seeks to ensure all students see themselves, see others, and begin to learn the skills to build bridges of empathy, affinity, and understanding between communities and cultures that may seem vastly different. He proudly teaches at the Wellness, Business and Sports School in Woodburn, Oregon, a school and community that brings him joy and hope on a daily basis.

From   The Author: Response to Charles Sanderson

Dear Charles Sanderson,

Thank you for submitting an essay of your own in addition to encouraging your students to participate in YES! Magazine’s essay contest.

Your essay focused not on what is important to you, but rather on what is important to one of your students. You took what mattered to her to heart, acting upon it by going beyond the school day and creating a connection that has helped fill a huge gap in her life. Your efforts will affect her far beyond her years in school. It is clear that your involvement with this student is far from the only time you have gone beyond the classroom, and while you are not seeking personal acknowledgment, I cannot help but applaud you.

In an ideal world, every teacher, every adult, would show the same interest in our children and adolescents that you do. By taking the time to listen to what is important to our youth, we can help them grow into compassionate, caring adults, capable of making our world a better place.

Your concerted efforts to guide our youth to success not only as students but also as human beings is commendable. May others be inspired by your insights, concerns, and actions. You define excellence in teaching.

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This I Believe

Living what you do every day.

Yolanda O'Bannon

Yolanda O'Bannon is executive assistant to biochemist and former National Academy of Sciences President Bruce Alberts. O'Bannon was born in Phoenix and raised on Air Force bases around the world. She lives with her husband in Richmond, Calif. Lobsang Wangdu hide caption

I believe in being what I am instead of what sounds good to the rest of the world.

Last year, I left a job I hated as a programmer for a job I love as an executive assistant, which is just a fancy word for secretary. I still feel a little embarrassed when people ask me about my new job. Not because of what I do, but because of what some people, including myself, have thought of secretaries.

I had always thought that secretaries were nice and maybe competent, but not smart or strong or original. I have a master's degree in English literature, have interviewed the Dalai Lama, and co-founded a nonprofit organization. People who know me wondered why I would go for what seemed to be such a dull and low status job. Even my new boss asked if I would be bored.

Why would I want to be a secretary? Because it fits me like a glove. I get to do what I love best all day, which is organize things. I like the challenge of holding the focus on the top priorities in my boss' wildly busy schedule. I can function with a high degree of chaos. Untangling finances feels like playing detective to me. I find filing restful.

The only hard part is dealing with my own and other people's stereotypes, and learning to focus on internal rewards rather than humble appearances. I admit that I feel vaguely embarrassed bringing the faculty lunch or serving coffee to my boss' visitors. But deep down I don't believe that serving food is humiliating. Really, I think of it as a practice in humility. My husband is Tibetan. In Tibetan communities, you serve each other tea as a form of respect. When I'm serving coffee at work, I imagine that I'm serving a monk.

Whenever I get down or defensive about being a secretary, I think of those sharp, fast-talking assistants on The West Wing , and how they speak in paragraphs and remember everything, and I feel pretty cool. Sometimes I just look around at my fellow secretaries -- savvy and articulate women who are masters at multi-tasking. I know I'm in good company.

I've done a lot of solo travel in my life -- in New Zealand, Japan, Africa and India. Taking this job was harder than any of that. When I said I was going to spend a year in northern India, I'd get points. When I said I was going to be a secretary, people wondered what happened to me.

It would be easier if I were someone whose skills were more respected and better compensated -- a doctor, an architect, a scientist. I would feel cool when I meet someone at a party. But a friend reminded me that you only have to talk about what you do for five minutes at parties, but you have to live what you do every day of your life, so better to do what you love and forget about how it looks. And this, I believe.

More 'This I Believe' Essays

Cecilia munoz: getting angry can be a good thing, historical archives, katherine bottigheimer: work is the sweetening of life, tony hawk: do what you love.

My Daily Routine or My Daily Life Paragraph [100,150,200,250 Words]

My Daily Routine or My Daily Life Paragraph: As a student, we must adopt an effective daily routine to be successful in life. In this article, you are going to learn 4 paragraphs on ‘My Daily routine’ or ‘My Daily Life’ (100, 150, 200 and 250 Words). All the paragraphs will be useful for students from class 1 to class 12. So, let’s get started.

Table of Contents

Paragraph on My Daily Routine: 100 Words

I am a student. A student must follow a definite mode of living. I pass my days according to certain rules and order. Of course, my daily life is nothing exceptional to interest one. I get up quite early in the morning. I have some morning walk . After taking my tiffin, I go to study at least for three hours.

At about 10 a.m. I get up from my study. I have my bath and lunch and start for school at 10.30 a.m. After school hours I return punctually. After taking my tiffin, I go to play for an hour or two. My evening study starts at 7 p.m. After my Dinner, I regularly go to bed at 10 p.m.

Also Read: Paragraph on My Aim in Life

Paragraph on  My Daily Life: 150 Words

I am a very disciplined and punctual student. I get up early in the morning. I wash my hands and face and clean my teeth. I go out for a walk and come back home after half an hour. Then I take my breakfast. After that, I read my lessons and do my homework up to 9 a.m. I have my bath at 10 a.m. Then I take my lunch and start for school.

At school, I read and write with my classmates. I come back home at half-past four. I take some food and drink a glass of milk too. I play games with my friends in the afternoon. In the evening I do my lessons. I take my dinner usually at 9 p.m. Then I say Good Night to my parents and go to bed.

My Daily Routine Paragraph: 200 Words

My daily routine is very simple. Every day I get up early in the morning at about 6 am. I brush my teeth and wash my hands and face. Then I got out for a walk in the open air and come back home after half an hour. Next, I have my breakfast. I do my homework till 9 am. Then I have my bath and put on my school uniform. My mother serves me a meal at 10 am.

After breakfast, I go to school by bicycle with my friends. I attend my classes attentively. I seat in the front line of my class so that I can follow my teacher well.  At two I eat my tiffin. The school breaks up at 4 pm and I get home soon after. Then I take a rest for some time. In the afternoon I play games with my friends in the park.

In the evening I come back home and eat my snacks. Then I prepare my lessons and do the homework till 9 pm.  At around 9 pm I have dinner with my family and watch the news on TV. I go to bed at 10 pm. This is my daily routine.

Also Read: Paragraph on Discipline in English

My Daily Life Paragraph: 250 Words

A daily routine is an account of time spent in a day. As a student. I have also a daily routine to follow. Usually, I get up at 5 o’clock in the morning. After brush and wash, I walk to an open field nearby and space up and down for several times and practice some physical free-hands.

Back home, I have my breakfast and tea. Then I sit to read till 9 a.m. At the reading table, my first job is to rub up what I read last night. I then revise my home task. Then the clock strikes 9.30 for me to take bath. After that, I dress and do have my lunch, go out for school and drop in the class at 10.30 a.m. Our school works till 4.30 p.m with a recess after the fourth period.

At school, I have been always attentive to my teachers. If any difficulty, I get it explained clearly. In the off-period, I spend most of my time in the library, reading reference books on different subjects. I read also the dailies. After school, I get home back and take tiffin and tea. Then I go to the playground to play with my friends.

Getting back, I take a thorough wash after which I sit at my lessons for the next day. At 10.30 p.m usually I sit with TV. I normally go to sleep at 11 p.m. This is what I call my daily routine for weekdays. On holidays I enjoy a family outing.

Read More:  1. Paragraph on Early Rising 2. Paragraph on My Best Friend 3. Paragraph on Science in Daily Life

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5 thoughts on “my daily routine or my daily life paragraph [100,150,200,250 words]”.

I really enjoy reading your blog posts. They are very informative and I always learn something new. I especially enjoy the daily routine and life paragraph posts. They are very well written and I can really relate to them.

This is very very very very very very very very very very nice and very very important for another students and me. This is very nice and usefulness essay.This is very very very unique and special essay. For me. Thanks you very much 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

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My Daily Routine (An Example of How to Find Work-Life Balance)

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​ Many people struggle with “what” to do daily.  

Identifying what to work on is a constant, daily struggle.

As a​ busy person, you’re faced with a seemingly infinite amount of opportunities. 

What do I write next? Do I need to answer the 40 emails in my inbox? Should I pursue a new project that might take my ​career to the next level? 

These are the questions you might wake up to every morning.

The problem is, we don’t have a boss telling use what’s important. Often, we began each day by working on the tasks that seemed urgent, but aren’t critical to the success of the business—like checking email or social media.  

​So if you’re having trouble coming up with ideas for your daily routine, then ​here is an example routine that I follow as an entrepreneur.

Table of Contents

Why Does a Daily Routine Help

I used a simple (but effective) productivity hack. I start each day by identifying two to four critical tasks and adding them to my Most Important Tasks (MITs) list.

These are the tasks I work on first thing in the morning. The key here is to use specific metrics so I know whether I’ve accomplished my goals or not.

A great way to start your daily morning routine is by identifying two to four critical tasks and adding them to your Most Important Tasks (MITs) list.

As an example, I’ll create tasks like these:

• Write 2,000 words of the daily routine book.
• Record Youtube video for my new Steve Scott Show Channel
• Complete conversations 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 (each number represents a specific meeting).
• Create a new squeeze page for the Develop Good Habits blog.

This small daily action has had a positive impact on my business and personal life .

Each day, when I complete these tasks, I know the priority tasks have been accomplished. Even if something unexpected comes up in the afternoon, I know I’ve done the important tasks that drive my business forward.

RELATED: 12 Good Morning Routine Habits

Want to build a success-focused morning routine? Well, watch this video to learn about the 12 morning routine habits of the world's most successful people.

Example of a My Daily Routine

Morning routine.

Usually, I’ll wake up at around 7 a.m. and immediately start my habit-stacking routine , which includes the following tasks:

• Making my bed (just like the book says to )
• Washing my face
• Drinking a pint of lemon water
• Preparing and drinking a nutritious smoothie ( like this green juice product .)
• Reviewing my goals
• Writing down two to four important tasks for the day

I end this routine by completing a new habit I’m trying to build into my life. For example, I’m currently trying to master the 10-minute declutter habit.

Around 7:30 a.m., I head out for a walk. I always bring my iPhone to use the Stitcher app to listen to a variety of podcasts on topics such as self-publishing, internet marketing, investing and other motivational podcasts .

Also, I keep the Evernote app in a key location on my phone—in case I want to record an idea from one of these podcasts

From 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., I do my first (and sometimes only) block of writing. Usually, I work on a Kindle book, blog post or piece of content. On occasion, I’ll write something for my own personal enjoyment.

