Alright, for many of us, school has started again and we’re all trying to figure out how to balance classes, homework, jobs, projects, get-together, sleep, and more. That statement alone stresses ME out!
For many of us, we feel it all at once—the pressure to get all of these things accomplished on time. Furthermore, we fear that if we fail, the consequences will be harsh.
This post isn’t about escapism or meditation. It’s not about self-care or methods to “relax” under stress. That can be for a later post. (If you’re looking for a good destress and meditate post, check out my How I Meditate post!) No, this blog post is about ways to power through a hefty schedule. I want to share with you some tips and tricks I’ve used to make my work seem less daunting and how to actually get your ish together and get stuff done!
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Write. It. Down.
This one is the MOST important tip in this whole post. Write. It. Down. I know that you’ll remember you work tomorrow at 2pm to 9pm. I know you won’t forget the big test on Saturday. And I know you’ve memorized when your classes are by now. BUT! You need to write it down regardless.
All too often, I talk to people who are stressed out beyond measure over their busy schedules. The first thing I always ask and or tell them to do is “write it down.”
Writing down your schedule to a T helps to conceptualize all of the due dates and free time in your schedule. When you write down your “to-do’s” on calendar days, it helps you to realize how spaced out due dates actually are and how you can plan ahead for each project.
I ask people to include EVERYTHING. And I mean that in the plainest way possible. Include your class schedule, your work schedule, when every project or assignment is due. Include when you eat, when you sleep, when you see friends. EVERYTHING.
If you need an example, here’s mine below:
As you can see, I have listed out everything that I need to do for my first week of classes. (You’ll notice that for this overview, I didn’t list any friend get-together’s as none were planned, nor did I include meals as they are planned by day for me and not by week). I don’t have any homework yet, so this is a pretty manageable schedule. However, I made sure to draw out each and every event I could think of that I will have to worry about.
I also color-code my events to help me see how often things repeat in the week. This organization method works well for me. I insist that you try a couple different planning styles until you find the one that works best for you. But no matter what, WRITE. IT. DOWN!
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Go hour by hour on really crunched days and include downtime as well
Sometimes my schedule is too hectic to leave as is (as above). So, I have to organize it even further. This means I have to go hour by hour and list what I am doing and when I am free.
Typically during this part of my organization, I write out meals, naps, friend get-togethers, homework, chores, you name it. I write down every little detail of the day to ensure that I get it all done. Now, for me, I like to do this in the morning before my day really gets started. I have done it a day or so prior but I just find that it works best for me the day of.
This is what it looks like when I plan a day in detail:
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wake up at 7am
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Shower, eat breakfast, get ready
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Leave my 7:50am
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Commute to class
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Class starts at 9am
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1st class ends at 11:50am
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Lunch
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2nd class begins at 12:30pm
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Class ends at 3:20pm
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Commute to car
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Commute to work
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Work 4-9:30pm (eat on break)
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Commute home
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Bed by 11pm
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Make a list of what’s most important to what’s least important
This is my favorite thing to do when it comes to list making. Prioritizing! I love to prioritize my schedule. This way, I don’t stress over everything all at once. By prioritizing my tasks, I prioritize my time. I figure out what projects are most beneficial for me and which are okay to bail on if need be.
I like to write out my lists as “most challenging” to “least challenging” first before weighing the cost and benefits to figure out which items hold more necessity than others.
This is a good way to weed out less necessary tasks as well as to sort yourself together. By prioritizing and creating a list of your most important “to do’s” you help yourself recognize which tasks are going to benefit you the most in the long run.
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Accept that you probably won’t go according to plan
Notice that I said “You” won’t go according to plan. Often, we blame “things” for not going according to plan. I would like to argue that often times, it is on us when our plans crumble. Planning and scheduling is all about discipline. You must be willing to discipline yourself and hold yourself accountable in order to keep your plans and schedule on track.
This is a hard one for me. I miss a lot of tasks and regret not encouraging myself to do my chores. For example, the other day I missed a job interview because I allowed myself to sleep in and took my time to get ready before going out for the day. Even now as I type this, I know that there are quite a bit of tasks that I let slip by simply because I didn’t feel like doing them this morning.
MOTIVATE YOURSELF.
Beyond that, forgive yourself. You might not stick to the routine or plan right away. It takes time and understanding. Know that it is okay to mess up or diverge from the path sometimes.
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Remember that it’s okay to cancel on something or ask for a rain check
This is a BIG one for me. I am not one to ask for help or for charity. I do, however, cancel on plans A LOT. And that hurts me. It hurts others.
One thing I preach to others and to myself as well is that “it’s okay to cancel or ask for help.” Sometimes our schedules get too crammed and it’s hard to make every event or meet every deadline. In this case, it’s okay to cancel or ask for a raincheck. It’s okay to ask for help to achieve your tasks.
Remember to do this in moderation. Too many rain checks and cancellations will look unprofessional and irresponsible. So be mindful of this as you continue to figure out what’s important for your growth and what isn’t.
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Remember to go day by day or week by week. Focusing on more than you need will slow you down
I’m not going to lie. I often write out my schedules months at a time. This works for me (typically). On busier weeks or days, I will write out a separate and special list just for that time frame.
For example: the other day, my Wednesday was jam packed. I wrote down my schedule as follows:
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wake up at 7am
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Shower, eat breakfast, get ready
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Leave my 7:50am
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Commute to class
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Class starts at 9am
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1st class ends at 11:50am
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Lunch
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2nd class begins at 12:30pm
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Class ends at 3:20pm
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Commute to car
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Commute to work
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Work 4-9:30pm (eat on break)
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Commute home
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Bed by 11pm
That was my day! And that is how I organized myself. I made a list based on where I had to be at what time and worked from there.
Not all lists are like this, on Thursday my list looked more like:
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groceries +gas
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Marketing homework
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CRWR homework
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FSE homework
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Read
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Dishes
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Laundry
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Clean (sweep, mop)
And of course there were sub categories. I made a list for groceries, a list of each assignment for each class, how I intended to clean, etc.
Either way, these are examples of me focusing on one day at a time. I try my best not to overwhelm myself with the entire weeks’ tasks. It happens, and there are certainly moments where I have to focus on the week as a whole, or the month as a whole, or even the year.
I recommend however, taking it slow. Take you time. Focus on one thing at a time. It’ll make life a lot smoother.
I hope this post helped you in one way or another. Organizing your life can be a messy subject and each person has a different method to planning and organizing.
If you like this post, check out some similar posts of mine below:
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