Your Time

We are here to guide students, to a path of wellbeing, of peace, of support and understanding. Our blog is designed to understand students and to offer a little bit of guidance towards a more balanced and enjoyable college experience.

We know sometimes college life can be a bit overwhelming, we ourselves are students going through the same thing every day, therefore we know how it is, how hard it can get and how difficult it is to cope with our dear friend, anxiety.

Our blog consists of four topics with tips and suggestions about societies, yoga & mindfulness, fitness, and social life on a budget in Dublin. We all know that happier students learn better, and we also know that the term ‘wellbeing’ has different meaning and definitions, for some it can mean happiness, or physical and mental health therefore we cover four different topics so it can be useful to most people.

With Love,

Following up our last post, we have gathered 8 Netflix documentary series for you, ranked the highest on Rotten Tomatoes.

8. DOWN TO EARTH WITH ZAC EFRON: SEASON 1 (2020) 71% score

Zac Efron's earnest exploration certainly comes off as Down to Earth, but the show's lack of focus undermines its important environmental message.

7. NIGHT STALKER: THE HUNT FOR A SERIAL KILLER: LIMITED SERIES (2021) 73 %

Though Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer succumbs to the sensational side of true crime, it paints a fascinating, chilling portrait of a killer and the city he terrorized.

6. JEFFREY EPSTEIN: FILTHY RICH (2020) 82% score

Stories from survivors fuel an examination of how convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein used his wealth and power to carry out his abuses.

5. Challenger: The Final Flight (2020) 86% score

Challenger: The Final Flight doesn't uncover any new information, but intimate interviews elevate its well-crafted, heart-breaking retelling of an avoidable national tragedy.

4. Tiger King (2020) 85% score

A bizarre true crime story you must see to believe, Tiger King is a messy and captivating portrait of obsession gone terribly wrong.

3. Our planet (2019) 93% score

Our Planet breathtakingly explores the beautiful environment while presenting an urgent call to action.

2. Cheer (2020) 97% score

Cheer captures the highs and lows of what it takes to be a cheerleader, with a troupe of teens willing to engage in the tougher trials facing the sport today.

1. Ugly Delicious (2018) 100%

And the Award of YourTimex goes to Award-winning chef David Chang who is embarking on a journey to culinary hot spots around the world joined by writers, activists, artists, and other chefs who use food to break down cultural barriers.

With Love,

There are rumours about another lockdown coming soon and if we are being honest, we are not that sad about it. The last lockdown in Ireland has lasted for over 6 months and most of students focused that time on themselves, we achieved some of our postponed goals like reading books, exercising, studying, more time with family, learning new languages or simply exploring what Netflix has to offer.

Most of our articles are focusing on balance, meditation, exercising, nutrition, awareness, and socialising. This time we are exploring some entertainment. We prepared a list with the best critically acclaimed documentaries films and series (following post) on Netflix according to rotten tomatoes, shall we begin!

Best Netflix Documentary Movies

8. American Murder: The Family Next Door (2020) 86% score

It is a documentary that unravels a brutal true crime story using the near-constant connectedness of the digital era.

7. The Social Dilemma (2020) 85% score

The Social Dilemma presents a sad analysis of our datamined present, from tech experts from Silicon Valley alarming on how dangerous the impact of social networking is and how Big Tech is using it to manipulate and influence users.

6. DAVID ATTENBOROUGH: A LIFE ON OUR PLANET (2020) 95% score

Attenborough is exploring the wild places of the planet he has visited in his 93 years and discussing the scale of humanity’s impact on nature and the actions we can take to save our planet.

5. Tell Me Who I Am (2019) 97 % score

This story is about a boy Alex who loses his memory after a serios motorcycle accident, he then trusts Marcus to teach him about his past, to later find out that Marcus is hiding a dark family secret.

4. 13th (2016) 97% score

Although we would position this one first, according to Rotten Tomatoes it only has a 97% score and not 100%. It is about America’s tangled racial history that offers heart-breaking observations on the racial inequality that are calmly controlled.