From 10 a.m. to 11 a.m., I’ll do a few different things: work on a project, reply to messages from key members of my team or complete a number of small tasks. These activities typically relate to items on my MITs list. The benefit here is that they provide a break from writing, but they also help me improve my business.

(If you're looking for other morning routine options, check out the SAVERS method used in The Miracle Morning .)

Afternoon Routine

From 11 a.m. to noon, I’ll relax a little by eating lunch, reading a nonfiction book for 30 minutes, running a few errands or driving to a nearby Starbucks coffeehouse to get out of the house.

The 12:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. time-slot is very flexible. Depending on the day (and specific deadlines), I do a number of things: write for a few more hours, clear out my email inbox, work through the steps of a current project, record a few podcast episodes or outline a future idea.

Evening Routine

Six p.m. to 7:30 p.m. (or sometimes 8:30) is exercise time. I either do another walk (usually with my wife) or go for a run. If I’m training for a marathon, sometimes the long run will extend into the evening.

After 8 p.m. is relaxation time. My wife and I will eat dinner, do a little cleaning and basically unwind for the rest of the night.

At 11 p.m., I’ll go to bed and do a little bit of fiction reading. I usually fall asleep around 11:30 p.m.

Exercise is an important part of my daily routine. 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. (or sometimes 8:30) is exercise time.

If you want to learn about improving the way you spend your evenings, here's our guide on how to create a good evening routine .

Special Considerations

The above was a “normal” day, but there are few weekly events that impact how my workday is structured.

I like to time-block my week so all conversations (podcast interviews, masterminds, collaborative sessions, and networking) happen on Wednesdays. I typically have anywhere from two to six conversations on this day. As an introvert, having regular conversations requires a lot of energy, so I prefer to get them all done in a single day.

Every other Thursday, I drive down to my parents’, which is an hour and a half from my home. Once there, my entire family goes to dinner. Then I spend the night at their place and we see a movie together the next the afternoon.

Finally, my Fridays are very flexible. Sometimes I’ll work the whole day, but on other days I’ll do a few things in the morning, then relax for the rest of the day and most of the weekend.

What Does YOUR Daily Routine Look Like?

Now that I have told you my daily routine, I’d love to hear about what YOURS looks like.  In the comment section below, describe the habits you use every single day…

To learn more, I encourage you to check out Level Up Your Day: How to Maximize the 6 Essential Areas of Your Daily Routine to find that balance in your daily activities. It is far more than me talking about my daily routines but dives deep into the things that any successful self-starter, work-at-home, freelancer or entrepreneur can use to achieve success.

For more help in maintaining your daily routine, check out this post showing different printable daily checklist templates .

Finally, if you want the perfect morning routine, then check out this seven-step process for creating a morning routine that will become a vital part of your daily life .)

Like this post?

Then share the below image on your favorite social media website (like Pinterest)!

14 thoughts on “My Daily Routine (An Example of How to Find Work-Life Balance)”

I’ve read your routine witha bit on envy, because you actually have the freedom to shape your day. I wish I have it…

I won’t describe my routine in details, I would need a book for that. If you have ever visited my Lift profile, you surely noticed I have 30+ daily habits. But because of my past choices I’m slaved to 9 to 5 job. So my habits float around my days. I have preferences, but not a rigid schedule. Even my morning routine is sometimes done in the afternoon (when the morning is disrupted eg. by working till 3 am).

My morning routine is structured very similar to Hal Elrod’s miracle morning encompassing 6 important areas – self analyzing, prayer, focus on my mission, exercises, reading… And I write 1000 words a day. I try to do it as soon as possible in the morning (usually on a train to work).

I certainly do know from seeing you on lift that you follow a kick ass routine encompassing all the important stuff… and you are right, I am blessed with the freedom to accommodate my lifestyle. It woul certainly be a hell of a lot different if I was at a 9-5 job and had kids to deal with in the evening. Different…but I would like to think I would still get the important things done.

Nice routine!

It’s good to see that you’re able to stick to a routine. I’m currently trying to get into a solid routine of my own, so that I can be more organized when writing and carrying out other tasks on my blog.

Thanks for sharing!

THANK YOU SO MUCH for this glimpse into your day and week! I just finished your book S.M.A.R.T. goals and LOVE it. I’ve got a bunch more of your books in my Amazon cart. Love how straight forward you are. Thank you!

Hey Scott, I’m woke up at 4.59 in the morning, and I found 3 morning habits that are truly amazing: 1. 10 minutes for lower back exercices, I’m web designer. 2. after that I have one hour to find new resounces and inspiration. 3. and two hours for improving my website.

Only after 8.30 I start to efectively work for my clients. Great content, Cheers!

Daily Routine

I wake up at 07:30 every day, Make my bed, brush my teeth and have breakfast. start to study at 08:00 a clock, have lunch at Midday and watch TV. Take a shower at 05:00, havê dinner at 07:00 and go to bed at 09:00 a clock. In the weekend I watch Netflix all the day.

thank you,I absolutely do know from seeing you on lift that you take after a kick ass routine enveloping all the vital stuff… and you are correct, I am honored with the opportunity to oblige my way of life. It woul absolutely be one serious parcel extraordinary in the event that I was at a 9-5 work and had children to manage at night. Unique… however I might want to think I would even now complete the imperative things.

thanks I enjoyed reading your journey . you have balanced day to day

Hello This is my first reply and i am bit nervous, but I wanted to know – is it possible to be a mr.perfect? And will Routine help in Making me a mr.perfect?

During the first paragraph of the section titled ‘Evening Routine’, you mention walking with a fiancee. In the very next paragraph you mention eating dinner with a wife. Juggling more than one woman, this must be a truly remarkable routine! I must give it a shot

LOL. Thanks for the heads up. Revising old posts after a few months can lead to some funny mistakes. Juggling two women would be one heck of a daily routine. (and potentially life-threatening) 🙂

That’s a good habit in every morning, same like i had did. But, should all plans written? Couldn’t it just memorized in head?

Physical fitness is a very important aspect of our everyday life. Thanks for sharing these fitness tips with us. Keep up the good work.

I got a vision by reading this post thanks for giving me direction thanks men. I will design my routine perfectly. Thanks

Comments are closed.

91 Everyday Use Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

👍 7 simple steps to a+ essay on everyday use, 🏆 best everyday use topic ideas & essay examples, 📌 interesting topics to write about everyday use, 👍 good essay topics on everyday use, ❓ everyday use essay questions.

Writing an Everyday Use essay can be a tough task if you don’t know the seven simple steps to an A+ paper. IvyPanda experts prepared a simple guide to ace your Alice Walker paper.

If you have writer’s block, procrastinate, and postpone your written assignments to the last day before the submission deadline, we suggest you to divide the task into small chunks:

• Determine the type of essay and learn its features
• Pick up Everyday Use essay topic
• Do your research on the chosen topic
• Write a thesis statement

Create Everyday Use essay outline

• Work on your paper
• Proofread and edit the essay

Determine the Essay Type

Your professor might assign you to write a certain type of essay on Alice Walker novel. For example, compare and contrast paper or literary analysis (don’t confuse it with literary summary!), persuasive essay on women empowerment, argumentative essay on family heritage, etc. Or you have the freedom to choose the paper type.

Learn more about various types of essays to know what you’re going to write. Depending on it, you will narrow your research and easy decide on structure of your paper.

Don’t forget to carefully read the professor’s instructions!

Choose the Essay Topic

Brainstorm ideas you can use as a base for your future research and writing. Active reading techniques would help you to determine some points in the novel that you can use in the essay.

Make notes and write ideas that come to mind while you read the book. After you’ve finished, check your notes, and write down Everyday Use essay questions that you would like to answer in the paper.

Once you’ve created a list of topics, it’s time to narrow your focus and choose the best one. Leave only one main point for research.

Do Your Research

Once you’ve chosen the essay topic, it’s time to do your research. Read critical reviews on the novel, check our Everyday Use essay topics to get examples of papers on Alice Walker’s books. Remember to keep notes so it would be easier for to refer and to cite the sources.

Master Your Everyday Use Essay Thesis

Here’s what you should keep in mind when creating your thesis:

• Thesis statement should reflect the key point of your paper.
• It should be one sentence.
• Use it in the introductory paragraph.
• Make broad enough.

If you need some ideas on how to write good thesis statements, you can always check IvyPanda essay examples. You can also use online thesis generators.

The next step you should make after you’ve finished the thesis is to master your outline.

It will help you to structure the paper. Put only one idea per paragraph and avoid overloading your body sections with too many arguments and evidence.

Make sure that you included transition sentences to keep the logical flow of the paper.

Write Everyday Use Essay

Once you’ve finished an outline, start writing! The more detailed your outline, the easier will be the writing process. Always ensure that you writing is clear and consistent. Check if you stick to the structure.

Write a strong Everyday Use essay conclusion. Restate your thesis and summarize ideas you presented in the paper’s body. You can work on the intro after the entire essay is already finished.

Proofread Your Paper

Some students underestimate the importance of the revision. However, don’t skip this step. Check it for punctuation, grammar, spelling mistakes and typos. You can also ask your friends or classmates to proofread your essay.

Are you finding it hard to express your points clearly in your Everyday Use essay? Check our variety of samples, written by professionals!

