Here are a few tips for managing school and personal time. Managing my classes and life in general was a bit difficult when I first got back to college. I am currently taking 18 credits, so that's 6 classes total. Let me mention how crazy my schedule is. I have classes from 11 to 3 Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. BUT, I have classes from 9 to 6 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I have yet to join clubs and get involved with campus events, which I will do... eventually. On top of that, I go to the gym about 5 times a week, and still try to maintain a healthy social life and keep in contact with my family and best friend. Believe it or not I have a boyfriend as well, while juggling all of this. I know I'm shocked too.
Can you relate? If so these tips are sure to help you and make your life a whole lot easier.
1. Get your work done.
Before you go on to say, "well obviously", here is what I mean. If you have breaks in between classes, use them to get some work done. I'm sure you won't need a whole hour to eat at the dining hall so with any left over time bust out those books and get to work. I eat in between classes and then sit and get an assignment done. This is a huge help because you can get a lot more done than you think and by your last class might even have all of your work done. You can do this in the dining hall, library, even outside your next class. The tip is to go anywhere but your dorm room. You'll be more prone to want to take a nap if you do, take it from me. Work done in between classes + productiveness = more "you" time later!
2. Don't over do it.
Like I mentioned above, I want to get more involved with campus clubs and events. However, its just not the right time to be as involved as I was last semester. I was in every club you could think of and had practices at all times of the evening. Leaving no time for me to sleep or do work that I wasn't doing in between classes. With that said, its okay to step back. I narrowed by club associations to the three I enjoyed the most, plan on attending important club meetings only, and still doing events but leaving at a decent time. Know when to step back from things. This is college so of course you're gonna want to get involved, but college is not only about clubs and activities. Its okay to tone it down and play low-key from time to time.
3. Pick up the phone, be social.
Find time in the day to give your family and friends a call. That could be as you walk to or from class, in the morning while you're getting ready for class, or before bed. Just make time. We college students may tend to forget to get in contact with our loved ones but that does not mean that you love them any less. But if you can simply find time in the day to pick up the phone and give them a call, that would be appreciated. I myself use those times to call my loved ones and it works well for us, not only am I kept up with all that's happening in their lives they're kept up with mine.
On the other hand of that, don't hide from your college friends. Isolating yourself will only hurt you overall. You are in college to get learn, get involved, and build relationships. Don't be afraid to call up a friend on campus and go on a dining hall trip. Get a classmates number and organize study dates. Find a gym buddy. Be social. Life wasn't meant to spent alone.
A little lengthy, but these tips are sure to benefit you. We tend to stress ourselves out way more than we should, so relax.
