Flash back to a few months ago while registering for classes for the upcoming fall semester, I clearly remember telling myself “a lot of your friends are going abroad next semester, so take a heavy course load in the fall while they’re gone and a lighter course load in the spring when they get back”. A great idea in theory me from six months ago, but fast forward to present day me constantly overwhelmed because I have severely overcommitted myself.
Working up to 20 hours a week, being an active member of two on campus organizations, completing 30 hours of service, and taking 18 units is just the synopsis of everything on my plate this semester. Now, I am by no means complaining, I did this to myself and am very lucky to be getting my education at LMU. But this semester has taught me a lot of valuable lessons about time management, self care, and prioritization. Lets face it, we all overcommit ourselves at some point in our lives and chances are it will happen again. Finding tools to help yourself manage everything is essential to surviving when you’ve overcommitted yourself.
Time Management
That 25th hour of the day does not exist, sometimes you just have to accept the fact that there are not enough hours in the day for you to get everything done. Here are a few tips and tricks I’ve learned while trying to manage my time.
1) Get a planner…and use it
Staying organized will be your saving grace while trying to navigate everything you have to get done. Keeping an updated planner will help you stay up to date on everything you have to do each week as well as helping you to look at upcoming weeks. I use the Nomatic Planner as it is much smaller than most daily planners, but still gives you enough room to plan out your days, weeks, and months.
Nomatic Planner – $29.99
2) Check lists are your best friends
Planners are great for a general outline of meeting times, due dates, events, etc. but halfway through the semester I realized I needed something more detailed that could keep track of everything thing I had to accomplish. I thought creating a daily and or weekly checklist would be the best way to do this. Also, knowing myself, I knew that if I got a cute checklist I would be more likely to use it because of the way it looked—haha, I know its weird but it’s true and affective! A lot of people, like myself, find it satisfying to check things off a list after completing them which is even more of a reason to use a checklist.
Rifle Paper Co. – $8 This is the notepad I use, but if you search “checklists” on Amazon you will find a lot of cute stationery options to choose from!
3) Create a homework schedule and stick to it
I am not one of those people who can do 30 minutes of homework here and 30 minutes of homework there, I need to sit down for a few hours and get it all done at once. Is this the best strategy? Probably not, because it can seem very daunting but I know that once I start and get into the flow of things it’s really not that bad. I think it is important to reward yourself after completing an assignment and/or everything. Work hard play hard, right?!
Self Care
It is so easy to neglect yourself when you are so busy moving from one thing to the next. However, it is nearly impossible to juggle everything when you aren’t taking care of yourself.
1) Exercise
A quick and easy way to reduce stress is to have a consistent exercise routine, even if it is just running on the treadmill for 15 minutes exercise releases stress relieving endorphins.
2) Yoga and breathing practices
Not only does yoga is great for relieving tight muscles from sitting too much it is also a great way to practice mindfulness. Yoga is an opportunity for you to go within yourself and find your center before having to tackle the tasks of the day. For me, I prefer to do my yoga practice in the morning to set my intention for the day. Breathing practices are great throughout the day especially if you get anxious about all the things you have to do.
3) Make time for your friends
As difficult as it can be to maintain a social life when you have a million other things to do it is important for your sanity to be around those you love. My friends and I love to cook, so we tend to have dinner together at least once a week. While we are eating we put our phones down and have real conversations about our days, news, and interesting questions. Most importantly we laugh together, laughter is such a powerful release. We all have those weeks were it seems nearly impossible to escape from our studies or other obligations, instead of trying to separate your friends and your academics bring them together! I really like studying with my friends because we can keep each other accountable and they tend to keep things interesting so I am not just stuck in the silence of my apartment!
Prioritizing
There is a general rule that a four-unit class requires, roughly, eight hours of outside work per week. This semester I am in four four-unit classes and one two unit, which requires four hours of outside work a week. In theory that would mean I should spend 36 hours a week on assignments and studying alone! That doesn’t take into consideration my job, activites, sleeping, eating or time to socialize. It is unrealistic to try and devote so much time to one thing when you’ve overcommitted yourself, so you must prioritize.
1) Readings
Professors love to assign readings, whether that be from a textbook, scholarly journal, or popular media. It is impossible to complete every reading and fully understand the content. My suggestion would be to fully read the texts you are going to be tested on, read the first and last third of research articles, and skim through journal articles to look for bolded titles to give insight into the article. Having at least some knowledge is better than none!
2) Sleeping and eating
You cannot properly function without an appropriate number of hours of sleep and filling your body with enough food. What you eat is also important, balance is key. If you are eating junk food you are going to feel like you’ve only been eating junk food. Balanced meals will help you to feel energized and ready to tackle everything you have to do. Trying to get at least 7 hours of sleep a night will also help your body to be more efficient during the day. Another way to help this is to have a consistent sleep schedule, even on the weekends. This allows your body to get use to a certain schedule which will make your mornings more productive when you wake up because you won’t feel like your getting too much or too little sleep.