• “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker Critical Analysis By the use of the technique of contrasting the characters and their opinions in the story, the author succeeds in demonstrating the significance of comprehending our present life in relation to the culture that our […]
• “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker This study therefore identifies there points; in that, Walker seeks to convey the principle that art is a living and breathing part of its origin, a significant cultural possession, and a critique of the postmodern […]
• Cultural Identity and Heritage in the “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker In the broad context, Walker designs the story to underscore the conflict that African Americans faced concerning their cultural identity and heritage after the abolition of slavery.
• Literary Devices of “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker The plot tells about the lives of a single mother and her two daughters, Dee and Maggie. The latter is further illustrated through Wangero visiting her mother with her partner and addressing the topic in […]
• Everyday Use by Alice Walker The two hand-stitched quilts draw attention and become the center of conflict in the family of Mama and her two daughters.
• “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker and “The Story of an Hour” by Chopin Dee, although she is not the only main character, is the drive that pushes the story forward, and the narrative unfolds with her arrival.
• Literature Studies: ‘Everyday Use’ by Alice Walker On the arrival of her sister- Dee, she was not coming in the courtyard to her mother to greet and welcome her sister.
• Conflict in Everyday Use In the very beginning of the story one can already see the reason why Tuten disapproved of Dee’s actions and supported the desire of Mama and Maggie to continue with their way of life.
• Parent-Child Relationships in “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker The more distant and fractious relationship is between the narrator and Dee. The narrator is referred to as “Mama,” and a mama she is.
• Comparison of “Two Kinds” and “Everyday Use” The conflict between her new constructed culture and the tradition and culture that mama was brought up to know is an aftermath of the general mood of society after the effects of war and conflict […]
• Symbolism in “Everyday Use” by Walker and “Worn Path” by Welty In the second story, the symbol of the past and something that had long gone is the woman’s path that implies the historical events of the past the value of life.
• Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues” and Walker’s “Everyday Use” Analysis The narrative’s main focus was on the family’s relationships, trials, and the never-ending cycle of pain. The storyteller is Sonny’s brother, and the setting occurred in a rural region of Harlem, New York, in the […]
• Analysis of Alice Walker’s Essay “Everyday Use” in Reference to the Idea of Power and Responsibility Within Family This statement of Maggie’s inner power provokes her mother to exercise her authority and stop Dee from plundering the house which she has never respected, loved or devoted her effort to.
• The Short Stories “Everyday Use” by Walker and “A Worn Path” by Welty Despite coming from different backgrounds and are placed in different settings, Phoenix Jackson and Mrs. Though Phoenix Jackson and Mrs.
• Cultural Identity: “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker One of the instances of elements of life associated with identity is music. As such, blues music is not particularly popular throughout America, yet it remains a significant part and a distinctive aspect of the […]
• Stories “Girl” by Kincaid vs. “Everyday Use” by Walker In my opinion, in both Walker’s and Kincaid’s stories, there are the three themes of mother-daughter relationships, economic struggles, and societal expectations. In the case of Girl, the conflict is based on the concerns the […]
• The Theme of Education in “Everyday Use” by Walker and “Sonny’s Blues” by Baldwin Initially, in both stories, the authors emphasize the success linked to education and the necessity of school attendance. Back in time, education might create a delusion about one’s intelligence, overstating the significance of existing knowledge […]
• “Everyday Use”: Differences Between Mama and Her Daughters To be more exact, the author focuses on the problem from the African-American people’s side. Overall, Maggie seems indeed similar to her mother, and they do share numerous identical features; however, Dicie is obviously more […]
• The Mood in “Everyday Use” by A. Walker From the beginning of the narrative, a sense of antipathy is observed between the main character and Maggie. The gloominess of the fiction is mainly highlighted by hardships and the dramatic visions of the narrator.
• Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”, Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”, and Walker’s “Everyday Use” It is remarkable that the language of The Story of An Hour speaks for the feelings of protagonist and the plot uncovering.
• “Everyday Use” Short Story by Alice Walker Despite Dee’s overwhelming presence, Maggie is the first girl to be introduced in the story as it is she who has apparently helped her mother to make the yard “so clean and wavy yesterday afternoon….
• Heritage in Walker’s “Everyday Use” Short Story This is much different from the awareness of her heritage displayed by Maggie, who lives the lifestyle alongside her mother and is more intimately aware of the stories behind each of the pieces Dee determines […]
• “Everyday Use” Story by Alice Walker As a result, she can be considered a reliable narrator as she describes both of her daughters honestly and without skipping over any of the unpleasant bit of their backgrounds such as the fire that […]
• “Saboteur” and “Everyday Use” Literary Comparison The second story describes the life of a common family in which even tenor is interrupted by the visit of one of the daughters of Mama and their different understanding of identity.
• Denial in “Everyday Use” and “Jilting of Granny Weatherall” The old woman fails to accept her jilting by her lover to her death even though she prides in having been married and fend for her family all alone after facing the death of her […]
• African-American Heritage in the “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker Dee and Maggie do not interact, it is only as the story ends that Dee speaks to her angrily as she is leaving; this ending portrays the relationship of the African and American heritages.
• Analysis of Themes and Narration in “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker
• The Differences in Physical Attributes, Education, and Personalities Between Dee and Maggie in “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker
• A Rhetorical Analysis of “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker
• A Literary Analysis of the Different Views in “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker
• The Physical Beauty of Dee in “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker
• The Relationship Between Parent and Child in Joe Johnson’s “October Sky” and Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use”
• The Value and Purpose of Cultural Heirlooms in “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker
• How Alice Walker Explores the Meaning of Heritage in “Everyday Use”
• The Theme of Jealousy Between Two Sisters in “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker
• A Character Analysis of Dee Johnson in “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker
• The Hidden Strength of Mama and the Fight of Tradition Against Materialism in “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker
• Racism, Resistance, and Sacrifice in Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use”
• The Usability of Symbolism in “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker
• Past and Present Connections: Alice Walker’s Use of First Person Point of View in “Everyday Use”
• A Comparison Between Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” and Joseph Geha’s “Monkey Business”
• The Importance of Home to a Family of Three Women in Georgia in “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker
• Heritage and Selfishness in “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker
• A Mother’s Important Decisions in “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker
• The Importance of Tradition in “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker and “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson
• An Analysis of the Narrative Structure in “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker
• Symbolic References in “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker
• The Value of the Intangible in “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker
• An Analysis of the Textile Industry in “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker
• Lost Heritage in Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use”
• Themes of Identity Fabrication and Ethnological Heritage in “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker
• True Inheritance in Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use”
• The Thematic Character of “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker
• A Psychoanalytical Reading of “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker
• The Character of Mama in Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use”
• Analysis of Patches: Quilt and Community in Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use”
• Acceptance and Denial in Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use”
• The History of Quilting Based on the Story of Quilting “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker
• A Critique of the Effectiveness of Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use”
• Insecurity as the Root of Tyranny in “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker
• A Family Heritage in Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use”
• Mother-Daughter Relationships in “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker
• The Importance of Personal Identity in Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use”
• Theme of Heritage in Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use” and Aurora Levins Morales’s Poem “Child of the Americas”
• The Use of Irony in “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker
• An Exploration of the Main Themes in Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use”
• How Are Oppression and Victory Depicted in “Everyday Use”?
• What Is the Basic Conflict in “Everyday Use”?
• How Alice Walker Explores the Meaning of Heritage in “Everyday Use”?
• What Do the Characters in “Everyday Use” Symbolize?
• What Does Dee’s Boyfriend Asalamalakim Represent in “Everyday Use”?
• Who Were the Characters in “Everyday Use”?
• How Does the Author Understand Tyranny in “Everyday Use”?
• What Does Maggie Symbolize in “Everyday Use”?
• What Do the Quilts Represent to Maggie at the End of “Everyday Use”?
• What Is the Main Theme of “Everyday Use”?
• What Is the Moral of the Story “Everyday Use”?
• What Are the Self-Defense Mechanisms in Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use”?
• How Does Dee Change in “Everyday Use”?
• How Is Black Woman Spirituality Imaged in Alice Walker’s “Everyday Use”?
• Why Does Dee Change Her Name in “Everyday Use”?
• What Does the Term the Prodigal Daughter Mean in “Everyday Use”?
• What Is the Function of Tradition in “Everyday Use”?
• How Do Dissimilar Lives Create Different Expectations in “Everyday Use”?
• What Is the Deeper Meaning of “Everyday Use”?
• What Are the Similarities Between Maggie and Dee in “Everyday Use”?
• How Are Love and Acceptance Compared in “Everyday Use”?
• What Is Alice Walker’s Purpose in Writing “Everyday Use”?
• Is There Any Cultural Conflict in “Everyday Use”?
• What Can Story “Everyday Use” Give a Primary School Teacher?
• What Is the Significance of the Title “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker?
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2024, February 28). 91 Everyday Use Essay Topic Ideas & Examples. https://ivypanda.com/essays/topic/everyday-use-essay-examples/

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Bibliography

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Practice Makes Perfect: How Writing Every Day Can Make You a Better Writer

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Written by  Eilish Toohey

Madeleine L'Engle , author of A Wrinkle in Time , once gave the following three pieces of advice for aspiring authors:

L'Engle is one of many authors who recommend daily writing practice, yet it is this piece of advice that tends to turn people away. This is completely understandable. Having to force yourself to write every day sounds tedious, and, if writing practice seems like a chore, you will likely try to avoid doing it.

That said, if you're interested in becoming a better writer, making a habit of writing every day can greatly improve your writing skills.

Make Writing a Habit

Think of writing practice as a form of exercise. If you decided to take up running for the first time or were returning to running after being out of commission for a long period, would you be ready to immediately do a marathon?

Of course not. You would have to train for an extremely long time to strengthen your muscles and improve your stamina. The same goes for writing. If you are no longer in school or have a job that does not involve regular writing tasks, these skills can enter a state of atrophy. Much like our muscles, we need to habitually practice writing so we remain in top condition.

Writing every day does not mean that you need to draft a full-length novel or 51 essays every 24 hours. As impressive as that would be, no one has time to do that. We all have responsibilities throughout the day that take away from our free time—jobs, school, children, dogs, houseplants, pet rocks—but just because you have a busy schedule does not mean that it is impossible to find time to write.

One of Canada's most prolific authors, Alice Munro, managed to start a writing career while simultaneously running a bookstore and raising three children by sticking to short stories . If you can set aside 30 minutes to an hour every day for writing practice (and set yourself a word or page limit to meet), you can become a better writer. You should also aim to schedule your writing practice for the same time every day so it becomes a habit.

Overcoming Obstacles

One reason that people find it difficult to write every day is writer's block. We have all been there. Instead of writing, we distract ourselves with other activities while we wait for inspiration to arrive.

However, daily writing practice is actually the best way to combat writer's block. As Mario Vargas Llosa once said in an interview with The Paris Review:

"If I started to wait for moments of inspiration, I would never finish a book. Inspiration for me comes from a regular effort."

If you're having a hard time with your current project, use your time set aside for writing practice to write lists about odd habits of yours or about people that you see on the street. While these may not immediately spark ideas for your current project, you can always come back to what you wrote later; you never know what interesting ideas might spring forth when you revisit old writing. This is also a good way to help organize your thoughts, which can be another factor that keeps inspiration from flowing.

Writing every day can help you become more aware of the limits of your vocabulary. The more you write, the more obvious that frequent word choices become. Once you know your limitations, you can expand your vocabulary by finding stronger words or experimenting with word order to see if there are other ways to get your message across. In this way, writing practice can help you craft a distinct voice, which is something that every good writer must have, and it can help you on your journey to becoming a better writer.

