Have you ever sat down for a moment and said to yourself, “I need to get my life together,” and then realize you don’t actually know how? Yeah, me too.
It’s a fact that life is hard, but getting your life together is harder. For most college students, a normal day includes going to classes, work, meetings, hanging out with friends, doing homework and then somehow squeezing in time for a Netflix binge or two. When you are that busy, it’s easy for things to fall by the wayside and it becomes easy to lose track of goals. It took me awhile, but I eventually figured out a few key steps in getting my life together. Once you get it together, it’s easy to keep it together.
-
Get your things ready the night before. If you’re like me, you enjoy spending every possible minute in bed. So, mornings aren’t my favorite, but I’ve found that getting my things together the night before makes them a little bit easier. By taking a few extra minutes each night, I can spend more precious time in bed, and still get out the door on time. Being less rushed means being more put together.
-
Break your long-term goals down into short-term goals. When I set a goal for myself, I used to focus on the end result, as opposed to how I’m supposed to get there. Eventually I learned that this wasn’t going to get me anywhere near my goal, so I started to break it down into smaller, attainable steps. For instance, if you want to be healthier and lose weight, start by increasing your water intake every day or plan to go to the gym 3-4 times a week. Smaller steps will make you feel accomplished and get you to your end goal quicker.
-
Make a list of things that you did. To-do lists are a great way to stay organized, but when the list doesn’t end, it’s easy to feel unproductive. Instead, make a list of things you have gotten done. That way, you can see how productive you have been that day instead of only looking at what you have to do tomorrow. I found that writing down the tasks I had accomplished was much more satisfying than just crossing off a task!
-
Keep your spaces clean and organized. Whether it’s your desk, room, apartment, or car, keeping a space clean and useful will automatically reduce your stress. I’m one of those people who tries on 50 outfits before I finally settle on one and doesn’t immediately put them away–just ask my roommate! My room quickly turns into a cluster of clothing, and I have to dig through things to find the thing I was looking for. However, I’m finally learning the beauty of keeping my space clean and voila, my life is a lot less stressful.
-
Take care of yourself. Once you get your life together, I promise you will have time for some R&R. For me, it’s getting my nails done and going to the gym whenever I can. Even if you can’t seem to grasp every aspect of your life, the least you can do is give yourself a break or pamper yourself. Taking time for yourself will make you feel rejuvenated, so when it’s time to tackle some projects, you will be ready again. I won’t lie, getting your life together takes a little while, and it’s hard to maintain at times. But the only thing better than success itself is continued success–eventually, it will get easier. A lot of getting your life together comes from eliminating unnecessary stress.