How do I stop feeling overwhelmed?
How can I find time in my day to do everything I want to when I have studying, sports, and I want to enjoy college?
Finding time to balance studying, sports, and enjoying your college experience requires effective time management and prioritization. Here are some tips to help you make the most of your time:
Create a Schedule: Scheduling goes beyond classes; it can help visualize all up-coming commitments. By developing a weekly schedule that includes dedicated time for classes, study sessions, practices, competitions, and personal activities, you can understand what is necessary to reach desired outcomes. This tool can help you see the time spent doing activities as well as the remaining time available, ensuring you don’t overextend yourself with overwhelming commitments. This leads into the next tip.
Learn to Say No: Be selective about additional commitments and learn to say no when necessary. It's important to strike a balance and avoid overloading yourself with unnecessary clutter and responsibilities. Understand that every action and event has a trade-off between improving your experience and potentially taking away from others. Remember what is most important to you, and learn to prioritize those things that help you achieve your goal. That is not to say you must prioritize things others expect you to, but to understand the impact of your decisions more broadly on your overall experience and goals. This is also not saying to push yourself to the point of burnout by pushing too hard in one discipline, as sport, academics, and personal life combined create the best college experience. The point is that too much of one thing can impact the whole experience; just be aware of how much you can do and what will propel you towards your desired future.
Effective Time Management Techniques: Explore techniques, such as
The Pomodoro Technique is a study time management technique that involves breaking work into intervals, typically 25 minutes, separated by short breaks to enhance focus and productivity.
Time blocking is a scheduling technique where specific blocks of time are allocated for different tasks or activities, helping individuals prioritize and manage their time effectively. This can provide some freedom in scheduling, with the option to be specific or more broad.
The Eisenhower Matrix is a tool for prioritizing tasks based on their urgency and importance, categorizing them into four quadrants to help guide decision-making and productivity.
Task clumping is the act of grouping similar tasks together to streamline workflow and minimize context-switching, improving efficiency and reducing cognitive load.
These techniques can be used to maximize your efficiency during study sessions and other activities.
Combine Activities: Look for opportunities to combine activities. For example, if you enjoy socializing, consider forming study groups with classmates or engaging in physical activities with friends. Combining low-focus tasks can help maximize time. For example, cleaning your room and listening to a recorded lecture are both low-demand tasks that, when combined, can maximize the effectiveness of that time.
Set Realistic Goals: Set achievable and realistic goals for each day. This can help prevent feelings of overwhelm or becoming disheartened when you cannot achieve your goals, and it ensures that you make consistent progress in academics and sports while leaving time for leisure. Through trial and error in the number of goals you set, you will find what is achievable for you. It can be difficult to initially gauge your abilities, but over time, you will get better at estimating and achieving.
Use Downtime Wisely: Make use of any downtime between classes or sports activities. Use these pockets of time wisely, as they can add up throughout the week. Review lecture notes, read assigned materials, or plan your schedule for the upcoming week during these periods.
Stay Organized: Keep your study materials, sports gear, and other essentials organized. This reduces the time spent searching for items and allows you to transition more smoothly between different activities.
Plan Leisure Activities: Schedule specific times for leisure and social activities. This can include hanging out with friends, attending events on campus, or engaging in hobbies. Planning for leisure ensures that you have time to enjoy college life.
Remember that finding balance is an ongoing process, and adjustments may be needed as your schedule evolves. Regularly assess your priorities and commitments to ensure that you are allocating time to the activities that matter most to you.