Get yourself a notebook and set aside an hour every day just to write. Write about strange dreams that you had. Record what happened at work today. Try little writing exercises—Scribendi actually offers free writing prompts, which you can download here . Do not feel discouraged if your initial writing is not great; the whole point of practicing is to steadily improve your skills, which you can only do if you have something to work with. As short story author Katherine Mansfield once said:

"[It is] better far write twaddle or anything, anything, than nothing at all."

Image source: Jes D.A.

Get Constructive Feedback to Improve Your Writing

Hire a professional editor , or get a free sample, about the author.

Eilish is an in-house editor at Scribendi and a York University graduate with a BA in Professional and Creative Writing. She enjoys reading magical realism, discovering musical theater trivia, and convincing friends to watch obscure Canadian films. When she is not plotting soundtracks for her many unfinished novels, she can be found wandering off the path during hikes in the woods.

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• Read and write
• Writing practice
• Level 1 writing

Read the cat's plan for the day, then do the exercises and write a comment to practise writing in English.

• Do the preparation activity to help you with words from the text.
• Read the text then play the game to check your understanding.
• You can also print the worksheets for more practice.
• Remember to read our discussion question and leave a comment!

Preparation

• 7:00 – I have breakfast.
• 9:00 – I watch television.
• 12:30 – I have lunch.
• 2:00 – I go to sleep on the sofa.
• 5:00 – I play in the garden.
• 6:30 – I have dinner.
• 8:00 – I go for a walk.

Top tips for writing about your usual day!

• Start each sentence with a capital I .
• Use verbs to say what you do, for example go , have , eat or play .
• Finish each sentence with a full stop.

What do you do every day? Tell us about your daily routine!

I have breakfast at Eight. I go to sleep at nine thirthy MissPotionPrincess

• Log in or register to post comments

I piay in the garden at eight. I have dinner at seven.

I have breakfast at six thirty. I go home at three.

I have breakfast at seven thirty. I have dinner at eight o'clock.

I have breakfast at seven. I go to sleep at ten.

I go for a wolk at one.

Hi I am Emma. At 6:30 AM I wake up. At 7:15 AM I am on the school bus. At noon I eat lunch. At 3:00PM I go home. At 6:00PM I eat dinner. At 7:30 or 7:45 PM I go upstairs to brush my teeth and do other things. Then at 8:00 I go to sleep. Bye! Everyone and Good night.

Hello I'm Cindy. At 6:45 AM I wake up.I go to school by motorbike. At noon I eat my lunch then I go to sleep. In the afternoon I go back to my house. In the Evening I eat dinner then I play games. At night I brush my teeth then I go to sleep. Bye bye🤭🤭😇😭🤬🥶😰😱🤧🤮

What do you do every day? Tell us about your daily routine! Hi the following is my daily routine. 05.30 AM: I wake up. 06.00 AM: I do an exercise. 07.00 AM: I cook my breakfast. 08.00 AM: I go to school. 12.00 PM: I have lunch. 05.00 PM: I go back home by school bus. 06.00 PM: I do my homework. 06.30 PM: I have dinner. 08.00 PM: I take a shower. 09.00 PM: I go to bed.

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Choose Your Test

Sat / act prep online guides and tips, 53 stellar college essay topics to inspire you.

College Essays

Most colleges and universities in the United States require applicants to submit at least one essay as part of their application. But trying to figure out what college essay topics you should choose is a tricky process. There are so many potential things you could write about!

In this guide, we go over the essential qualities that make for a great college essay topic and give you 50+ college essay topics you can use for your own statement . In addition, we provide you with helpful tips for turning your college essay topic into a stellar college essay.

What Qualities Make for a Good College Essay Topic?

Regardless of what you write about in your personal statement for college , there are key features that will always make for a stand-out college essay topic.

#1: It’s Specific

First off, good college essay topics are extremely specific : you should know all the pertinent facts that have to do with the topic and be able to see how the entire essay comes together.

Specificity is essential because it’ll not only make your essay stand out from other statements, but it'll also recreate the experience for admissions officers through its realism, detail, and raw power. You want to tell a story after all, and specificity is the way to do so. Nobody wants to read a vague, bland, or boring story — not even admissions officers!

For example, an OK topic would be your experience volunteering at a cat shelter over the summer. But a better, more specific college essay topic would be how you deeply connected with an elderly cat there named Marty, and how your bond with him made you realize that you want to work with animals in the future.

Remember that specificity in your topic is what will make your essay unique and memorable . It truly is the key to making a strong statement (pun intended)!

#2: It Shows Who You Are

In addition to being specific, good college essay topics reveal to admissions officers who you are: your passions and interests, what is important to you, your best (or possibly even worst) qualities, what drives you, and so on.

The personal statement is critical because it gives schools more insight into who you are as a person and not just who you are as a student in terms of grades and classes.

By coming up with a real, honest topic, you’ll leave an unforgettable mark on admissions officers.

#3: It’s Meaningful to You

The very best college essay topics are those that hold deep meaning to their writers and have truly influenced them in some significant way.

For instance, maybe you plan to write about the first time you played Skyrim to explain how this video game revealed to you the potentially limitless worlds you could create, thereby furthering your interest in game design.

Even if the topic seems trivial, it’s OK to use it — just as long as you can effectively go into detail about why this experience or idea had such an impact on you .

Don’t give in to the temptation to choose a topic that sounds impressive but doesn’t actually hold any deep meaning for you. Admissions officers will see right through this!

Similarly, don’t try to exaggerate some event or experience from your life if it’s not all that important to you or didn’t have a substantial influence on your sense of self.

#4: It’s Unique

College essay topics that are unique are also typically the most memorable, and if there’s anything you want to be during the college application process, it’s that! Admissions officers have to sift through thousands of applications, and the essay is one of the only parts that allows them to really get a sense of who you are and what you value in life.

If your essay is trite or boring, it won’t leave much of an impression , and your application will likely get immediately tossed to the side with little chance of seeing admission.

But if your essay topic is very original and different, you’re more likely to earn that coveted second glance at your application.

What does being unique mean exactly, though? Many students assume that they must choose an extremely rare or crazy experience to talk about in their essays —but that's not necessarily what I mean by "unique." Good college essay topics can be unusual and different, yes, but they can also be unique takes on more mundane or common activities and experiences .

For instance, say you want to write an essay about the first time you went snowboarding. Instead of just describing the details of the experience and how you felt during it, you could juxtapose your emotions with a creative and humorous perspective from the snowboard itself. Or you could compare your first attempt at snowboarding with your most recent experience in a snowboarding competition. The possibilities are endless!

#5: It Clearly Answers the Question

Finally, good college essay topics will clearly and fully answer the question(s) in the prompt.

You might fail to directly answer a prompt by misinterpreting what it’s asking you to do, or by answering only part of it (e.g., answering just one out of three questions).

Therefore, make sure you take the time to come up with an essay topic that is in direct response to every question in the prompt .

Take this Coalition Application prompt as an example:

What is the hardest part of being a teenager now? What's the best part? What advice would you give a younger sibling or friend (assuming they would listen to you)?

For this prompt, you’d need to answer all three questions (though it’s totally fine to focus more on one or two of them) to write a compelling and appropriate essay.

This is why we recommend reading and rereading the essay prompt ; you should know exactly what it’s asking you to do, well before you start brainstorming possible college application essay topics.

53 College Essay Topics to Get Your Brain Moving

In this section, we give you a list of 53 examples of college essay topics. Use these as jumping-off points to help you get started on your college essay and to ensure that you’re on track to coming up with a relevant and effective topic.

All college application essay topics below are categorized by essay prompt type. We’ve identified six general types of college essay prompts:

Why This College?

Change and personal growth, passions, interests, and goals, overcoming a challenge, diversity and community, solving a problem.

Note that these prompt types could overlap with one another, so you’re not necessarily limited to just one college essay topic in a single personal statement.

• How a particular major or program will help you achieve your academic or professional goals
• A memorable and positive interaction you had with a professor or student at the school
• Something good that happened to you while visiting the campus or while on a campus tour
• A certain class you want to take or a certain professor you’re excited to work with
• Some piece of on-campus equipment or facility that you’re looking forward to using
• Your plans to start a club at the school, possibly to raise awareness of a major issue
• A study abroad or other unique program that you can’t wait to participate in
• How and where you plan to volunteer in the community around the school
• An incredible teacher you studied under and the positive impact they had on you
• How you went from really liking something, such as a particular movie star or TV show, to not liking it at all (or vice versa)
• How yours or someone else’s (change in) socioeconomic status made you more aware of poverty
• A time someone said something to you that made you realize you were wrong
• How your opinion on a controversial topic, such as gay marriage or DACA, has shifted over time
• A documentary that made you aware of a particular social, economic, or political issue going on in the country or world
• Advice you would give to your younger self about friendship, motivation, school, etc.
• The steps you took in order to kick a bad or self-sabotaging habit
• A juxtaposition of the first and most recent time you did something, such as dance onstage
• A book you read that you credit with sparking your love of literature and/or writing
• A school assignment or project that introduced you to your chosen major
• A glimpse of your everyday routine and how your biggest hobby or interest fits into it
• The career and (positive) impact you envision yourself having as a college graduate
• A teacher or mentor who encouraged you to pursue a specific interest you had
• How moving around a lot helped you develop a love of international exchange or learning languages
• A special skill or talent you’ve had since you were young and that relates to your chosen major in some way, such as designing buildings with LEGO bricks
• Where you see yourself in 10 or 20 years
• Your biggest accomplishment so far relating to your passion (e.g., winning a gold medal for your invention at a national science competition)
• A time you lost a game or competition that was really important to you
• How you dealt with the loss or death of someone close to you
• A time you did poorly in a class that you expected to do well in
• How moving to a new school impacted your self-esteem and social life
• A chronic illness you battled or are still battling
• Your healing process after having your heart broken for the first time
• A time you caved under peer pressure and the steps you took so that it won't happen again
• How you almost gave up on learning a foreign language but stuck with it
• Why you decided to become a vegetarian or vegan, and how you navigate living with a meat-eating family
• What you did to overcome a particular anxiety or phobia you had (e.g., stage fright)
• A history of a failed experiment you did over and over, and how you finally found a way to make it work successfully
• Someone within your community whom you aspire to emulate
• A family tradition you used to be embarrassed about but are now proud of
• Your experience with learning English upon moving to the United States
• A close friend in the LGBTQ+ community who supported you when you came out
• A time you were discriminated against, how you reacted, and what you would do differently if faced with the same situation again
• How you navigate your identity as a multiracial, multiethnic, and/or multilingual person
• A project or volunteer effort you led to help or improve your community
• A particular celebrity or role model who inspired you to come out as LGBTQ+
• Your biggest challenge (and how you plan to tackle it) as a female in a male-dominated field
• How you used to discriminate against your own community, and what made you change your mind and eventually take pride in who you are and/or where you come from
• A program you implemented at your school in response to a known problem, such as a lack of recycling cans in the cafeteria
• A time you stepped in to mediate an argument or fight between two people
• An app or other tool you developed to make people’s lives easier in some way
• A time you proposed a solution that worked to an ongoing problem at school, an internship, or a part-time job
• The steps you took to identify and fix an error in coding for a website or program
• An important social or political issue that you would fix if you had the means

How to Build a College Essay in 6 Easy Steps

Once you’ve decided on a college essay topic you want to use, it’s time to buckle down and start fleshing out your essay. These six steps will help you transform a simple college essay topic into a full-fledged personal statement.

