College so far has been the best and the worst time of my life. On the good side, I’ve made lifelong friends, and some of the best nights that I will remember. On the bad side, I am more stressed out than I have ever been. I hardly sleep, I am always busy, and to be honest, school is kicking my butt. I feel spread very thin these days, and sometimes it feels like i’m doing a very intense balancing act. I have to juggle things like school, sleep, social life, work, extra curricular activities, the sorority, and so much more. The problem is, I don't have enough hands to juggle everything. It’s like the meme where there is a list of things like, good grades, family, friends, sleep, and work; then it says pick two. Now I don’t know about everyone else, but I would like to have everything. So it begs the question, can we have it all, and how do we do it? I’ve read a few articles on how to have time managing skills, and I’ll tell you about the things i've found that could be the difference between having it all, and just choosing two.
The first thing is to be proactive. Be a go getter. Now this isn't exactly easy. I procrastinate A LOT, and I think that this is where most of my stress comes from. I always say i’ll do it tomorrow, when I should do it today. I would rather lay in my bed and watch netflix, than strain my brain trying to do my Thermochem homework, and I am sure i’m not the only one that chooses netflix sometimes. I have been so much better this year though and I found that when I am proactive about things like school, relationships, and just life in general, I am so much happier and my stress level goes down. The first step to being proactive is just stepping out the door. You can do anything if you just get up and go. I guess for me if I just get out of the house, I am more likely to get all of my stuff done, I am more willing to push myself, and I have the motivation to just do life that day. Being proactive allows me to juggle more and choose more of the things that I want.
Another thing is to be organized. I just recently started filling up my planner with notes, important events, and basically putting my hectic life down on paper. Every Sunday night, I write down the homework that I will have for the week, and when I have an upcoming test, event, etc. Knowing everything that I have for the week allows for me to plan around and add more fun activities into my schedule. My advice is to make a to-do list for everyday and have designated times for when to do things. Pencil in time for studying, eating, friends, and just some relax time to watch an episode of netflix. Being organized makes life better and easier to manage.
Now there is obviously so much more that could help juggle everything, but those seem to be the top two that really get me through. I like to live by the great words of Hannah Montana when she sang “Life’s what you make it." I believe that I can have everything and that I should be able to have everything, but I have to make it that way. We can all make those proactive steps to be organized, to get good grades, to make life extraordinary,and to just simply be happy. So to answer the question of can we have it all, I would like to say yes. We can balance it all, It just depends on how hard we are willing to work for it.
