Lets face it, college is hard. Especially that transition from being a senior in high school to a freshman in college; there are so many new experiences and a lot to be learned. But then after that, you might move off campus. “Well shit” you think to yourself, “I’ve got to go and buy my own groceries now, and I’ll have a larger space that I have to be in charge of.” I promise you, no one else is going to come clean your bathroom after you’ve moved out of the dorms. But I’ve been at this for a couple of years now, and I’ve found some things that have really helped me stay in a routine.
A lot of this is really about knowing yourself. If you know you’re someone who can do things on the fly and be cool with it, more power to you! I’m not like that at all. When I don’t plan things, I just sit there and think about how overwhelmed I am because I’m wasting time by not being efficient. And I trust that you all know how important time is in school. So here are my tips and tricks, things that have made my life a little easier to handle.
Plan your meals, and actually cook them.
Alright, now don’t get mad at me for this one. Yes, I’m telling you to meal prep. Now, if you think this means throw some chicken in a pan and steam some broccoli, you’ve got it all wrong. Every Sunday night, I go through what I have in my fridge and pantry and think about things that I might want to eat that week. Then, I go into my handy dandy little Walmart app and add all of the new stuff I don’t already have. Thinking about the amount of time this saves me from having to go into the store and actually grocery shop is a lifesaver. And it’s free! It also helps keep me from impulse buying food, which in turn helps me stay in budget. It also cuts down on food waste. There really is no bad thing that comes from planning your meals.
Clean your space
When was the last time you just dusted your fan? If you had to look up at it and check to see if there’s dust, it’s been too long. You would be surprised at how much better you feel after cleaning your room, bathroom and living room. I’m not saying clean everyday, or deep clean once a week (although if you have time for this, more power to you). I just make it a habit to clean up over the weekend. Things like changing my sheets, wiping down all of my counters, dusting, and vacuuming. It only takes me about half an hour. And then when I do my deep clean once a month, it takes significantly less time because I’ve kept up with it.
Plan your workouts
I think that we can all agree that exercise is important for our physical and mental health. If I don’t plan when I’m going to workout during the week, I absolutely fail. It will be 11 p.m. and I’m wrapping up homework thinking “Wow I didn’t make it to the gym today.” But when you plan them, it makes it easier. And it’s ok to prioritize things that you KNOW will make you feel better. I know that I’m incredibly more anxious when I don’t work out, so planning it is really important to me.
Wash your clothes
Ever gotten to the point where you’re wearing an old band tee and a skirt because that’s about the only clean clothes you have left? Yea same, but not anymore! I wash my clothes on the same day every week (we have laundry days at my apartment; I HIGHLY recommend). So that way I know going into the week when I need to make time to wash clothes, but it also means that I never run out of clean stuff to wear.
So if you’ve read all of this and you’re like “holy hell this sounds like a lot of planning,” I’m not going to lie to you… it is. And maybe that’s the point; planning things can make your life easier. So whether or not you have a list of things to do every day, or you’re more of a go with the flow kind of person, maybe just try implementing one of these things. It doesn’t have to be some huge life shift. These might not work for you, but they work for me! Most importantly, if you don’t get it all done, it’s going to be ok. Some weeks I don’t order my groceries in time, and I have to pick them up in-store. Or sometimes I sleep in and miss my morning workout, which means I won’t have time to do it later that day. And that’s OK; I promise you’ll get it all done.