Trying to juggle a social life with being a student is hard on its own. Being a full-time college student with a job and running your campus’s chapter of an organization is a whole different ball game.
As a twenty-year-old who is still figuring out the ins and outs of the world, the a struggle to find balance between all three of these is tough – and there are points in time where it all seems to catch up to you. For example, I just finished the first week of school and I’ve already had the feeling like I’m behind and I have so much stuff to do. With all three of these caps that I wear constantly interchanging, I’m trying to stay on top of everything and still do it to the best of my abilities. I thought I would share a couple of the things that help me try and keep the best balance possible and “doing it all” while still staying sane.
- Stay Organized
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It may seem like a cliché but it’s really true. I’ve found it more than ever useful to have a planner on me so that I can keep track of everything that I need to get done. I’m always trying to map out on paper my list of assignments so that I have a physical way of looking at things instead of having them piled up in my brain bouncing around. Whenever I complete a task, I make sure to mark it as complete (whether by highlighter or a lie drawn by pen) to make sure I focus only on the things that NEED to get done and not everything as a whole.
- Prioritize
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Try to figure out what is more important in your agenda. For things that are higher priority, make sure you set them higher on your list than something that’s not. You can even do this with your days of the week. For example, psychology is of higher priority than algebra but they both need to get done on the same day, too psychology gets done Monday morning and algebra Monday afternoon. Not everything needs to get done at that exact moment in time, so don’t divide attention and try to put all your focus into what needs to be done at that moment in time. It will help reduce your stress.
- Enjoy Your Free TIme
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If a lot or just a little, free time is really important. It’s time to take a break from EVERYTHING and just breathe. I’ll admit, I forget to do this sometimes. When I do remember to, it makes me feel great and it allows me to come back to whatever I was working on with a fresh pair of eyes (which is great if you’re any kind of writer or journalist, too). Try and take five minutes out of every day to do something for yourself like watch a video, chat with a friend or close your eyes for a nap.
- Come With a Fresh Mind
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You technically can wear three different hats at the same time but it’s almost impossible to do it efficiently. Don’t try and do everything for all of your different work groups at one time. I find that I work best when I focus on one section at a time: school at one time, work at another and organization at a third. Trying to do school work and organization at the same time is a lot harder than just focusing on one thing because it’s more stuff to remember and the lines get fuzzy or I blend them together. Take your time on one task and then head into another one with a fresh mind. If you need to come back to the first task, then come back to it with a new pair of lenses.
- Plan if You Can
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I’ve found that while doing things on the fly is great, it doesn’t always work out. I find that I stress myself out more by trying to do things randomly than if I schedule things out. When I do, it helps me know what’s coming and it allows me to be prepared when things come my way. Now there are some things that you just can’t plan for – it’s inevitable. But when you’re planned everything else out and you get a curveball, it’s a softer blow than it would be if it came straight at me with no preparation. I also like that when I plan things out, I find my moments of free time. That way it allows me to have motivation to get to that break so that I can reward myself.
These tips may not work for you and that’s perfectly okay. Try and find the things that work best for you and your work ethic. I find that these are the things that help me out a lot when I’m stressed out and have a lot on my plate. We’re all trying to reach the same goal of “doing it all”, whatever that looks like for us. It is possible and even if you go insane, you’ll grow your sanity back and get into the swing of things. So keep doing you and thriving.