As midterms are around the corner, the spring semester has been starting to get extremely stressful, and most of all busy.
As a student who is taking six courses this semester, completing an internship, working and enjoying maintaining a healthy lifestyle, I can understand how hard it is to learn how to balance all your responsibilities while also being successful in everything you do.
This semester I was able to develop exceptional planning skills that have led me to success.
To begin, the most important item you need to have in order to manage your time successfully while completing all your daily tasks is a planner. In my first two years of college, I never kept my work organized nor even opened the planner I would purchase at the beginning of the semester. However, this semester my workload has drastically increased and has become a lot more challenging, which makes a planner an absolute necessity.
Every Sunday, before the school week begins, I write down everything I need to complete for each day of the week and make sure to highlight each when it is completed. The concept of highlighting an assignment once it is complete happens to be very rewarding as well!
Even though I was not organized in the past, this year was when I came to the realization that organization is key. Make sure to keep your planner as organized as possible, and you can even be creative as well, by using all different colors for different courses.
The next way I am able to manage my time successfully during the week is by utilizing the calendar and reminder app on my phone to plug in when exams are.
As we are always on our phones, this is an extremely helpful tool that reminds you when important dates are and how to stay prepared.
In order to stay prepared for exams and assignments, you have to be disciplined to work on them little by little each day.
I know how far a due date may seem, but it is extremely important to start an assignment when you first initially are assigned to it. This allows you to have so much room to ask professors questions, and truly take your time in order to be successful.
As someone who loves to procrastinate, it can only last you so long. Once your workload gets heavier and more challenging, procrastination will catch up to you, and once the cycle starts it is extremely hard to break.
Make life easier on yourself, and even if it’s for as little as ten minutes, start your assignments as early as possible. Even if this means working on an assignment while sitting in the waiting room at an appointment, or in the passenger seat of the car, it’s very important to utilize some of the downtime you get as a way to be productive.
Lastly, the most important thing to focus on while managing your time wisely is making sure you have enough time to take care of your mental health. Taking care of your mental health is important in helping your mental mindset stay positive while completing all of your weekly tasks in an efficient manner.
Every day it is important to take some time to do something that makes you happy, even if it is for a short amount of time. From reading to drawing to exercising, we have to make time during the week to focus on ourselves.
Overall, plan accordingly.
Make sure to take some time over the weekend prior to going out to prepare yourself for the week. Take a couple of hours this upcoming Sunday, to write out your weekly schedule, grocery shop, get some work done and practice some self-care.
I know it is easier said than done, but I promise you will not regret it.
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