Are you a student? Yes. Are you involved on campus? Yes. Are you interested in having a career after college? Yes. Do you want to make money? Yes. Can you balance all of this and enjoy your time in college? Maybe.
With the stress of school, projects, homework, exams, work, extra curriculars, etc., it is so easy to get sucked into the thought of “I need to spend some downtime relaxing.” Check out these tips to more successfully balance school, work and a social life.
Time Management
Managing your time is something you have probably heard about from numerous people: professors, parents, mentors, etc. This is a critical skill when you are trying to juggle all of life’s demands. Luckily, University of Portland has created two very helpful tools. The first is a weekly time budget sheet. This is helpful for visually mapping out your week. You can color time slots for class, working out, studying or extra curriculars. The second helpful tool is the semester planner. This is very useful for helping figure out when assignments or projects are due. They have even blocked off a week for Fall Break and Thanksgiving break! You can access both online or in the Shepherd Freshman Resource Center in Buckley Center.
Prioritize
It is extremely helpful to list out all of your engagements and figure out which ones need the most attention. This way, you can figure out if you have stretched yourself too thin. Make sure to prioritize yourself, too! Taking care of your fitness and health are crucial when you have a lot to get done.
Cut Things Out
It might be tough at first, but after you’ve mapped out your available time and figured out what needs to get done, you may realize that some things need to go. This is when I like to think about all the clichés of new opportunities: “out with the old, in with the new,” “when one door closes, another one (or at least a window) opens” etc. You may have to adjust your list of extra curriculars for now until you have a better handle on things, but this doesn’t mean you will have to sacrifice it forever! Who knows, maybe now after you have cut a few things out, you will be able to say “yes” to spontaneous adventures with friends!
Once you have gone through these few, simple steps, (hopefully) you will feel a bit more balanced. If you are still struggling, there are a lot of on-campus resources for you, like the Shepherd Freshman Resource Center, Orrico Hall, even your professors! Take a deep breath, do a little stretch, keep calm and pilot on! Things will balance out eventually; your active roll in managing your schedule will just speed the process along.