Once the semester starts everyone’s schedules become busy. Between classes, work, friends, and health, there is so much to fit into their days. Everyone has different tasks throughout their day they need to get done and planning ahead makes that much easier. My schedule changes every day and there are tasks that come up unexpectedly; however, I have found a few methods that make my day less stressful. 

Keep Your Calendar Updated

One method to implement as a college student to accomplish all of your daily tasks is to make sure you have everything on your calendar. Whether it be a physical calendar or the one on your phone, having everything up to date on there will remind you what needs to be accomplished that day. Putting things in when you know you need to do it will make sure you don’t overlap anything.

Make Your Calendar Effective

To make a more effective calendar, add the amount of time each task should take you. For example: eat breakfast from 6 to 6:30 a.m., go to the gym from 7 to 8:30 a.m., and so on. Doing this will help you stay on pace to accomplish your daily goals, make sure you do not miss anything important, and allows you to see what times you have open. Adding times will also help you avoid overloading yourself and help you prioritize everything while also taking care of yourself.

Know Your Priorities

Prioritizing plays a huge part when adding to your calendar. Make sure you do not leave all of the longer tasks for the end of the week because it will be too much. Do the most important tasks first and try to take advantage of gaps that open up to complete other tasks. Taking advantage of gaps allows you to have more time on the weekends and release some of that stress. Prioritizing also helps you avoid procrastinating and keeps you on track for doing your best.

Build in Breaks

It is important to remember to take care of your health when having a busy schedule. You shouldn’t be skipping lunch to complete a task or only sleeping one hour because of an assignment. Your calendar is important, but doing only what is on there is not healthy. Make time for yourself. When I know there will be a home football game, I will plan ahead to make sure that come game-day I am not stressing over things that could have been accomplished earlier. Having an updated calendar will allow you to avoid these kinds of problems throughout the semester. 

Overall, as a college student it is easy to take on more than you can handle and sometimes it is OK to do a little less to make sure you are not over stressing each day. Keep your calendar and remember it is OK to say no and devote some time to yourself. Find the balance that fits for you.