Ever since we began quarantine in March, people have made jokes about how time is a blur and is basically becoming nonexistent. I haven’t always been the type of person that relied on knowing the time, preferring to just let my daily routine keep time for me. That was pretty easy for me since I had classes, but those ended after May, leaving my days fairly empty. My routine became waking up around 10 a.m. and hanging out around the house until later when my parents got home from work. Usually, I’d be fine with doing basically nothing, but I felt pressure to do something since so many others were taking the time quarantine provided to bake or learn new skills. I did some of that, but not enough. So, I decided to create a schedule for myself.
I’m used to having a schedule so that my hectic days make sense and I don’t forget events or deadlines. Making a schedule when there was nothing important going on taught me that they do more than just organize your life. Schedules provide a much-needed structure so that you have the freedom to plan other things outside of what is most important. I scheduled everything that was a “must” in my life: wake-up times, when to cook, run errands and even when to eat. Time was such a blur that I would often find myself forgetting meals, which is something I struggled with already. Scheduling everything helped me feel more productive, even though I wasn’t doing that much.
Now that I’m back at school, I use my schedule to keep track of classes and meetings as per usual, but I’ve also scheduled in when to eat a meal or snack, take a walk for exercise and do homework. I still feel like time is flying by, but at least I know that I’m using my time well thanks to the schedule I made.