Step 1: Write Down All the Details

Once you’ve chosen a general topic to write about, get out a piece of paper and get to work on creating a list of all the key details you could include in your essay . These could be things such as the following:

• Emotions you felt at the time
• Names, places, and/or numbers
• Dialogue, or what you or someone else said
• A specific anecdote, example, or experience
• Descriptions of how things looked, felt, or seemed

If you can only come up with a few details, then it’s probably best to revisit the list of college essay topics above and choose a different one that you can write more extensively on.

Good college essay topics are typically those that:

• You remember well (so nothing that happened when you were really young)
• You're excited to write about
• You're not embarrassed or uncomfortable to share with others
• You believe will make you positively stand out from other applicants

Step 2: Figure Out Your Focus and Approach

Once you have all your major details laid out, start to figure out how you could arrange them in a way that makes sense and will be most effective.

It’s important here to really narrow your focus: you don’t need to (and shouldn’t!) discuss every single aspect of your trip to visit family in Indonesia when you were 16. Rather, zero in on a particular anecdote or experience and explain why and how it impacted you.

Alternatively, you could write about multiple experiences while weaving them together with a clear, meaningful theme or concept , such as how your math teacher helped you overcome your struggle with geometry over the course of an entire school year. In this case, you could mention a few specific times she tutored you and most strongly supported you in your studies.

There’s no one right way to approach your college essay, so play around to see what approaches might work well for the topic you’ve chosen.

If you’re really unsure about how to approach your essay, think about what part of your topic was or is most meaningful and memorable to you, and go from there.

Step 3: Structure Your Narrative

• Beginning: Don’t just spout off a ton of background information here—you want to hook your reader, so try to start in the middle of the action , such as with a meaningful conversation you had or a strong emotion you felt. It could also be a single anecdote if you plan to center your essay around a specific theme or idea.
• Middle: Here’s where you start to flesh out what you’ve established in the opening. Provide more details about the experience (if a single anecdote) or delve into the various times your theme or idea became most important to you. Use imagery and sensory details to put the reader in your shoes.
• End: It’s time to bring it all together. Finish describing the anecdote or theme your essay centers around and explain how it relates to you now , what you’ve learned or gained from it, and how it has influenced your goals.

Step 4: Write a Rough Draft

By now you should have all your major details and an outline for your essay written down; these two things will make it easy for you to convert your notes into a rough draft.

At this stage of the writing process, don’t worry too much about vocabulary or grammar and just focus on getting out all your ideas so that they form the general shape of an essay . It’s OK if you’re a little over the essay's word limit — as you edit, you’ll most likely make some cuts to irrelevant and ineffective parts anyway.

If at any point you get stuck and have no idea what to write, revisit steps 1-3 to see whether there are any important details or ideas you might be omitting or not elaborating on enough to get your overall point across to admissions officers.

Step 5: Edit, Revise, and Proofread

• Sections that are too wordy and don’t say anything important
• Irrelevant details that don’t enhance your essay or the point you're trying to make
• Parts that seem to drag or that feel incredibly boring or redundant
• Areas that are vague and unclear and would benefit from more detail
• Phrases or sections that are awkwardly placed and should be moved around
• Areas that feel unconvincing, inauthentic, or exaggerated

Start paying closer attention to your word choice/vocabulary and grammar at this time, too. It’s perfectly normal to edit and revise your college essay several times before asking for feedback, so keep working with it until you feel it’s pretty close to its final iteration.

This step will likely take the longest amount of time — at least several weeks, if not months — so really put effort into fixing up your essay. Once you’re satisfied, do a final proofread to ensure that it’s technically correct.

Step 6: Get Feedback and Tweak as Needed

After you’ve overhauled your rough draft and made it into a near-final draft, give your essay to somebody you trust , such as a teacher or parent, and have them look it over for technical errors and offer you feedback on its content and overall structure.

Use this feedback to make any last-minute changes or edits. If necessary, repeat steps 5 and 6. You want to be extra sure that your essay is perfect before you submit it to colleges!

Recap: From College Essay Topics to Great College Essays

Many different kinds of college application essay topics can get you into a great college. But this doesn’t make it any easier to choose the best topic for you .

In general, the best college essay topics have the following qualities :

• They’re specific
• They show who you are
• They’re meaningful to you
• They’re unique
• They clearly answer the question

If you ever need help coming up with an idea of what to write for your essay, just refer to the list of 53 examples of college essay topics above to get your brain juices flowing.

Once you’ve got an essay topic picked out, follow these six steps for turning your topic into an unforgettable personal statement :

• Write down all the details
• Figure out your focus and approach
• Structure your narrative
• Write a rough draft
• Edit, revise, and proofread
• Get feedback and tweak as needed

And with that, I wish you the best of luck on your college essays!

What’s Next?

Writing a college essay is no simple task. Get expert college essay tips with our guides on how to come up with great college essay ideas and how to write a college essay, step by step .

You can also check out this huge list of college essay prompts  to get a feel for what types of questions you'll be expected to answer on your applications.

Want to see examples of college essays that absolutely rocked? You're in luck because we've got a collection of 100+ real college essay examples right here on our blog!

Hannah received her MA in Japanese Studies from the University of Michigan and holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Southern California. From 2013 to 2015, she taught English in Japan via the JET Program. She is passionate about education, writing, and travel.

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How to Write an Essay in 1 Day

H ave you ever written an essay in 25 minutes? You have if you have ever sat for the SAT. While the stakes may be higher for a last-minute academic essay, the point is this: do not panic! Instead, read this six-step guide to writing an essay in a day:

1. Understand your goals

Whether you are writing a personal statement for a college or graduate school application, or an essay for a high school or college class, your assignment will have specific goals. Before you begin to write, review these goals. Clearly understanding your objective is essential when working with a shortened timeline.

2. Choose a topic

Under normal circumstances, you might devote several days to brainstorming a promising topic, and then you might write a detailed outline before writing and revising your essay over a week or two. When you are on a tight schedule, this is not possible.

So—write down the first three or four ideas that occur to you. If you cannot think of an appropriate topic, ask a parent or a friend to review the assignment with you. Do not spend more than 10 or 15 minutes on this part of your essay, as the execution ultimately matters more than the idea itself.

In addition, do not stress yourself about selecting the “perfect” topic. Without a topic, you will have no essay to turn in, and any essay is better than no essay. (It naturally follows that any topic is also better than no topic at all.)

3. Set deadlines

Establishing deadlines for a one-day essay is key. Budget 5-10 minutes for brainstorming, 15-20 minutes for creating an outline, and several hours for writing. You can also set aside an hour for feedback and review, and another hour for any necessary revisions. You should also allow for an hour-long break to recharge your mind. Finally, plan to submit your essay several hours before the deadline. A schedule with some flexibility will allow you to adapt to any unforeseen complications.

4. Arrange for reviewers in advance

Whenever possible, arrange for reviewers (such as your parents or friends) first thing in the morning, and let them know when they can expect a draft. When your deadline is in several days or weeks, you have the luxury of finding reviewers after you have finished your draft. With a shorter deadline, you will not have this ability. Be clear on the short turnaround time to ensure as smooth a review period as possible.

5. Outline your essay

There are many resources that can advise you on how to write a wonderful essay, but the purpose of this article is to shape that advice to the demands of a very short timeline. This includes resisting the urge to abandon the outline. Having an outline is even more important for a one-day essay than for a week-long project with a similar word count. A strong outline will keep your essay focused and organized from the start—which is critical when time constraints will limit your rewrites.

Your outline should not be detailed, and it should take no more than 15 or 20 minutes to complete. Determine your hook (see below for more information), and then jot down the threads that connect this moment to your central argument or idea.

6. Stay organized

When you are under pressure, your tendency may be to start writing and to see where your essay goes. Try instead to use a brief anecdote or emotional impact statement (i.e. the “hook” in your opening paragraph) to set the stakes for your essay. This is essentially your opportunity to state why your argument or idea is worth your reader’s attention.

Finally, remember that “perfect is the enemy of good.” Manage your expectations. Your goal should be to write a good essay, not a perfect one. If you have a compelling hook and a well-organized flow of ideas, check your writing for errors, and then send it in.

Brian Witte is a professional SAT tutor with Varsity Tutors , a live learning platform that connects students with personalized instruction to accelerate academic achievement. He earned his Bachelor of Science from the University of Washington and holds a Ph.D. from The Ohio State University

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100 Writing Practice Lessons & Exercises

by Joe Bunting | 50 comments

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Want to become a better writer? Perhaps you want to write novels, or maybe you just want to get better grades in your essay writing assignments , or maybe you'd like to start a popular blog .

If you want to write better, you need practice. But what does a writing practice actually look like? In this post, I'm going to give you everything you need to kick off your writing practice and become a better writer faster.

What Is Writing Practice?

Writing practice is a method of becoming a better writer that usually involves reading lessons about the writing process, using writing prompts, doing creative writing exercises , or finishing writing pieces, like essays, short stories , novels , or books . The best writing practice is deliberate, timed, and involves feedback.

How Do You Practice Writing?

This was the question I had when I first started The Write Practice in 2011. I knew how to practice a sport and how to practice playing an instrument. But for some reason, even after studying it in college, I wasn't sure how to practice writing.

I set out to create the best writing practice I could. The Write Practice is the result.

