What A Busy Schedule Has Taught Me

So, I haven’t really worked on my blog since August…. and it’s February. That’s crazy! But also necessary. This is my sophomore year and I had no idea what the workload would look like or how much I would have to do. I’ve been jam packed with school, dance, friends, and family and I haven’t had much time for “me time” or blogging.

Handling any busy schedule can be extremely stressful and you may cry a little or be disappointed that you haven’t had that “me time.” I needed to find balance and make time for what I enjoy. That “me time” makes a huge difference in my mood, potential burn out, work effort, and overall happiness. I’m not perfect, but I’m trying to figure out how to maintain some balance. Here’s what I’ve figured out myself so far.

Be sure to use and manage your time well… seriously.

I know your boss or teacher or parents or anyone has probably told you this 100 times, but it’s so true if your effective in doing so. When you have a busy schedule, managing your time is your key to success!

I tend to procrastinate a lot and put off doing homework, but that is a terrrible habit! Handling time wisely helps a tremendous amount in making sure I get everything done, limit stress, take care of deadlines and due dates, and makes my schedule manageable. Like I said, this is something I struggle with a little bit.

Time is the scariest resource, and unless it it managed nothing else can be managed”

-Peter Drucker

Since I know time management is crucial to my success in life and as a high school student, I tend to stick to the same 3 strategies to take care of business.

• I use a planner and wall calendar. This is the best way for me to make sure I have time for everything I want to do and keeping my schedule organized. I’ve found that having a wall calendar in my room allows me to see what I have going throughout the month, so I can plan for it and make adjustments to get my work done. My calendar and planner also help me with this next strategy.
• If you see you have a lot going on in a day, do not wait and try to get all your work done that day! This seems pretty obvious, but sometomes I forget because the work isn’t due until the day after, so it can wait… NO! If you know your going to have a lot on your plate try to do most, or if possible all, of your work in advance! Trust me when I say this helps. Trying to pile on homework or any kind of work on top of a busy day is a nightmare and always ends in stress.
• Another kind of strategy to remember is working in and around your schedule. Let me elaborate. During your work day or school day, if you realize you have some time where you can’t really do anything or are bored in class (me), try getting some of your work from other projects or classes done instead of doing nothing. It’s a better use of time and will limit the amount of work to do later! Even if the time is short, it still helps in the long run!

Don’t feel like you have to do everything all at once

Trying to dive into too many things all at once will do a lot more harm than good. I don’t know about you, but personally, it gives me a lot of stress, takes away any of my free time, and stops me from doing a lot of fun things that I want to be apart of like hanging out with friends and family or doing a sport for fun. But when I slowly work my way up to more and more activities, it becomes much more manageable.

I’m not saying you can’t do a lot or pack your schedule, but if you do, make sure you can handle it!

Here’s two examples from my life where I have found that maybe doing everything all at one time wasn’t the best idea for me and slowly adding onto it was smarter:

• I don’t have a full advanced schedule this year even though there’s a grade bump. I’m already taking advanced and honors classes, and next year some AP. Adding on even more work to my already busy schedule was going to be too much to take on all at one time! I decided to ease into taking more and more AP classes and not pile it on all at once because I knew I wouldn’t be able to handle the stress right away.
• There are so many things to do, so I’m going to ease into it. This year I was going to do Whitney Dance Team, but with starting to take more advanced level classes, jumping into Dance IV, and more, I wanted to get a handle on that schedule before loading on anything more. So, I’m doing the dance team my junior year because by then, I’ll know how to effectively manage my schedule.

Don’t stress yourself out by worrying about obligations to free time.

So, I have worked myself up and stressed out over not having any “me time” or family time in a day. I had to accept sometimes life is like that and you end up having LOTS of work to do and little spare time. Then when you’re done you’re ready for bed!

Well, some days are like that, but that’s what weekends are for! Even if I have homework over the weekend, I still manage to find time to hang out with my family or color or do a “me time” activity. Besides, that busy time in your life isn’t permanemt and should hopefully lighten up so you can have some free time.

I’m still learning!

There are so many things I’ve learned from being a high school student. I have a lot more tips and lessons, but I’m still adding onto my knowledge of them. I know I will encounter more and more challenges as I progress through school, but I’ll try my best to get through it and hopefully learn a thing or two.