If you are someone like me, college can be very intimidating. It's a time filled with making new friends, joining clubs, and discovering yourself. It can be extremely overwhelming sometimes and it may seem like your whole life is out of control. Here are a few ways I have learned how to keep things under control and make it feel like your life is put together.
1. Clean your room.
Photo by Norbert Levajsics on Unsplash
One of the easiest ways I have found to help me feel more in control of my life is to clean my room. Depending on how messy it is it may take five minutes or it may take longer. After I spent about two hours cleaning mine, I immediately felt like my life was less chaotic than it was before. This is a very easy way to help you feel more in control of your life. It costs no money and may even help change your outlook on life. It feels really good to come home to a clean room after a long day.
2. Ditch the caffeine after 2 pm.
Photo by Jessie Beck on Unsplash
For all the coffee drinkers out there this one may not seem particularly glamorous. It's easy to drink coffee all day and stay up all night writing a paper you forgot about, but for me, that was how I completely messed up my sleep schedule. I relied heavily on late-night caffeine to help me stay up and work on those assignments that I procrastinated. However, my sleep schedule was so off that I ended up sleeping through my morning classes. I was wasting o much of the day being asleep and it caused my life to spiral out of control. When I cut caffeine out of my afternoons and nights I found that it was much easier to not only fall asleep but stay asleep and wake up in the mornings refreshed
3. Buy (and use) a planner.
When the school year first starts, I try to be as prepared as possible. I buy a planner every year but when it gets to be the middle of the semester and things are moving full speed it's easy for me to forget all about my planner and have my school work begin to get lost. Don't underestimate the power of a planner. This can be a great tool to lay out your homework, work schedule, and any other events or deadlines that you may have coming up. This low-cost tool can do wonders if you are adamant about keeping up with it. I've found that keeping a written schedule all in one place can help alleviate stress and help with time management.
4. Stick to a budget.
Image by Peter Fertig from Pixabay
Money can also be a huge stressor. Tuition is expensive enough and for me, that doesn't include the cost of my apartment, groceries, and gas. Making and sticking to a budget can help make sure that you're not wasting your paycheck. When you get your paycheck, budget out how much you can spend on food, gas, and other expenses you have. Make sure to set a little money aside for fun. By doing this, you are making it much easier for you to know what you have to pay and when. It's also always nice to have a little money sitting around just in case because life happens and you never know when a little extra cash might come in handy.
5. Get up and get moving.
It's so easy for me to wake up at a decent time and then spend the next three hours laying in bed scrolling through social media. By the time I get out of bed, I feel like the day has been wasted and I have no energy to do anything. There is a very simple fix to this and its simply to get out of bed. I've found that if I make myself get up and go to the gym I have so much energy for the rest of the day. Working out is a very simple way to get your day started. Even if you're not feeling up to a full-blown workout, go for a walk and get some sunlight. Get up and get moving early and it can give you the energy that you need to make it through the day