I found that the best writing practice has three aspects:

Deliberate . Writing whatever you feel like may be cathartic, but it's not an effective way to become a better writer or build your writing skills. You'll get better faster by practicing a specific technique or aspect of the writing process each time you sit down to write.

This is why we have a new lesson about the writing process each day on The Write Practice, followed by a practice prompt at the end so you can put what you learned to use immediately.

Timed . It's no secret writers struggle with focus. There are just too many interesting distractions—Facebook, email, Kim Kardashian's Instagram feed (just kidding about that last one, sort of)—and writing is just too hard sometimes.

Setting a timer, even for just fifteen minutes, is an easy and effective way to stay focused on what's important.

This is why in our writing practice prompt at the end of each post we have a time limit, usually with a link to an online tool egg timer , so you can focus on deliberate practice without getting distracted.

Feedback . Getting feedback is one of the requirements to deliberately practice writing or any other craft. Feedback can look like listening to the reactions of your readers or asking for constructive criticism from editors and other writers.

This is why we ask you to post your writing practice after each lesson, so that you can get feedback from other writers in The Write Practice community. It's also why we set up The Write Practice Pro community , to provide critique groups for writers to get feedback on each finished piece of writing.

Our 100+ Best Creative Writing Practice Exercises and Lessons

Now that you know how we practice writing at The Write Practice, here are our best writing practice lessons to jumpstart your writing skills with some daily writing exercises, for beginner writers to even the most expert writers:

All-Time, Top 10 Writing Lessons and Exercises

These ten posts are our most viewed articles to boost your writing practice:

1. What is Plot? The 6 Elements of Plot and How to Use Them . Great stories use similar elements in wildly different ways to build page-turning stories. Click here to read what they are and learn how to start using them !

2. Top 100 Short Story Ideas . Here are over a hundred writing prompts in a variety of genres. If you need ideas for your next story, check this out!

3. How To Use Neither, Nor, Or, and Nor Correctly . Even good writers struggle figuring out when to use neither/nor and either/or. In this post, our copy-queen Liz Bureman settles the confusion once and for all. Click to continue to the writing exercise

4. Ten Secrets To Write Better Stories . How does Pixar manage to create such great stories, year after year? And how do you write a good story? In this post, I distill everything I've learned about how to write a good story into ten tips. Click to continue to the writing exercise

5. 35 Questions To Ask Your Characters From Marcel Proust . To get to know my characters better, I use a list of questions known as the Proust Questionnaire, made famous by French author, Marcel Proust. Click to continue to the writing exercise

6. How a Scene List Can Change Your Novel-Writing Life . Creating a scene list changed my novel-writing life, and doing the same will change yours too. Includes examples of the scene lists from famous authors. Click to continue to the writing exercise

7. Why You Need to be Using the Oxford Comma . Most people I've met have no idea what the Oxford comma is, but it's probably something that you have used frequently in your writing. Click to continue to the writing exercise

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9. Why You Should Try Writing in Second Person . You've probably used first person and third person point-of-view already. But what about second person? This post explains three reasons why you should try writing from this point-of-view. Click to continue to the writing exercise

10. The Secret to Show, Don't Tell . You've heard the classic writing rule, “Show. Don't Tell.” Every writing blog ever has talked about it, and for good reason. Showing, for some reason, is really difficult. Click to continue to the writing exercise.

12 Exercises and Lessons To Become a Better Writer

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15 Grammar Lessons and Exercises

I talk to so many writers, some of whom are published authors, who struggle with grammar. Here are our best writing lessons on grammar:

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Want to be a journalist? Or even use techniques from journalism to improve your novel, essay, or screenplay? Here are our best writing lessons on journalism:

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Want to write a good story? Our top plot and structure lessons will help:

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• 5 Elements of Storytelling
• 3 Important Rules for Writing Endings
• A Writer’s Cheatsheet to Plot and Structure
• Overcoming the Monster
• How to Satisfy Your Reader With a Great Ending
• Pow! Boom! Ka-Pow! 5 Tips to Write Fight Scenes
• The Dramatic Question and Suspense in Fiction
• How to Write a Memorable Beginning and Ending
• How to Write the Perfect First Page

6 Lessons and Exercises to Beat Writer's Block

Writer's block is real, and it can completely derail your writing. Here are six lessons to get writing again:

• How To Write Whether You Feel Like it Or Not
• This Fun Creative Writing Exercise Will Change Your Life
• When You Should Be Writing But Can't…
• What to do When Your Word Count is Too Low
• 7 Tricks to Write More with Less Willpower
• When You Don’t Know What to Write, Write About Your Insecurities

7 Literary Technique Lessons and Exercises

These writing and storytelling techniques will teach you a few tricks of the trade you may not have discovered before:

• 3 Tips to “Show, Don’t Tell” Emotions and Moods
• 3 Reasons to Write Stream of Consciousness Narrative
• 16 Observations About Real Dialogue
• Intertextuality As A Literary Device
• Why You Should Use Symbolism In Your Writing
• 6 Ways to Evoke Emotion in Poetry and Prose
• 3 Tips To Write Modern Allegorical Novels
• Symbol vs. Motif: What’s the Difference

3 Inspirational Writing Lessons and Exercises

Need some inspiration? Here are three of our most inspiring posts:

• Why We Write: Four Reasons
• You Must Remember Every Scar
• 17 Reasons to Write Something NOW

3 Publishing Blogging Lessons and Exercises

If you want to get published, these three lessons will help:

• The Secret to Writing On Your Blog Every Day
• How to Publish Your Book and Sell Your First 1,000 Copies
• How to Get Published in Literary Magazines

11 Writing Prompts

Need inspiration or just a kick in the pants to write. Try one of our top writing prompts :

• Grandfathers [writing prompt]
• Out of Place [writing prompt]
• Sleepless [writing prompt]
• Longing [writing prompt]
• Write About Yourself [writing prompt]
• 3 Reasons You Should Write Ghost Stories
• Road Trip [writing prompt]
• Morning [writing prompt]
• The Beach [writing prompt]
• Fall [writing prompt]
• How to Use Six-Word Stories As Writing Prompts

Is It Time To Begin Your Writing Practice?

It's clear that if you want to become a writer, you need to practice writing. We've created a proven process to practice your writing at The Write Practice, but even if you don't join our community, I hope you'll start practicing in some way today.

Personally, I waited  far  too long to start practicing and it set my writing back years.

How about you? Do you think practicing writing is important?  Let me know in the comments section .

Choose one of the writing practice posts above. Then, read the lesson and participate in the writing exercise, posting your work in the Pro Practice Workshop . And if you post, please give feedback to your fellow writers who also posted their practices.

Have fun and happy practicing!

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Enrollment closes May 14 at midnight!

Joe Bunting

Joe Bunting is an author and the leader of The Write Practice community. He is also the author of the new book Crowdsourcing Paris , a real life adventure story set in France. It was a #1 New Release on Amazon. Follow him on Instagram (@jhbunting).

Want best-seller coaching? Book Joe here.

50 Comments

You have THE BEST content for writing on this blog!!

Thank you, Kristen. This made my morning. 🙂

Thanks Mitch. 🙂

I can’t remember when I started following this website. I have to look in my notebooks because that’s where I did these practices. I didn’t have access to a computer when I did them, so I wrote them out, setting the time limit. But even when I do get to a computer, I have my reservations about putting my practices on the page. even though it’s practice, I want them to be the best, almost perfect. But I know it won’t be. I’ve gotten feedback before that says so. It still gets to me that I didn’t put something together that not everyone liked. I need to get over it. After all, that is what these practices are about: to learn and improve on our craft.

I don’t know either, George, but it’s been several years. Perfectionism is something so many of us face, and it’s made worse when you don’t have a critique community as warm and encouraging as ours is. I hope you and everyone here are always willing to try something new, even if it comes out a little messed up, because you know we’ll support you and try to make you better.

What a great share! Thanks so much!

You’re so welcome, Elizabeth. Thank you for commenting.

when I ran writing classes I wrote. when I am “a member of writing classes” the teacher/leader/facilitator is NOT MY AUDIENCE and so I don’t write as well/as much. I don’t get the feedback I need from fellow students because most of them have never run their own writing projects/workshops. So many people expect you to write their story for them. I’ve actually got quite a few stories of me own. I have finally decided I like owning them. 😉

It sounds like you need a new critique group, Patience! Hope you can find a place where you get the feedback you need.

Wow! Terrific round-up of resources. 🙂

Thanks Stephanie. 🙂

Practice is necessary, period. It doesn’t matter what you want to learn. If you want to improve, practice is vital.

It’s odd. I’ve known and applied that principle for years on a variety of things. Painting. Drawing. Blogging. Gardening. Laundry.

But never writing.

Like you, I had the notion that just writing every day was all it took to improve. Why not the same level of dedication to writing?

Perhaps it’s time to change that!

I can relate, Carrie. It’s easy to confuse the craft of writing with journaling, thinking that you can just write whatever you feel like and you’ll get better, write something worth reading. The truth is that writing interesting things to read is a skill, but the good news is that you can get better at it with practice. Thanks for practicing with us! 🙂

I love these suggestions , and have set Writing Practice as my homepage so the first 15 minutes of my day is spent writing, whether its a practice or exercise here or another that is sprinkled through out this site, Thank you for all you do everyone here at The Write Practice

This is great Debra. I want to write the first 15 minutes of my day too!

I agree with Joe, Do it. Could be your to do list… ( that could lead to something else story wse later)

I love that, Debra. Such a good way to start your day.

Thanks Joe!

The best! Thank you so much for this.

You’re very welcome!

I simply LOVE all the tips and suggestions given on this blog. They are super helpful!

THANK you. We love sharing them with you. 🙂

Hi! You forgot the link to How to Write a Story a Week: A Day-by-Day Guide.

Thanks a lot for your work! This post is amazing.

It’s a great post Thiago. Definitely one of our most shared. Thanks for mentioning it! BTW here’s the link:

https://thewritepractice.com/a-story-a-week/

Wow!! There are so many exercises…. I just love it..! I am gonna really enjoy it..!

Awesome! Thank you for reading and practicing with us. 🙂

I only read halfway , My tootie is jumping all over me, and typing this is a struggle when a 3yr old wants his Toy Story movie on Youtube in this computer. Thank you for this article, will come back later to finish reading.

I know the feeling! Good luck!

Can’t wait to get stuck in with this! 🙂

Very helpful! Thank you!

I’ve just bookmarked this page. Thanks for this wonderful list.

