Imagine waking up in yesterdayâs clothes and makeup, your laptop open next to you on the bed with barely enough battery left to get you through your first lecture of the day. You were up late last night trying to finish the assignment that was due. Itâs fine, whatâs a 5% deduction from your grade for late submission if you hand in perfect work? You swear today will be different and youâll get back into your regular routines: catch up on school work, go to the gym, do your skin care, get proper sleep. But do you? Of course not.
That was me last year. Pretty much every day. It wasnât easy adjusting to my first year of university, but I made it through and learned a lot about myself along the way. I took advantage of the summer to get back into my regular routines without the pressure of school and made a plan to stay organized once the semester started. I want to share with you my tips on being the best version of myself as a full time student and part time employee so you can join the process.
The first thing to have down is your basic morning and night routines. For me, this includes doing my skincare, getting dressed in clothes or pajamas, and eating a proper meal. Once it all becomes habitual, itâs time to start thinking about incorporating school.
By the end of the summer, all of our syllabi are (hopefully) available to us, and those documents are our best friends. I essentially use these tools to plan out the next four months of my life. I use my notes app to create to-do lists for all of my classes, including all the readings, quizzes, assignments, and exams with their due dates among them. I use Google Calendar to plot when all of my classes will be, and in doing this I also submit any availability restrictions to my part-time job. Finally, as a PMC student I check what accommodations I want to request for each course and I contact my professors to make sure everything works with them. When it comes to digital organization, I use a variety of applications to organize myself, including Goodnotes, Google apps, IOS notes and reminders apps. Iâve also heard many good things about AI software such as Notion that do all of the above on one platform.
You should have a week or so between organizing your syllabi and the start of your classes to get in the proper headspace. This is when I seek motivation. I like to watch YouTube videos of those cute, preppy girls who do back to school hauls, âWhatâs in my Backpackâ videos, and study vlogs to really romanticize going back to school. I also scroll through Pinterest and put together a vision-board to have as my iPadâs wallpaper so I have a boost of motivation every time I turn it on.
Once classes do officially start, itâs super important to plan how your day-to-day week is going to look. I first like to consider which events I value most. For many people, including myself, this would be classes to attend, shifts to work, and windows in the day to dedicate to studying. After these are noted, itâs time to think of what secondary activities I could fit in any areas of free time. I would personally add gym sessions (check out this article to get started at the gym: https://www.hercampus.com/school/carleton/owning-the-gym-as-a-beginner/), extracurriculars, and chores to this list. I usually like to make a rough layout of this in my planner, especially if there’s a lot I would like to get done in a day.
Although our goal this semester is to be our most productive selves, it is quite literally impossible to achieve this unless we give ourselves time to unwind. Take advantage of the weekends to have fun with your friends, go to as many social events your clubs offer as possible, and of course, save the last few hours before you go to bed every night to do stuff for you. I aim to shut all my school work down by 9:00 pm (although, Iâll admit, it is not 100% effective). I shower, pick my clothes out for the next, and with whatever time I have left before going to sleep, I watch TV, check my phone, and read some of my book. Ensuring that you leave yourself this sort of âyou-timeâ is super important for your brain to relax and reset for another productive day. Without doing this, you increase your risk of burning out.
The last thing I want to touch on is mentality. As a full-time university student, feeling overwhelmed is almost inevitable. This is where knowing how to manage your stress comes in handy.
If you feel like youâre stuck in a rough headspace, journaling is a life-saver. Donât worry about being poetic, youâre not being graded on what you write. This is all about letting feelings out. Some of my journal entries look like a rant I want to tell someone, but donât know who to tell. Others are just plain words that I feel I need to let out. It is quite relieving to get those thoughts out, and after about half an hour or so Iâm usually able to go back and write positive or inspiring versions of everything I wrote.
Journal entries also donât have to be about letting out negative emotions. Jotting down three things you’re thankful for, three things youâre looking forward to, and three goals you have is key to starting every day right. The Five Minute Journal on Amazon has a similar format to this if youâre interested in checking it out.
The most important thing to remember for this and all future semesters is to be forgiving. Itâs okay to get a bad grade here and there. Turning in an assignment late happens sometimes. There are countless resources available on campus to help you succeed.
Hereâs a bonus tip for those with ADHD or who have trouble concentrating: listen to brown noise. Happy studying!