For all of us on the quarter system, finals week is quickly approaching – a little too quickly for my liking. Even the people on the semester system don’t have a break, you guys are all in the thick of midterm season. Either way, school is overwhelming. The 24 hours we have in a day feel like not nearly enough for school work, outside commitments, and your personal life. At least for me, a lot of the times it feels like I can’t even get adequate work done in any of those areas of life. This year, I decided I was going to spend the entire quarter figuring out what it takes to get everything done and still take care of myself.
As a political science major, I spend a lot of my time writing essays, and this will be especially true in these last couple weeks leading up to finals. I am happy to say that after almost 20 years of life I have finally discovered the art of planning. The secret trick is to give yourself one day for every 500 words you have to write, so if you have a 5000 word final essay, give yourself 10 days for the writing process. This method is especially great if you are susceptible to writer’s block and perfectionism. Knowing that you only have to get 500 words down on paper when you’re having a terrible writing day is much better than knowing you have to finish the entire thing in 3 days because you spent the last week deleting everything you wrote before it could develop.
Having a job and extra curriculars while trying to juggle your academics can feel like a very precarious balancing act, but it can also be a huge benefit. Actively thinking about my outside commitments as escapes from my schoolwork has really helped me not neglect the commitments I made in the beginning of the school year. Instead of stressing out about the three and a half hours of study time I lose because I’m going to work, I think about how great it is to spend those three and a half hours outside in the sun after studying in my apartment all day. Instead of worrying about trying to write an article for Her Campus when I have an essay that needs to be worked on, I think of how writing an article gets my creative juices flowing, and will make it that much easier to write my essay.
Finally, sleeping is one of the best and easiest ways to take care of yourself. I know we have all heard it before, but we all need to hear it again: pulling all nighters or staying up until 3 am studying everyday is not effective, beneficial, or healthy. You know yourself and what you’re capable of, but there is also just a limit on how much you can put yourself through and how little rest you can go without facing the consequences. Make a bedtime for yourself and stick with it. Knowing that you need to sleep at a non negotiable time will motivate you to work efficiently throughout the day since you have to finish your work before you go to sleep. I know its hard, but I promise you it’s worth it in the end!