With the first week of classes behind us, the new fall semester is starting to pick up already. Students everywhere have all kinds of commitments: classes, part-time jobs, clubs, friends. When you have that many things going on, it’s easy to take on too much and not have the time or space to enjoy any of the things you are doing. These tips are to help you prioritize, manage, and enjoy your time and activities this semester.
1. Be aware of how much time your commitments actually entail.
It can be super easy to end up with a lot of things on your plate when it sounds like each commitment will only just take up a few hours a week. I recently picked up an internship that’s an eight-hour weekly commitment. In reality, it’s more like ten hours considering the preparation required and the transportation time. If you’re thinking about picking a new time commitment up, remember to factor in what other time demands it might have, like weekly meetings, volunteer events, or work outside of planned hours.
2. Make sure you leave yourself free time.
College is awesome for a lot of reasons, but one of the biggest is the spur of the moment adventures you can end up having! Having the freedom to cook a big dinner with your roommates or check out a cool campus event without having to stress about the other things you need to be doing can make a big difference. Even just having the ability to take a few hours off and watch a movie or work on a hobby can make you feel much more relaxed and can increase your energy levels.
3. Find a way to organize all your deadlines and tasks.
One of the most stressful aspects of a semester in full swing is that you can have so much going on at once, which means that there’s the possibility of forgetting about something. Classes, utility bills, and grad school applications are all things we’re responsible for with lots of different deadlines. Find a way to keep track of all those dates that work for you; people love electronic calendars that remind you days ahead, or a paper planner if writing things down helps you remember. Finding an organization method that works for you can drastically reduce the stress of trying to remember everything.
4. It’s okay to quit things if that’s what’s right for you.
If you think about it, you’ve probably changed at least a little since you started college, or since you were in high school. A lot of the time, we can keep things around that we’re not super passionate about anymore but have been doing for a while. Maybe you really loved the volunteer club you joined your first year, but are struggling to fit it around your new research position. If you’re not super excited about it or it’s not really helping you, it’s okay for you to let things go. You have finite time, so use it for what you need or love.
5. Learn how to prioritize things that are important.
It can be really stressful to look at an endless list of things that you need to do. It doesn’t have to be like that though. You can manage your to-do list more easily if you have a solid idea of what you need to get done the most. Just start with the important stuff, and don’t sweat about letting optional or distant things sit for the moment.