I don’t know about you but starting school in person this semester was a lot harder than usual. Whether you’re a commuter student or you live on campus, things feel different.
The transition from being completely remote to being completely in person, or partially in person has definitely not been easy.
During quarantine, we were used to not worrying about what we were going to wear to class, because “class” for us was our bedroom, a small desk area we created during quarantine, or even our dining room table. Between hormones on the daily and waking up with the worry of how knotty your hair is and what you are going to wear, the stress is on an even higher level for women. We didn’t have to worry about leaving home and driving to campus in hopes that we would have to find a parking spot before it got filled up and yet all the worries that we were all so used to not having, have suddenly raised once again. So how can we set ourselves up the best way possible for this first semester back in person? Prepare! I cannot emphasize how much preparing the night before school has helped me in my morning routines.
Packing the necessities
Start by packing your bag with everything you would usually grab in the morning such as your chargers, your devices, and most importantly, extra masks! Having extra masks in your bag is always a necessity and comes in handy when you either forget to bring one in the morning or lose it as you’re on your way to class.
Don’t rush the morning of, do it the night before.
Next, pick out your outfits the night before! I have made this a part of my routine since I was in middle school and thought dressing like Hannah Montana was imperative to succeeding in life. It will make your life so much easier when you already have everything laid out for you when you wake up, as if you had your own personal designer.
Use an agenda. I promise it will change your life.
Another extremely useful routine that I have gotten myself in the rhythm of is having multiple calendars. Yes, you heard that correctly, multiple. The reason being, when you have a calendar on your phone, you swipe it away and continue paying attention to the Tik Tok you were watching on your phone. When you have an agenda, you forget you have it, and it stays in your school bag until you finally realize it’s there. Personally speaking, having an agenda with space to fill up events, notices, and due dates, in addition to a place where you can coordinate your social life and still be organized is such a lifesaver.
Didn’t you hear? Calendars are a girl’s best friend!
I have also found that having a white board calendar is a great way to stay on track when not in school. Most of us leave school and hope to never have to think about it until we are in school again. But the sad reality is that if we are enrolled, school will always be there, peeking over our shoulders. Having an at home white board calendar has been helpful in keeping me stay up to date with my school deadlines, family birthdays, and even my menstruation cycle!
Selfcare is an essential
We sometimes forget that taking care of ourselves is the first step to success, happiness, and health. Whether it’s taking 10 minutes out of your day to go through your skin care routine, setting 30 minutes aside to do some journaling, or putting your phone on “do not disturb” for an hour to be in the moment, it is extremely important to have something just for yourself. Not something that can be shared between others, but something that you know will help you mentally, physically, and emotionally. Take those five minutes out of your day to focus on nothing but you; open that blank page and start the journaling you have been telling yourself you were going to start for the past month; start that book that you have been wanting to read but felt like your schedule has been too hectic to do anything for yourself.
Overall, we as women, have a billion different ways of doing what makes us each individually happy. We all have our own routines of how to prepare for the school year that is already in route.
At the end of the day, happiness and readiness start when you do what makes you happy, so make it count.