As we are finishing up the third week of the semester, many of us are starting to take our first exams and have papers due. From this point, the semester is only going to get busier. When things start to get busier, we tend to take more towards our schoolwork and less time for ourselves. On top of class work, there are many other extracurricular activities that you can be involved with on campus and could have a job. While it is important to take the time towards your academics and other work, it is also very important to still take the time to take care of yourself.
With the combination of all these activities, "me time" can be the last thing that goes on to your to-do list. Being involved with other things can start to overwhelm your life and without making time for yourself, it make things seem even more overwhelming. Even if you enjoy putting your time into all of these other things, spending some time just for yourself is still important, no matter how much time it is.
Start off with deciding what you want to make time for. Whether you want to make time to go to the gym, play games or just watch TV, make a plan to do it. Find a spot in your schedule and include your "me time" like you would a meeting or a class. Treat this time like you would anything else on your calendar. It is easier to actually do something for yourself when you have a time set aside for it. Otherwise, it can get forgotten about until there is no time left in the day. There are only 24 hours in the day, you can't add more when you find out you missed out on doing something for yourself.
Don't feel guilty about spending time for yourself. If you spend all your time doing other things, you will eventually run yourself down and won't be able to do all the things you want and need to anyhow. The stress can build up and you can function less efficient than normal. Just like you need sleep, you need to spend time for yourself in order to be the best you can be.
