You have school; work, a boyfriend or girlfriend, friends with birthdays coming up, homework, essays and midterms right up the alley. It seems impossible for anyone to juggle the non-stop responsibilities that come along with school and regular life. Whether you’re trying to get better at managing your time, or attempting to get your life together, here are a few tips to getting closer to those goals:
1. Write out every single thing you do during the week.
That’s right, obligations, classes, jobs, lunch, dinner, gym time… whatever it may be, get it all down on paper. This is a great way to get some perspective on how much time you are spending on certain activities, and differentiating priorities from less important things. Once you’re done writing it all down, then you can begin to pick and organize time frames for each activity. Use an app like ClickUp or the notes section of your phone to get it all down if you’re more into keeping it on your phone.
2. Designate days for certain responsibilities.
If you can’t make the gym 5 days a week, in your schedule, break down a reasonable amount of time-something like Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Obviously with work and classes, you already have those chosen for you, however all of the responsibilities you have more control over, make sure to choose appropriate timings for them. Take an hour to go over a real calendar, or to set up the alarms on your phone so you wont forget and have the excuse to not get these things done. Alarms help immensely!
3. Last but not least, take one day out of the week, perhaps half an hour, to always prepare your week ahead.
We know sometimes things can pop out of nowhere, but having your week prepared is immensely helpful in managing your time and knowing exactly when you’re free and when you’re not.
A last tip… keep a calendar! Whether it’s a tiny calendar book in your pocket, or your Google Calendar on your phone, get into the habit of jotting down ALL of your most important activities. This may be tedious in the beginning but trust us, after two weeks of persistent calendar booking, you’ll be a master at managing your time like a pro!