3. Chasing Coral (2017) 100% score

Chasing Coral is about the discovering of why reefs are disappearing of divers and scientists by setting up ocean adventures. It offers breathtakingly looks at some of the most incredible natural wonders and warnings about the future.

2. Athlete A (2020) 100% score

Athlete A is about an unforgiving light on horrific abuses and the culture that allowed them to continue for years inside USA Gymnastics and the truth about Dr Larry Nassar.

1. Crip Camp (2020) 100% score

The winner of YourTimex award is Crip Camp, a docuseries about a group of alumni joins at a summer camp for teens with disabilities, a radical disability rights movement to advocate for historic legislation.

With Love,

*This next text is from a certified life coach Petra Novakovic. She explains how to feel the feelings in order to free ourselves from our old patterns*

When we experience negative feelings, our automatic response is to momentarily try and change them into something we find more comfortable and appropriate.

But, what happens when we do that?

When we deliberately don’t hear what our feelings are trying to tell us, we’re overriding the most important triangle we’re composed of - the mind, the body and our soul. So, our body’s response, our emotions and our thoughts get disregarded.

The pent up energy gets pushed away, negativity places itself in the weakest part of our body, chronic illnesses emerge.

So the first step of our self-care is:

When we behave like we don’t want to and feel the feelings we want to avoid, the first step is: stay in that feeling for 5 minutes. Acknowledge the anger, hurt, pain and just DO nothing. Sit. Odd, right? Instead of telling you NOT to feel that, I’m telling you to do the opposite.

If it’s the aftermath that brings the awareness of unwanted behaviour. Do the same.

And then, do some work:

Why do I feel this way?

What part of this situation is making me feel this? What could I have handled better?

Have I experienced this before? What is different now? What is the same?

What can I do to prevent this in the future? Will I do it?

With Love,

With the start of what could be another lockdown in Ireland it can seem to many that we are going to lose our freedom again. Do not lose hope yet we always have the students interests at best here at YourTimex.

If you looked at our previous post, we talked about how to stay fit during the pandemic and we used many walking trails as an example. We know that many of the examples there could be used here but we’ll stay away from that. Being social at the moment might be tough for many students considering we are all completing assessment that we left until the last minute or studying for exams, but we realise that it is still important to get out and about.

Christmas Market

The Christmas market in Dublin castle seems to be a big hit at the moment, this is an all-day event that runs from 8 December 2021 – 22 December 2021 and the best news is that it is completely free for everyone so you can invite all your friends or your family. The event is a boutique open-air Christmas Market, with music from the Dublin Gospel Choir, New Dublin Voices, Playlist, Crux Voice Ensemble and others among the festive gatherings. You can find tickets and all other relevant information at the Dublin Castle website.

Wild Lights

Wild Lights, the spectacular, night-time experience, makes its triumphant return to Dublin Zoo again this year which is great to hear! For €19 students get to explore this unique event in the heart of Phoenix Park which will take place from 28th October 2021 – 9th January 2022. From Spain to India and Morocco to the USA, the event contains the best of the worlds attractions all in one place, this is the perfect place to bring your friends or your partner for a few hours of amazement.

The Ginger Man

Enjoy a meal or drink in the most Christmassy place in Dublin. Located in Fenian street near the national gallery, The Ginger Man is its own winter wonderland with an amazing dazzling display of Christmas decorations on all floors of the building. The amazing thing is that the food, coffee, and pints match up the amazing atmosphere you will receive in the bar. As it is so close to the national gallery you can make an evening and visit the museum which is also free and enjoy a festive day with your friends and family.

Dear Students,

As the exams are getting closer, we wanted to catch up with you. How have you been? We have been super busy, dividing our time between assignments and Christmas shopping. I assume you have all heard that our exams will be in person this year which comes as a surprise to all of us. Nonetheless, we are here to guide you to balance. Even though your anxiety might be heightened in the last couple of weeks (if not, it probably will as the exams are approaching) we have just the thing. On our Facebook page you can find many resources that we have selected to unwind (after a hard day), reset and boost your mood.

