Being a student is hard. Being a busy student is harder. So, how do you deal with being a busy student? By being proactive. Here are some tips I picked up by being super busy all of the time:
Plan ahead. Most people will wait until it’s almost time to register for classes to start planning their semester, but look ahead for the next two semesters at the start of the school year. That way you’ll know if there’s a class you want to take that’s only offered during one semester or the other when to take it. Or if it’s offered at one time in the Fall versus the Winter.
Have back up plans. Whether that’s for classes, places to work, transportation, whatever. Don’t think that just because you have everything planned out that something won’t go wrong.
Know yourself. I hate mornings, and I’m always more energized and ready to do things in the fall than I am in the winter. This means I would always make sure to schedule my classes at 10 AM onward and take my hardest classes during the Fall semester when I had the most motivation. This may not always be possible, but it made my life easier going to my nice easy classes when I wasn’t motivated.
Know your limits. Say no to that fourth club, second show, extra sport, study group you’re just trying to squeeze in, whatever it is, if you know that you can’t handle it. No one is going to think bad about you because you decided to put yourself first.
Have a calendar/planner/agenda/bullet journal/whatever to keep track of your stuff. Whether your stuff is club meetings, office hours, assignments, work… Make sure that you’re writing down EVERYTHING. Because there’s nothing worse than getting a “where are you????” text because you forgot to pick your friend up from the airport.
Get as much sleep as possible. Let me repeat that: GET AS MUCH SLEEP AS POSSIBLE. GET AS MUCH SLEEP AS POSSIBLE. Okay, we good? Good.
Don’t try to pack everything into one day. Yeah, it would be nice to go to class, study for six hours, write three papers, see your friends, climb Mount Everest, visit every country in the world, and still sleep all by Monday night at 9, but let’s be real, you can’t do all of that in one day.
Go easy on the caffeine. Your body, heart, and anxiety will thank you later.
Make time for friends/family. Yeah, you have maybe 10,000 other things you could be doing, but sometimes the best memories are dropping something and driving to Detroit at 1 AM to get tacos and stare at Canada.
