We belles are busy. We have rigorous classes, time-consuming jobs, bustling social lives, and numerous clubs and activities. At the half-way point of the semester, many of us struggle with feeling unmotivated or swamped with “busy-ness” (or both at the same time!) I thrive on a full schedule, but I know there are changes I could make to make to make better use of my time and end each day with a feeling of accomplishment, contentment, and peace.
Here are a few of my own ideas to manage time, rise above the “busy”, and truly take advantage of every second of the day! This life as a belle is too beautiful to waste time OR be swamped with busy-ness.
1) The phrase “I don’t have time” needs to go.
Why do I use this phrase so frequently when I know in fact, I have just as many hours in the day as every human being on the planet! Each day I have 24 precious hours. I am not lacking in time, I just have some prioritizing to do! Saying “I don’t have time” leaves us feeling destitute and unhappy. Let us be grateful for the time we do have! When we stop saying “I don’t have time” and instead use phrases such as “I have a prior commitment”, or “I have enough on my plate right now” we are telling other people (and most of all ourselves) that our time is valuable, not lacking! We each have 24 hours in a day…it’s just a matter of how we use it.
2) Make use of the “in-between” times.
If I have five minutes until my next meeting, why do I scroll through Instagram when I could easily be sending that email to a professor or create a couple sentences of a paper? By using little pockets of time throughout the day to get “stuff” done, we can end the day feeling more at-peace and feel content with intentionally scrolling through Instagram for however long we want.
3) Focus.
Wherever you are in a particular moment, be focused. When you are in class, pay attention! It can be so tempting to get some online shopping done instead of taking notes, but I know if I am totally focused in a class, I have less time I need to devote to studying later! When writing a paper, put your phone away. It takes a lot less time to write a paper when there is no temptation to reply to a Snapchat. Whenever you sit down to study or work, truly focus all your attention on the task at hand.
4) Prioritize people.
When we get so caught up in our own “busy-ness,” it is easy to ignore other people and forget about friendship! It can be so easy to wear our busy-ness as a badge of honor and brag to others about how busy we are. When we focus on prioritizing people, we step aside from our schedules and focus on somebody else. When a friend needs to talk about something going on, be there for her. If there is a person beside you, always cherish the moment with them: don’t just think about your busy schedule.
5) Take advantage of once-in-a-while opportunities.
If you hear about a cool lecture going on that you really want to go to, go to it! You can work on homework after. When an interesting event or something you know will be beneficial for you comes up, try your best to cancel other plans and go! Your homework can wait and you can catch the minutes from your club meeting later.
6) FOMO is a NO-GO.
The fear of missing out can be a good thing to push us outside of our comfort zones, but more often than not, it results in us doing something we don’t want to do just because we feel like we “should” or because “everybody else is doing it”. If you don’t want to go to that party, don’t go! There’s not point in going somewhere you really don’t want to go and end up not having fun.
7) Be happy!
Don’t get stressed belles, everything will work out just fine! Prioritize your sanity and don’t let stress get the better of you. Make sure you are happy with how you spend your time. After all, this is the only time we get to be college students. So stay motivated, be productive, but above all… be happy!