We think that balanced lifestyle has a lot of health benefits in the life of students. Firstly, life is designed to be stress free. We constantly think about the future and forget to live in the present. We are so focused on building our dream life to the point every small detail stresses us out. They say the college years are the best and we should cherish them but how can we do that when we are constantly stressed and anxious. In order to reduce anxiety, moving your body is essential. When doing some light exercises, our brain releases the hormones of happiness and apart from making us very happy, exercising makes us healthy. Nutrition also plays a vital role in balancing your life especially during stressful semester.

Eating clean = Clean eating is a diet concept where a person avoids refined and processed foods and those that have artificial ingredients, such as certain preservatives and additives. Instead, the goal is to eat whole, natural foods.

Don’t forget to breathe and remember that everything will be okay. 

With Love,

❤️

Not everyone loves the topic of fitness and believe me, I don’t either sometime but as we know our body is our temple (as cheesy as that sounds). Fitness is all around us and we commonly see it advertised online on billboards and even on the transport we use, but fitness is not as complicated as we are told nowadays. Most of us will know a friend or influencer who posts about fitness on their social media, and they somehow make it look like rocket science or a boring lecture you would rather avoid. Fitness doesn’t have to be this way, it should be making you feel good about yourself, and it should bring positivity into your life, personally I look forward to exercising every week because like most people it takes me away from reality for a couple hours and I feel refreshed afterwards.

Here is where the fun stuff begins, in this section we will be looking at great gyms around Dublin that are hopefully affordable for most students. To start we will be looking at my personal favourite gym, FLYEfit. FLYEfit consists of 15 gyms around Dublin with the majority of them spread around the city centre which is unbelievably handy because most students can commute easily to the city centre. The best part about these gyms is the price and the perks of joining, on a monthly basis, FLYEfit charges €29 for the user to choose one gym to attend, but for €32 the user gets to choose between all the gyms they have to offer. On top of the great prices each member gets to attend classes for free which is great for those who want to change their workouts.

Ben Dunne gym is a great alternative for a cheap gym with a few downsides, but ill mention the great things first. Ben Dunne gyms come in at a cheaper price than FLYEfit at €25 a month, plus it is a no contract membership and does not have a joining fee. The major downfall is there are only four gyms in Dublin and non are in the city centre, but it is a great option for students living in these areas. (See here for locations) https://www.bendunnegyms.com/locations

Although it helps, fitness really isn’t all about the gym. Dublin is filled with many parks, mountain areas and walk paths that need to be explored more by students. My favourite area to exercise when it is not freezing it the Howth cliff walk, the mountain contains four different walks which are varied in length and is great depending on fitness levels. The walk is quite straightforward in route and is full of beautiful scenery throughout. It takes 1.5-2.5 hours to complete depending on which route you take, and you it is also a great area to run/cycle if that is more of your scene.

Another popular walk is the route from Portmarnock to Malahide, the coastal walk is approximately 4km long and is ideal for fitness purposes. This route tends to be very popular for people who want to exercise as part of a group or team because of the ideal distance for a cycle or run and there is a very large beach as well which allows you to cool of the sweat. Once you are in Malahide there are many places to relax and enjoy great food or coffee and is home to some amazing sights like Malahide castle and Malahide Park. In Malahide there is also a 9-hole Pitch and Put course with a tennis court where you are able to rent out equipment for a cheap price and they have student prices included in their offer.

University is a venue for many students to form connections and begin to develop contacts for their future personal and professional lives. For some however, University can make students feel lonely without the same support systems they may have had leading up to university. Students have to learn and adapt to ways in which they can become a part of their school and develop friendships with other students. Lectures are the first point of contact between students, but as we know, most social interactions arise outside of the classroom.

Although this is quite an obvious tip, clubs and societies around university campuses are a great way for students to meet new friends. Clubs and societies bring students together to create a shared experience based on their personal interests or for the sake of trying something new. Think of clubs and societies as a chance for people to use their hobbies and interests as their personal icebreakers. Most universities offer common societies to suit all students such as arts societies, culinary societies, and drama societies, but they will also offer some unique societies to help students discover new passions such as DJ societies, Go-Karting societies, Harry Potter societies and much more. On top of meeting new friends, students will learn more about themselves as they interact in different groups and activities.