This is awesome! So many helpful tips. I will be coming back to this often. Thanks for posting this!

Wow, so many goodies! Thank you for always providing such amazing content!!

I have enjoyed all these articles. Thank you for the help an inspiration to get my writing on its way. My creativity is boosting with confidence. Tootle loo.

Amazing contents for beginners like me Joe. I am highly inspired by your commitment. Thank you.

Hey, thanks!

Although I have only read half of thisc article, the practice exercises are excellent. Some of them are exactly what a beginning writer like myself needs. I am committing to at least try ALL of them. Thanks Joe!!

very helpful! thank you..

Amazing articles! Thanks so much for sharing!

My god this article made me love this site . You know it’s kinda hard for a beginner writer, who don’t know where to start and fixing goals, even samll ones give us a direction . A place to go , an aim for our creativity so thanks you , this community and this site. Love you all . At your pens ! 😉

Wow. This is great. I find all your posts informative, but this one is the best for me to use as a guide to get my self starting to write….Thank you.

I’m an old lady who wants to publish one more book before I die — have published several, all non-fiction, and done two under contract to a major publisher (reference books). So help me, the BIGGEST problem I have all along, is keeping track of the damned paper work and research that goes into a book!!! Yet I never ever see articles on something as simple as “How to file” — Oh I know, there’s wonderful software these days so probably I will never find a way to get paper organized — everybody will use software and do it on the computer. I’m too old for that — just one look at the learning curve for software, even putting the damned stuff into computer files is even MORE frustrating than paper!! Oh well, somehow I managed in the past to get books published, I may be able to do it one more time.

you enjoy writing more than anything else and you do indeed care to help others write. I love writing but translation from Arabic into English and English into Arabic is taking all of my time from the early hours of the morning till the evening. I will soon get all of your books in order to read them as soon as possible. One thing I am sure of. You know what you are doing very well. Hamzah

Excellent! Many useful tips. Many thanks!

Liz and Joe, I have only looked at a few exercises. Already, I am convinced that your site is one of the best sites out there. Thank your for sharing your wisdom.

Wow, these are the best lessons and exercises for writing. Actually i’m participating in a compitition this wendsday. so, i’m quite nervous and exited. this helped me a lot

Magnificent post ever I have read. This article will help me a lot to write a right way. Thank you.

i need your help to improve to become a better writer please. i think i usually commit moist of these errors and i don;t pay attention to many advices too.

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After 20 years, I met my childhood hero: The local news anchor who looked like me

This story was first published on May 28, 2021.

If you ask kids who their childhood heroes are, they’ll probably mention characters and celebrities they see on-screen. If you’re my age (turning 30 this summer,  despite not fully being ready for it ), you might remember looking up to the Power Rangers or Britney Spears.

I, however, looked up to Ellee Pai Hong.

That’s not an obscure actor’s name or an early ‘90s pop star that slipped your mind; Ellee Pai Hong was the morning news anchor on NBC Chicago in the early-mid 2000s.

My mother has faithfully watched the TODAY Show and the morning local news every day in our suburban Chicago home since before I was born. She still does, actually, and wants Al Roker to know that he should go easy on Craig Melvin.

It’s a matter of luck or fate that I now work for TODAY, the show I have genuinely watched since birth, and Ellee Pai Hong was the person I saw each morning before catching the bus. There were a few days I didn’t tune in — I was tired, running late, finishing some sort of homework — but most days, I watched attentively as a well-dressed Asian American woman delivered the news in my hometown.

As anyone who is a devout watcher of morning news will tell you, it’s easy to grow attached to the anchors who you welcome into your home each day. For me, it wasn’t just that Ellee Pai Hong was cool and funny — though she obviously was — it was that she was one of the few faces that looked like mine on TV at the time.

I soon discovered that my life skills involved, almost exclusively, talking to others and writing, so I decided to pursue a career in journalism. And I can safely say that I believed I could follow my dreams, at least in part, because I had watched Ellee Pai Hong do it for all those years.

When I stepped foot on campus at the University of Missouri, which is home to one of the nation’s best journalism programs, I had a bit of culture shock. People there were constantly asking me “What are you?” and the only other Asian faces I recognized were exchange students coming to study from the other side of the globe. I wasn’t sure where I fit in.

Later, as a reporter/anchor on the local NBC station in Columbia, Missouri, I took phone calls, emails, tweets and comments from local viewers who complained about my appearance on air. And at least some of the responses were  tied to my ethnic identity .

But through it all, I tried to channel the journalists who came before me, especially Ellee Pai Hong.

I decided to track her down for this piece to let her know just how much her presence and success meant to me. She was kind enough to chat with one of her biggest fans and shared that she still works in TV, serving as a host for  Comcast Newsmakers .

It turns out that while growing up in Los Angeles, she looked up to another Asian American newscaster. Hong told me she used to trick her two sisters into watching the afternoon news so she could catch KCBS anchor Tritia Toyota.

“We only had one TV … and they never wanted to watch news,” she said with a laugh. “I’d say, ‘Well, don’t you want to watch the weather so you can figure out what you’re wearing to school tomorrow?’”

Toyota actually co-founded the Asian American Journalists Association in 1981. (Disclaimer: I’m a member of AAJA, which is now a nationwide organization with more than 1,500 members across the country).

“That’s who I used to watch, and I’d be like, ‘Oh, that looks interesting,’” Hong said. “And to see someone doing something like that (who) looks like me made it possible in my head. I totally believe you need to see people in different like diverse people in different areas because it connects you with that job or career.”

She added that she didn’t realize until later that she wanted to go into television broadcasting herself.

“Honestly, I wanted to be a Broadway star,” she said with a chuckle. “I’ve always been a little bit of a ham. But I realized I’m not that great of a singer.”

Like anyone meeting their career role model, I also had to ask for Hong’s professional advice.

Her first tip was to approach stories from all angles. She explained that her first boss (a “hardass”) in a small local news market had made her approach a family grieving after their two children died in a fire. Hong said she didn’t want to do the story but felt pressure from her boss, so asked the mother to tell her about her children’s lives before their untimely deaths.

“I took the position of, you know, let’s talk about your children, how great they were. Tell me about all the great stuff they did and what kind of kids they were and how much you love them” she said. “Just like with everything, it’s about how you approach things. Don’t get stuck in thinking you need to approach things one way — you can come at it from all different angles.”

Another piece of advice: “You’ve got to manage up, as well as manage down,” referring to how important it is to maintain workplace relationships with both subordinates and those you report to.

“Obviously … being good is just the baseline, you have to be good at what you do,” she said.“But you have to manage those relationships within your workspace … it’s always people problems, relationship problems that gets in the way of being more productive and more creative.”

As of late, there have been a slew of problems facing the  Asian American community . As I spoke with Hong in late April, there were ongoing attacks against people of Asian descent happening across the country.

Hong told me a story about how her daughter had faced racism at school and how she’d coached her to stick up for herself. She thinks the entire community should come together to stand up for themselves as well and hopes for lasting change.

“I feel like Asian Americans, we need a person or a group or several people to say something and be loud about it,” she said. “Culturally speaking, we as Asian Americans, we grow up to be considerate of others. It’s not ‘me first,’ it’s consideration of others, work hard and do what you’re supposed to do.

“But, you know, silence never inspired change, right, so to be silent about what happens to you, about the derogatory comments that are aimed at you, about the hate crimes — more seriously — that happened to you, it doesn’t do anything,” she continued. “It doesn’t prompt change so I feel like as a community, we cannot be silenced. And we cannot be silent.”

Sam Kubota is a senior digital editor and journalist for TODAY Digital based in Los Angeles. She joined NBC News in 2019.

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Every Day, Look Forward to a Really Good Sandwich

Whatever is going on right now, give yourself something to look forward to. it doesn’t have to be big..

This is One Thing , a column with tips on how to live.

My favorite question to ask strangers and dear friends alike is what they are looking forward to. “In life?” they might reply. “This year?”

“Yes,” I reply, “all of the above.” This life, this year, this week, today.

My personal favorite answers to hear are mundane, though—that someone is looking forward to seeing their dog or taking a walk on a beautiful day. Often I’m inspired anew to make these plans for myself too. When it comes to looking forward to things, long-term items are wonderful, but ideally, the horizon of looking-forward-to isn’t excruciatingly long. Five business days or fewer tends to be the sweet spot; otherwise you’re left panting until the next reprieve, whenever that is. We’re all looking forward to rare banner days, but who knows when they’ll strike?

The sci-fi soap opera Twin Peaks advises a version of this idea : “Every day, once a day, give yourself a present. Don’t plan it, don’t wait for it, just let it happen,” special agent Dale Cooper advises Sheriff Harry Truman in an episode. In this suggestion, pleasure hinges on a combination of serendipity and instant gratification. On the contrary, having something to look forward to causes you to derive joy entirely from planning and waiting. I say: Give yourself presents. But plan them.

Science shows us the benefits of looking forward. A 2018 study published in Frontiers in Psychology used functional magnetic resonance imaging to demonstrate a correlation between anticipation of good things and well-being. According to the authors, we evolved to anticipate. Making preparations for the future was, for our ancestors, linked with survival. But you can, the scientists note, use your made-to-anticipate brain to “look forward to” negative things. And that is just anxiety.

Another study, published in 2015 in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, found that looking forward to something as simple as a funny New Yorker cartoon boosted pleasant feelings before and after a stressful event. In fact, anticipating something good was as effective in aiding stress recovery as recently experiencing something good. In other words, looking forward to a treat can be, to some extent, as good as the treat itself.

Personally, when I need something to look forward to, my favorite thing to stick in my schedule is getting a really good sandwich. Usually a deli sandwich on quality bread that’s impractical to keep at home and fresh ingredients that had I combined them myself just wouldn’t taste as good.

But truly anything can be the sandwich. Grabbing coffee. Having tea and a cookie every night before bed. Sometimes, I’ll just go through what I already have planned and think about what good things I have coming up that I can focus on.

These things are small. Sure, it’s nice to look forward to a luxurious vacation, a graduation—something huge. But the most important part is not necessarily the thing itself but the act. The thing matters less than the fact that you’re simply looking forward .  

How would we even describe such a feeling? We know that anticipation of bad things is anxiety, but is there a word for anticipation of good things? Ah, yes: excitement .

To the moms all alone on Mother's Day, I see you and you are enough.

Most of my 14 years of motherhood felt like Mother’s Day was spent alone, including some of the years I was married.

