The Balancing Act
I was asked earlier this week how I always seem to keep a level head in the face of such a packed schedule every week. This caught me off guard, since I guess I’ve never really thought about it before, but I do generally stay calm even when I have more things to do than fingers to count them.
It made me realize that I have the opportunity to share my knowledge on how I ensure that I stay relaxed with an ever-increasingly busy lifestyle, and how I ride the wave of work that is always rolling past.
I’ll be the first to say that I have a lot going on. Between a bunch of upper-level engineering classes, being a math tutor and a TA, the secretary of ASME, volunteering for HootaThon, and spending time with my girlfriend and friends, it’s a lot to keep up with. I’ve taken some time to build it up to this point, and I made sure to never put too much on my plate at once. I hold myself to 3 rules that keep me afloat:
- Keep a well-organized, often updated schedule on you at all times.
- Start working on an assignment as soon as it’s been assigned.
- Set limits for yourself that you are able to stick to.
Genuinely, running through these 3 reminders in my mind has greatly enhanced my productivity and overall success in my daily life. I’ll break each one down in detail with some personal lessons that I’ve learned along the way.
1. Keep a well-organized, often updated schedule on you at all times.
The importance of this step cannot be understated. I used to use my daily schedule book in high school like it was a bible, but when I got to college, I couldn’t figure out a good way to keep track of everything I had to do on paper, so I went digital. I’ve been using an app called Todoist for the last two years, and I love it; it can be both an extension in chrome and an app for your phone, and it syncs to the internet, so you can easily add and check off assignments and reminders no matter where you are. It’s a great way to visualize how long you have left to do each assignment and what your priority should be right now. Assignments due soonest are generally at the top of my list, but if I have some extra time, I’ll start tackling those bigger, far-off projects.
2. Start working on an assignment as soon as it’s been assigned.
Speaking of tackling far-off projects, it can be daunting to look at your to-do list and see just how much stuff you’ll have to do in the next week. Instead of groaning and firing up YouTube, take it one piece at a time. Start your projects within a day to a few days of it being assigned, so that you at least have something done. This is more crucial the bigger the assignments are. For the smaller assignments, once I get started, I usually have enough momentum to finish it there and then. For the bigger projects, getting some kind of work down helps you get an idea of how much work will be involved for the whole thing, so you can prioritize it accordingly. It seems like a small thing, but it makes a huge difference.
3. Set limits for yourself that you are able to stick to.
This may just be the most important point on my list. You know how you can never decide what you want to eat for your next meal right after you just ate? You should bring the same methodology to your workload. If you’re currently drowning in work, picking up a bigger responsibility would not be the best idea. Likewise, pulling an all-nighter is almost never a good idea. No matter what I’m working on, I always stop working on homework by 11pm at the latest. After that point, I start to go a little crazy from the sleep deprivation, so I’d much rather just go to bed and wake up early with a fresh mind if it’s necessary. Despite all of the responsibilities I have to tend to, sleep is usually my highest priority. People are usually shocked for a moment when I tell them I never drink coffee, but if you can get yourself on a regular sleep schedule, you really don’t need it.
I hope this proves to be useful! It really helps keep me focused and guided during even the most intensive weeks of work that I have. Time management and productivity is certainly something that we can all work on together, so feel free to comment what you’ve found works to stay on track! Best of luck.