Other than clubs and societies, it is quite evident that socialising through eating and drinking is an incredible way in which we meet new friends. I know that many of us rely on our peers to strike up the first conversation or to ask us out for coffee during lunch break, but why don’t we change this? As we know it is exciting to be asked to join a social event in college so why not return the favour once in a while? As students we need to learn to build up the courage to invite people to be sociable as it can be the foundation for future friendships. At this point you should have an idea of where to go or what to do. With help from the guide in the rest of this blog you will be able to show off in front of your peers as you can tell them all about how fantastic these deals are.

As we can agree, being a student is not cheap as we have to endure expensive tuitions, crazy Leap Card top ups, and not even to mention the prices on most food in Dublin. With this said there are many ways in which students in Dublin get a break in their bank accounts and I am here to give you all the assistance you need, but first I want you to answer this simple yet very important question, do you have a student Leap Card or an adult leap card? Well, if you are using an adult leap card you are already missing out on some fantastic deals on food, drinks, and activities around the city (and even abroad but we won’t dive into that today). To acquire a student Leap Card is quite simple actually, all you need to do is fill out the form online and receive it in the Dublin Bus building on O’Connell Street. Forget the boring stuff let’s get to why you really came for. The FOOD. One of the best perks of the Leap Card is the McDonald’s €5 student meal which is available all day long across all stores in Ireland. This is great for those 2-hour lunch breaks or simply a pre-sesh meal. (See image below for the details).

Our second cheap meal deal belongs to Boojum, seemingly the most popular place in the world at times it gets a reputation for incredible Mexican cuisine which has earned the admiration of many around Dublin. For just €6.25! students get to choose between a filling burrito or a burrito bowl containing a multiple choice of fillings, salsa, cheese, rice, and extras with a drink on the side. The best part of the deal is that the business offers its customers the opportunity to collect stamps to earn free food.

My favourite way to socialise with my classmates and the way we became friends was through picnics. Dublin is filled with big, beautiful parks with incredible scenery, and I wonder why we don’t take advantage of them more. This is a great opportunity to socialise with the chance of spending little, many people think that they need to spend a lot of money if they are going to buy food from a restaurant, but this is not the case. If you focus on many restaurants, you should consider how great the starters and the side dishes are. Grab some friends and discover the greatness of starters and go to places like Takara or Eatokyo (to name a few) where you can get the most delicious fried noodles and fried rice for €2. After you get your food, you should walk up to the closet supermarket and buy cans of Karpackie or Prazsky which cost €5 for four. You will realise in the next few days you will have saved so much more money and more importantly, gained new friends that you will keep for life, and it all started from taking this advice.

With Love,

❤️

Sometimes I feel overwhelmed. I always wondered why this feeling comes up unexpected when I need it the least. Over the years I have realised that there is a pattern in my thoughts that causes the uncomfortable feeling – it would come up right before assignments and exams and even though I have enough time and a plan in mind, my brain breaks and goes into panic mode. Do you ever feel like that too? Just unable to stop your destructive and negative thoughts?

Well, you’re at the right place if you don’t want to feel alone in this mess. As students we all go through periods of extreme happiness to periods of stress and anxiety so quickly. Of course, we know it’s not healthy, but we also don’t have the time to think about methods to help ourselves. Heck, we don’t even have the time to do our assignments on time and always look for the ways to beg the lecturer to extend the deadline for at least another week. 

Let me break it down for you: we love complaining and we love procrastinating. You might be wondering “who the hell likes complaining and procrastinating?”, well we all do in a way. We all are lazy sometimes and not motivated at all to do our assignments, get ready for exams and have a part time job. But we all still do it. We do it because we know we can. We know we must, and we know it will help us in the long run. You have to make the decision to get up, show up and get it done. 