Every May, when the second Sunday in May comes around, I think of the women who are where I was in multiple places of my mother journey: scared, alone and envious of the moms with a supportive partner at home.

This year, I've written a letter to every single mother struggling to celebrate herself today, who feels inferior to the other families she sees.

When the flowers don't come, when there are no "thank yous," when there is no one posting our picture, I want us to remember where our gift truly lies.

To our kids, this is the life and this love is enough. So, we can raise our glass.

Dear, single mom on Mother's Day

Maybe you woke up a little early today to give yourself the gift of solitude. There is no one to tag in at the end of the day. It’s exhausting.

You might get a few minutes before feelings of inadequacy come flooding in. You are reminded of all the things you can't do, never seeing all that you have. You wonder how a single-parent home is affecting your kids, who will be down in a matter of moments.

Then, the day will begin just like any other day.

Maybe there were once flowers waiting for you. Maybe there were never flowers at all. You may find crumpled up Mother's Day art in your kids' backpack today, but they may not recognize that there should be anything to celebrate.

You will prepare every meal, answer every request, create every moment, wipe every tear and calm every fear. But your requests will be left unmet, your moments 60 seconds at a time, your tears wiped by your own hand and your fears, ever ponding.

Yet every day you show up and you do it, maybe with a little envy for the two-parent home down the street, because it's hard to be a full-time parent and a full-time provider. You can't possibly do either perfectly well.

If you're feeling discouraged today, seeing only your lack, look inside.

You are the creator of all the good that you see.

Tonight, when you tuck in your kids, witness your gifts.

There may have not been anything on the table this morning, you may have cleaned up the house and cooked every meal, but there is peace in the room. There is joy on their faces. There is a tangible love providing security like the blanket wrapped around their feet.

Your family is not inferior.

You are enough. Your kids know it, and some day someone else will too.

But it has to start with you.

My son was feeling left behind: What kids with autistic siblings want you to know.

Your married friend may be struggling, too

Single mothers should know that married mothers aren't necessarily better supported. Sure, they may have flowers, but just like you, they have learned how to water themselves.

There were Mother's Days when all I felt was hollow. There were flowers, photos, dinners and lots of hugs, but it obscured a darker reality. Presence doesn't equal support. Lonely doesn't equal alone.

Knowing my "enoughness" led me back into singleness and back to the mother I've always been. So, cherish where you are and never trade your peace for support. Recognize yourself and celebrate this day.

Last year, I bought myself a bouquet of wildflowers, and this year, I bought myself a few.

My gift is this home I've created and the peace I feel at night. Sure, it may be a little messy, but it is far from inferior.

When I release my kids into the world, they will take this love that they've been given and begin planting it in places of their own, definitely better than if they had grown up in our broken two-parent home.

Yet I know that you, like me, may have a desire to share your life with someone. Just make sure that they are a seer too, a seer of your worth and your "enoughness," on more than just this special day.

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Student Opinion

Should Schools Serve Healthier Meals if It Changes Students’ Favorite Foods?

New federal rules will require school cafeterias to reduce the amount of salt and sugar in the foods they serve. Do you think students will embrace the changes?

By Shannon Doyne

Do you eat breakfast, lunch or snacks from your school’s cafeteria? If so, what do you eat? What are your favorite foods? How nutritious do you think your choices are?

New federal regulations on salt (or sodium) and sugar are coming to school cafeterias. Do you think they will change your favorite foods? Will they affect what and how much students eat at school?

In “ With New Salt and Sugar Limits, School Cafeterias Are ‘Cringing ,’” Julie Creswell writes about a debate over the new rules:

Around 11:40 on a cool spring day in early April, students began to stream into the lunchroom at Haleyville High School in Alabama. Cheerleaders, soccer and baseball players, and other members of the student body filed through the lunch line and sat at their tables. They chatted and laughed about upcoming games (go, Roaring Lions!) and prom as they dug into plates of chicken Alfredo, green beans and salad. Emma Anne Hallman, standing in a corner, watched the teenagers carefully. As the child nutrition director for the Haleyville City School District, she has the job of feeding 1,600 students, in prekindergarten through 12th grade. For months, Ms. Hallman and other heads of school lunch programs have worried about new federal regulations that would reduce allowable sodium levels and introduce new sugar restrictions for foods served in school cafeterias. A debate has raged, with many parents and nutritionists applauding efforts to make lunches more nutritious while some school lunch administrators fretted that the results will be less tasty to students, reducing consumption and increasing waste. “We are cringing, as it could result in changes across our menus,” Ms. Hallman said. “We would have to look at the sodium amounts in the recipes of some of our students’ favorite foods, like chicken wings, hot wings or even some of the Asian foods.”

The article continues:

While far from perfect (cafeterias serve plenty of processed foods), school lunches are arguably much healthier than they were a few years ago, thanks to a signature program geared toward combating childhood obesity and championed by Michelle Obama when she was first lady. The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, passed in 2010, required schools to reduce the calories, fat and sodium in foods served in cafeterias and to increase offerings of whole grains, fruits, vegetables and nonfat milk. The new regulations drew sharp criticism, however, and the Trump administration rolled back some of them, such as a prohibition on 1 percent chocolate milk. But last year, the Biden administration proposed updates that would gradually limit salt and sugar in school lunch foods in an attempt to meet federal dietary standards . On Wednesday, the Agriculture Department made the new rules final after scaling back several provisions in the earlier proposal and shifting the start dates. Instead of gradually cutting sodium in lunch foods by a third from current levels by the fall of 2029, school cafeterias will have to cut sodium levels 15 percent by the 2027-28 academic year. And for the first time, schools will need to limit the amount of added sugars in cereals and yogurts, starting in the 2025-26 academic year. Standing in a Haleyville School District pantry a few weeks ago, Ms. Hallman nodded to boxes containing cups of Cocoa Puffs and Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal. They contain less sugar than the cereals that are bought from grocery stores and poured into bowls at home. Still, she said many of these foods would most likely be affected by the new rules and have to be reworked by the manufacturer. The label of a Cocoa Puffs cereal bar, for instance, showed it had eight grams of added sugar, while a frosted strawberry Pop-Tart had 14 grams. “Breakfast, particularly grab-and-go options, is going to be tricky,” Ms. Hallman said. “The changes could affect how many times a week we can offer certain items with sugar to the students.” Many nutritionists and health-policy watchdog groups say the new rules on sodium and sugar are important, with so many children struggling to have or make nutritious choices outside school.

Students, read the entire article and then tell us:

Before reading the article, were you aware that public schools must meet nutritional standards set by the federal government? Do you think these rules are reflected in what meals get served, how often certain items appear on the menu, or what foods can be served together at your school?

What, if anything, surprised you about the challenges schools face when it comes to serving food? Does it make you see school lunch differently?

Do you think the people who prepare school meals are right to fear that the new rules will require them to change or discontinue some of the students’ favorite items? Or will students embrace healthier meals at school?

What do you notice about the foods served at your school? Do students tend to eat healthy most days? Are the most popular items high in sugar or sodium?

Now think about what gets thrown out in cafeteria trash cans. Is food waste a serious issue at your school? If so, what can be done to help?

If students are less likely to eat foods that are low in salt and sugar — and perhaps less tasty — is it still worth it to make school lunches healthier? Why or why not?

Do students at your school have a say in what the cafeteria serves? If menus were created by students, what do you think would change and why?

Students 13 and older in the United States and Britain, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public and may appear in print.

Find more Student Opinion questions here. Teachers, check out this guide to learn how you can incorporate these prompts into your classroom.

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How Do Psychologists Decide What to Study?

Personal perspective: psychological research is sometimes, but not always, “me-search.".

Posted May 14, 2024 | Reviewed by Ray Parker

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• It is sometimes assumed that the personal concerns of the researcher guide psychological research.
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• Connecting new research to existing bodies of research is essential.

There is an old saying among psychological scientists that “Research is me-search.” This means, of course, that people, including psychologists, are drawn to topics that have deep relevance to issues in their own lives.

This old saying certainly rings true as I watch my undergraduate students select topics for their capstone senior research projects: The too-thin young woman who wants to study eating disorders, the student of color who is interested in racism , the child of divorce who desperately wishes to understand how a marriage ending in divorce affects children.

Given that I am best known for my work on creepiness and gossip, this old truism about “me-search” stalks and haunts me whenever I do a media interview about my research on either of these topics. The interviewer always wants to know what it is, exactly, that enticed me to devote years of my life to studying such a thing. There seems to be an assumption that I have a personal story to tell about a lifetime of being plagued by gossip or about my fear that I am chronically creeping other people out.

I will let the discerning reader draw their own conclusions about my interest in creepiness, but my interest in gossip does have an identifiable point of origin that is a bit more mundane than one might expect.

Research Ideas Can Be Inspired by Everyday Life

One day, about 25 years ago, I was standing in a long, slow-moving line at a grocery store. As it happened, my progress was stalled right next to a magazine rack rife with tabloids full of scandalous stories about movie stars, politicians, and assorted other celebrities.

For the first time in my life, I really looked at these publications and found myself wondering how they all stayed in business. Who reads all of this stuff? Why do we care so much about the private lives of individuals who we will never meet? I pondered this during my drive to the office after I left the store. I remember posing questions about the allure of these magazines to the first psychologist colleague I encountered when I got to work, and our ensuing conversation fanned the flames of my interest even further.

Being a good academic, my first impulse was to turn to the scientific literature to see what experts on gossip had been able to uncover. I was stunned by what I found, or more accurately, by what I did not find. There were a few studies in which anthropologists hung out in villages in random cultures and reported on what they heard people talking about when they gossiped and some intriguing anthropological theories about the origin of gossip.

However, I was unable to find anything in the way of actual experiments done by social psychologists on how gossip works. This is extraordinary: Until the dawn of the 21 st century, a universal human activity that lies at the heart of social life had been largely ignored by scientists whose stated mission was to understand human social interaction.

As an experimental social psychologist, I found the implied challenge irresistible. And so, with the help of some of my students, I embarked on a series of experiments on the psychology of gossip. I am proud to say that an interest in gossip spread like wildfire throughout the research community and that the study of gossip is now a thriving enterprise in the field of social psychology and related social sciences.

Thus, some research ideas do indeed spring directly from questions that arise through observing everyday life or from personal concerns faced by the researcher. However, this is not the only way in which research questions are formulated, and I will explore this in another post.

Frank McAndrew, Ph.D., is the Cornelia H. Dudley Professor of Psychology at Knox College.

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