When you signed up for 16 hours of class, three clubs and two part-time jobs, you thought you could handle it. Maybe you’d have to sacrifice a little sleep or social time now and then, but it was doable. Five weeks into the semester, you realize it only seemed like a good idea at the time—and you’ve actually piled on more than you can handle. If this sounds familiar, here are 23 signs you’ve completely overloaded your schedule.
1. You live on coffee
And people can tell when you haven’t had any.
2. You leave your house at 8 a.m. and don’t get back until 8 p.m.
Your apartment has turned into a place where you sleep and…yeah, that’s pretty much it.
3. You barely have a social life (if you have time for one at all)
4. Or you have to sacrifice sleep in order to have a social life
Sleep is for the weak.
5. You get competitive when someone else says they’re busy because you know your schedule is probably worse
You have yet to meet someone who truly understands your level of self-induced stress.
6. You feel overwhelmed pretty much all the time
You take things day-by-day because you know you’ll lose the ability to function if you think about things in the long run.
7. You have to carry around outfit changes because you never have time to go home and change
Between work, meetings, class and maybe even the gym, you end up changing your outfit in your car or in a bathroom at least once a day.
8. You’re already counting down the days until Thanksgiving and Christmas break
Yes, you know it’s bad to wish your life away. Yes, you’re stressed enough that you’re going to do it anyway.
9. You have to say no to things you really want to do because you don’t have time
Your schedule is already so crazy that when someone invites you to do something that takes more than a couple hours, you usually have to say no because of some other commitment.
10. Or you have a problem saying no to people and your schedule reflects that
Maybe it’s volunteer activities that are eating your schedule up because you don’t know how to say no once in a while. (Tip: It’s okay to say no sometimes.)
11. You plan your day out by the hour
Or by the half hour or by every 15 minutes…
12. To the point where your life is literally just a really long to-do list
IT NEVER ENDS.
13. You live in the library
Because chances are, your roommates are too distracting to get anything done at home.
14. Sometimes you just forget to eat
Which just goes to show how bad your schedule is because you normally LOVE food.
15. You’re a pro at multitasking purely out of necessity
There’s no way you’d be able to do all of this without doubling or tripling up.
16. If you ever lost your planner, you’d actually curl up in a ball and cry until you found it
Without your planner, you would never be able to get everything done in time. If it’s not in your calendar, it doesn’t get done.
17. Hearing that something on your schedule was canceled is better than pretty much anything else
You have a whole two hours you hadn’t counted on. Should you do more work or actually (wait for it) relax?
18. You’ve woken up in a panic in the middle of the night thinking you forgot to do something
19. You spend your weekends catching up on work instead of having fun or relaxing
And you feel perpetually exhausted as a result.
20. And you’ve lost your ability to sleep in
You used to be able to sleep in until noon. Now your body automatically wakes you up at 7 a.m. whether you like it or not. (Spoiler alert: You don’t like it.)
21. The only things you have time to eat are microwaveable or to-go
Frozen meals and takeout are your lifelines.
22. You no longer know what free time is or what to do with it
What is this “free time” people keep talking about? How are you supposed to just lay there and watch Netflix without thinking about all of your responsibilities?
23. And when you actually go out, you go way overboard and party a little too hard
Time to get a month’s worth of stress out of your system.
Maybe next semester you’ll be a little easier on yourself—but probably not.