Photo by Icons8 team on Unsplash
I’ve always been bad at making time for my friends during midterms and finals week, being late to my early morning classes and doing my assignments last minute. Honestly, it’s because it worked for me. I got decent grades on my average assignment, made up for it with my friends by hanging out ‘til 5am on a Thursday and always had a good excuse for my teachers. At the end of the day though… I was just exhausted.
I always rushed to wherever I needed to be because I convinced myself those 15 minutes of extra sleep, or finishing my show and doing my makeup before going out are worth it and necessary to have a good day. I realized recently that my day gets a whole lot easier when I give myself an extra half hour to drink some coffee and take my time getting where I need to be. There’s nothing worse than being stuck in traffic when you’re already running late or having to park really far away and spend a few bucks on a lime scooter and struggle to make it on time. Again, it works but I’m so tired and flustered by the time I get there.
I used to cancel plans last minute to get a few hours extra sleep, even though I stayed up the night before not doing anything important: watching TV, hanging out, procrastinating my homework, etc. What works for me is having a planner, and even if I don’t look at it for a few days it still helps me write down what needs to get done or have a reference to what time and where I need to be. As I’ve come closer to graduation, I’ve learned to set priorities.
Don’t get me wrong I still procrastinate and write essays the day before or morning of. But now I give myself four or six hours to write and plenty of sleep to turn in quality work. I switched my job to one that’s more understanding of last-minute school commitments, and I give myself Saturdays off for being lazy and hanging out with friends. Aside from feeling better and being less stressed out, learning how to manage my time has given me the opportunity to get a puppy while in college. I’ve always wanted one and it feels good being able to do something for myself without having to sacrifice time or effort from other things.