College is so crazy; between meetings, conferences with professors, classes and actually making time with friends, it can be hard to keep everything under control!
So, how can you keep up? What are the best ways to stay on top of everything going on in your busy life?
When there is WAY too much going on in your life, here are a few tips to make it a little easier!
1. Get an agenda. Life gets about 67 million times easier when you have all of your homework, tests, projects, meetings, events and dates written down in a little notebook that stays with you. What I like to do at the beginning of each semester is go through each syllabus and write down everything planned for that semester for each specific course. Sure, this is time consuming and the schedules may shift throughout the year, but your semester looks (and feels) way easier when you can see it spread out in front of you. Besides, who doesn't feel accomplished after scratching out each finished assignment at a time throughout the day?
2. Post-its are prime. It seems Post-it notes are the only way I can remember anything these days. If I wake up early to study, I am too dazed to remember why I decided to wake up in the first place, then I see a neon post-it on my alarm clock that says, "STUDY FOR BIO EXAM." Post-its are the perfect way to remind yourself to print out that paper before class, grab your towel before heading to the gym or actually do your laundry rather than just stare at it.
3. Combine post-its and your agenda. For those REALLY crazy weeks when you have two tests, a paper due, a mixer, an intramural game...Put a post-it on that week's page of your agenda, and schedule your week out step by step, hour by hour. Chances are you'll feel more relieved at the end of the week to look at the list and think, "Wow, I'm a rockstar." Then you can treat yourself to froyo with friends to celebrate!
4. Remain human. Between the four cups of coffee that often take over your entire diet, don't forget to drink some water and eat a sandwich! Sure, you have a really busy schedule, but you won't be able to keep up with anything if you are shaking with caffeine jitters. Stay healthy, stay sane, stay human.
5. Sleeping seems impossible, but necessary. This goes back to staying human, but sleep is a whole other battle for college students. You may have survived that week with three total hours of sleep and made it into a great story, but chances are it's going to come back and bite you. Maybe cramming on an all-nighter will help you on your test, but falling asleep amid question number 34 won't help you too much either. Remember to get more than an hour...or two. Eight hours applies to college students too. You need to relax your mind and let all that knowledge soak in.
6. Take study breaks. Breaks are usually five minute intervals of checking Instagram, Facebook and Twitter (in whatever order you prefer), but these are not real breaks, nor are they effective! After your sand volleyball game when you've been studying the human anatomy for two hours, go for a run, watch a few funny cat videos or even take a soothing shower. These are real breaks that provide you with an opportunity to breathe and step back from studying, that way you can refocus on fibulas and tibias later!
