It’s 3 o’clock in the morning. You’re running on the fumes of your now ice cold Starbucks mocha cappuccino and the hour nap you took before your alarm blared. You have a 9 o’clock class and a six page paper that you have only a paragraph on. You also have a three page paper for your 10 o’clock and the notes you need to complete it are probably at the bottom of your classmate’s Jansport backpack. After class, you have a slew of meetings for your many on-campus involvements, and several assignments to complete for your newly acquired internship. And somehow, in the whirlwind of it all, you are trying not to lose your mind. Right? Right. As college students, we all have become well acquainted with the hardships of adulthood and college life in general. We are familiar with the caf and the bookstore, and know the best routes to get to class. What we perhaps were not well versed in was the stress that can sometimes come along with our academic obligations and our extracurricular involvements. No one ever shared with us how much of a balancing act being a successful, well rounded collegiette would be. Well look no further, sister. Here are 4 tried and true methods this writer uses to stay on top of classwork, internships, organization involvement, and your sanity.
1. Prioritize, Prioritize, Prioritize
Nothing will complicate life more than having a bunch of unnecessary clutter distracting you from your goals. When balancing schoolwork and extracurricular activities, it is important to have a firm understanding of what exactly you are working towards. Sit down and compare all your responsibilities and obligations to see which ones you are really willing to commit yourself wholly to, and which ones are just vacuums of your time. If you can honestly say to yourself that one thing is not as important as another, then maybe that thing is not worth your doing at all. Establishing priorities is like creating boundaries for yourself, to spare you the headache of things that are not worth your time. The objective is not to juggle as many things as you possibly can, but is rather to do as many things as you can effectively and efficiently, having them be representations of yourself and your brand.
2. Write It Down
You’re at a restaurant. The waitress serving you never once pulls out her notepad to write down a word you’re saying, and yet she assures you she got and understood your order. You wonder if she truly would remember everything you said, but you dismiss the thought. You’re food arrives and the order is completely and totally right.
Now, whether this waitress is you, or you are the complete opposite, writing down your assignments when you get them is a great way to manage your schoolwork and extracurricular activities. Oftentimes we say to ourselves that we will remember everything, and that the information will be securely sealed in the iron vaults of our minds. The reality, though, is that we are human, and we do forget. While there is no fault in forgetting, writing everything down in the same place such a planner, agenda, your phone’s calendar, or post-it notes allows you to see all you have to do, and takes away some of the guesswork behind the stress of a full load.
3. Recharge Time
Stress is an inevitable side effect of trying to balance schoolwork and extracurricular activities. And in the midst of things, the importance of self-care is oftentimes put on the backburner for the sake of our busy lives. A key component in balancing school and extracurricular activities is taking the time to care for yourself, also known as recharge time. Find something that delights or relaxes you and takes you to your happy place. Do that thing in your downtime. It could be drawing, feeding pigeons in the park, rollerblading, or playing bingo with overly competitive senior citizens. Whatever it is that brings you joy and relieves the stress of your workload, by all means, do it!
4. Time Management
Perhaps the most important tip of all is time management. In this sense it is literally scheduling every detail of your day. Though it may sound daunting, and some of you may be asking, “But how am I to know exactly what I will be doing every hour of every day,” you will soon be singing a different tune. Scheduling is not something for celebrities and overzealous kids with PDA’s (remember those?). Organization and scheduling is vital when it comes to balancing schoolwork and life outside of it. Time management is simply organizing your time in the most effective way possible. By having a precise idea as possible of what exactly you will be doing from the time your feet hit the ground in the morning to the time you curl into bed at night, you are able to allot the necessary time to complete all you need to accomplish. Putting everything into its place in your day is very important when trying to get the most of your college experience.
In no way is college life easy. There will be days when you want to just close your laptop and sleep until your obligations go away. Because every day cannot be that day, it helps to incorporate tips into your daily routine that help with the task of balancing your schoolwork and extracurricular activities.