Now, let’s go back to that overwhelming feeling we might feel even when we do our work on time and even when we feel like we can have everything under control. We feel overwhelmed because we aren’t living in the present, in the now. This sounds silly at first, but it is true. To help me illustrate this, we will do one short exercise

Exercise🐝

Pick one object near you and focus your attention on it. What does it look like? What colour is it? Is it sharp or oval? Is it big or small? Keep your attention on the object and just observe how it looks like in front of you. Don’t think about what this object’s purpose is, don’t think about how you use it and when you will use it next. Just observe it. Now, start thinking about all the chores or activities you must complete in the future, start thinking about the due dates and exams and the weekend job you have. How does it feel? Not so good. How did you feel when you were observing the object? Is there a difference you can recognise? I think there is. Things get easier when you can detect the intrusive thoughts and when you can bring your focus back on the present moment. This part takes practice because once you are feeling blue and anxious, it is hard to control your mind that is on autopilot. In the moments of overwhelming emotions when you feel like you can’t take it anymore, try and catch your thoughts. Awareness of our thoughts and feelings is the first step and just noticing it goes a long way.

Steps to achieve a semester without overwhelming thoughts and fear:

1. Look at the given assignment – understand what you need to talk about and ask lecturer any questions you have

2. Write down the deadline and make a plan – how long will it take you to complete the assignment? Do you know how many days or weeks? On what days are you free and can get a bit of work done? Write it all down.

3. Notice how you feel about the assignment and the deadline – notice your thoughts and your feelings about it. Is it fear mixed with anxiety? Are you lazy and don’t feel like doing it? Are you clear on the instructions? Talk to a friend. Share it because the chances are they are feeling the same way.

4. If it’s going deeper than that and you feel really bad mentally, seek out help form local or college therapists. Don’t be alone in this.

With Love,

Joining a student union can provide opportunities to meet people outside of class that seek various interests or people who you have never met before pursuing the same interests as you. They categorise in different sections with different interests, that can later on benefit your life and your degree. We all know that sometimes student life can become a routine, non-stop assignments, studying for tests, and then exams each semester, and joining a society that will remind you every day of your assignments and exams can be boring and we all know that those are the most popular in every university and the easiest to find. Of course, we are not saying that you should neglect it, not at all, we are saying that you can do both, be an excelling student and join societies that could be fun, exciting, something different than what you are studying, something that could take your mind off exams and distract you for an hour or two each week. Therefore, we gathered a simple list of fun societies to join that we thought might be of interest to you.

Join a media group

Most universities have media societies where you can collaborate with some other like-minded creatives. A media group offers chances like journalism, radio dj, editing programming or even marketing and so much more. It is a way to express your creativity and your passion from music and film to mental health or blog writing, it could be a chance to show your work and make it public, who knows, you could be good at it.

Join a sports club

If you are not attending a sport related course you can still join one, it provides opportunities to train, play, and compete no matter your ability or level, you can start from scratch or continue something that you enjoyed doing. It is a perfect way to keep fit if you find attending the gym a bit boring, you can meet great people, have fun, and distract yourself from academic life.

Join a volunteer or charity group

An amazing opportunity for students to find platforms where they can volunteer in their communities. It is a nice fulfilling chance to contribute to the society we all live in, like volunteering at local shops, working with children or even helping a care home. You can make connections or even friends and it will also look good on your CV. It is nice to give back and there is always help needed in the world, and how rewarding a nice feels the fact that you helped or supported someone without expecting anything in return.

Join a society that represents what you are studying

Law, maths, engineering, literature, marketing, arts; join the society that is the reason why you are in university, meet people that pursue the things you do, people that understand you and share your struggles, people that study what you study, and trust us, it will be great and who knows how it may contribute to your academic studies.

Join a club just for fun

We want no work and all fun. There are societies that require no work and are for purely entertainment intentions like the UCD PotterSoc if you are a fan of Rowling’s magical campus at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy, and let us tell you something, we are too!

We tried to present a few options for you to socialise into, but it is also ok if you don’t join any. Remember that your mental health is the most important thing in your life, if you are not ok then you won’t enjoy your student life. So, take breaks when you need to, do the things that bring you joy and it is ok if you feel anxious or stressed, we all do!

Check out this video from TU Dublin and explore the societies even more! Let us know what societies interest you the most?

Thank you for reading our first post and we will meet you on the next one.

With love,

Ana, Ema, Josh and John.