Bad communicator? Are you trying to balance everything and a bag of chips? Working and going to school? I totally understand. Life can be well…life. It gets busy, stressful, and sometimes just flat out miserable. We let our friends, family, and significant others (SO) fall through the cracks and I’m sure that many times we’ve been on the receiving end of nasty messages full of pettiness from them at one point or another. Sometimes it’s, “hey stranger”, “you never make time for me anymore”or, “too busy to hang out again huh?” I don’t know about you but those messages can be super annoying, especially because many times they don’t understand and they take it personal. Here are a few tips on how to balance your chaotic life and also yourself.
Family:
Set aside at least one day a week, one you know you are not very busy, maybe a sunday night and use that time to call home and talk to your family. If this day is set aside and you work it into your routine then you won’t have to stress about finding time throughout the rest of the week to get it done. You can call or facetime home and talk to everyone letting them know you are okay and checking in on them as well. When you start doing this it makes your family feel special because they have a special time designated just for them in your busy life.
Friends:
When life gets hectic, many times the social life is the first to go, taking friends along with it. Adulting is hard and important but so is your social life. It’s okay to go out with friends on a saturday night. School work will still be there when you get back, I promise you that. When going out with friends it is a stress reliever and much needed. Keep in mind that your friends need you too, that’s something major we tend to forget when we get busy. When you set time aside, even if that time is just spent catching up on ya’lls favorite episode, or studying (two birds-one stone), it can mean a lot to a friend. Remember, as humans we tend to hide what’s going on instead of leaning on the support of our friends and others. Don’t let the chaos of your life interfere with your friendships.
Significant others
Now this one can be a tough one. In college especially. Usually your SO wants to see or talk to you everyday. Now in a very busy life it’s hard to make them happy and get all your work done. The very first thing you two need to do is establish where you two stand with each other. Don’t leave them in confusion, especially if you know you’re a busy bee. The second is to let them know you are busy. Many times people don’t communicate what they are doing or what they are involved in to their SO. This can be problematic because they don’t know why you are being “short”, or “dry” in a text messages or over the phone. When you let them know what’s going on, it communicates to them that you are opening up to them, they are automatically a part of your day because you are making time to tell them about it. This approach could also encourage them to get involved themselves. If this approach doesn’t appeal to you then simply set aside a time in the day and shoot them a “pick-me-up” message. This message d be simply like “hope your day is going well”, or “you were on my mind”, or even if something good or bad happened in your day, tell them about it. Significant others we generally pick out of every other fish in the sea, remind them, you picked them for a reason.
Yourself
I cannot stress this enough! TREAT YO’SELF! There is only one life and it can be short. Make sure you are taking care of yourself.
- Drink plenty of water
- Eat (healthy)
- Got to bed early
- Find time for your hobby
- Exercise
- Socialize
- Have your own personal quiet time everyday, even if it’s just for 10 minutes.
- Finally, this may seem like it’s not a big deal, but keep your house/room clean. You would be surprised at the difference it makes in your life. There is no other feeling like coming home to a clean home/room.
Life is chaotic, I know, but it is also short. Enjoy it and do the things you love, with the people you love. Pull out that bucket list every now and then, read that book you’ve been meaning to get to, go on a walk. Make your college experience count, in all aspects.
“Communication, the human connection, is the key to personal and career success.” – Paul J Meyer
-E