Happy Monday!
I’ve been asked several times over the past couple months how I manage to get everything done that I need to with my busy schedule. Honestly, this makes me laugh a bit because most 3rd Year Law Students have jobs along with school and I just blog, workout and volunteer with Girls On The Run… But I prefer having a life outside of school.
Anyway, I thought I’d give you all my tips for time management that I’ve learned throughout college and law school.
1. Prioritize
What’s most important? Is it work? School? Time with your family? You need to prioritize what is highest on your list (or NEEDs to be highest). That way when you’re in a time crunch, think about your priorities and decide what you need to do first, and what can wait until another day.
2. Use a calendar
As I mentioned Sunday, I use Google calendar to schedule all my workouts. I also use it for all other aspects of my life. Every day I check my calendar and look at how my day is going to span out, and then I determine when I’ll get in my workout, when I can get school work done and whether I have time errands, etc. Using a calendar is key to planning out your day and week and keeping in mind anything coming up.
Here’s part of my bare bones calendar before I add in school work:
If you’re in school, the first day of class you should put your tests, finals, and paper/presentation due dates into your calendar. This way you’ll see it coming up and can plan accordingly. It’s much better if you can study for a little bit over 2 weeks rather than cramming the day before.
3. Schedule Study/Work Time
When I try and do school work at home, it takes me much longer than it does if I’m somewhere away from distractions and can really focus. On days that I have a lot of time, or time between classes, I plan a trip to a coffee shop to get work done. I tell myself, you have to stay here for x hours and try to get A, B and C done. This way I have my set study time and my set hanging around time.
4. Bribe yourself.
Again, if you’re trying to get work done, bribe yourself with fun breaks! I’ll read for an hour if every 15 minutes I can read another blog post. Or I’ll clean my apartment if I can listen to the Jillian Michaels podcast or watch Netflix while folding laundry. Another could be, I’ll work at Starbucks for 4 hours and then get froyo with a friend after. If you have a reward coming, you’re more likely to focus so you can earn that reward.
5. Learn to say NO.
Sometimes you just can’t do everything you want to do. Sometimes you have to say no to taking on extra projects even though you’d make more money because picking up your kids in the afternoon is more important. Or sometimes you need to say no to social events because you know you have a big test that week. The key to having enough time is making enough time.
I hope this was helpful! I know it helps me to take a step back and look at everything and reevaluate how I’m going about my days and spending my time. I definitely started doing that this weekend and put school at a much higher priority than it had been before. I’ve also had to add in networking and getting career ideas after meeting with my career counselor this past week, so I’ll have to schedule in a couple hours of that each week too! I can’t emphasize enough how helpful scheduling your day can be!
Do you use a calendar or just try and remember most things?
Any more questions? I’m thinking of doing a FAQ post soon!