Reading Time: 6 minutes
Hi, my name is Joana. I work a full-time job by day and I’m taking a second degree in Marketing and Publicity. And yes, I do go out every Friday and Saturday and still have time to read 25 books a year.
Foremost, you need to desire it. If you don’t like your degree or your work, or both, and get tired just thinking about it, you presumably won’t have the energy for a girl’s night.
But you can still make your life easier by following some steps.
Step 1- Get a schedule, a good one
If you are the type of person who can recall everything in your to-do list. Congrats. I don’t, and it makes me anxious just thinking about attempting that.
But why an appointment book and not a to-do list? Well, because it’s easier to see, literally. When you have a schedule and you can lay down your tasks and adapt them to your needs.
Personally, I like physical planners, and I need to have a weekly planner, with the days divided into half an hour breaks and space to write on the page.
This is my planner right now, and my favorite so far.
Step 2 – Get ahead …
Next up, planning.
So if you are like me and have to make food, do homework, work, attend classes and run errands, the best thing is to plan and do it in bulk. And for the love of God, don’t multitask, you will consume so much time trying to do that.
Food for the week – a.k.a meal prep time
Plan what you want to eat and go shopping. I spend 02:30 cooking; that’s 11 to 13 meals (lunches and dinners). You save a lot of time, money and improve your health by doing so, and it’s easy. The trick is, don’t eat the same every meal.
This may help:
Check this and this as well.
You can even do it while also watching a series/movie, listen to audiobooks or music.
Besides, If you hate to cook, and money isn’t a problem, try other Meal services besides uber eats:
Always prepare in the day before
From clothes to meals, to backpack, to digital documents. Don’t run around in the morning performing all those things
Step 3 – Plan the week
The way I do this is by introducing the Kanban method. What is Kanban? It is an agile project management tool designed to help manage and prioritize tasks, like the image below.
Even though I have a to-do list to do (ahaha) on the lateral side of my planner, I also write the tasks in the day I want to them, specifically in the correspondent breaks in the planner. Before finishing this planning, I also insert certain symbols to help me organize:
X = task
{ = massive task that won’t (probably) be finished in the same day
>> = adjourned task
[task] = task with specific hours, like meetings or college classes
Step 3 – Sleep 8 hours and recharge on Saturday
Cutting your sleep time is not the answer because the more tired you get, the less productive you will be; work will start to accumulate and be pushed to leisure hours. Plus, you will feel like shit, unhappy and that will spread to everything you do. So, don’t watch trash TV and go to bed! AND do everything you can to sleep better.
Check this – 17 Proven Tips to Sleep Better at Night
Step 4 – Use your commute time
I live in the suburban area of Lisbon, which means I spent a lot of time in public transportation. As in, to go to work I take a bus + the subway + bus or walk, that’s 50 minutes. Then I have to go to college and need to take a bus + subway + walk, and that’s 30 minutes. And finally, I go home, which means bus + subway + bus, but because it is at night I wait around 15 minutes between transportation, so it’s 1h15 minutes. At the end of the day, that’s a lot (about 02:45).
Consequently, that’s when I do homework (bless Google Drive!) and read. In a slow university month, I can devour a book a week.
You can also watch series, talk to friends, send emails, clean and organize your email, see the news, do brainstorms, draw, listen to audiobooks, etc.
Use up your “dead moments” to do something you need or like, and don’t get stuck in endless social media scrolls.
Step 5 – Quick wins with college
Do you recognize the feeling of anxiety when you have three college assignments on the same week? Well, not anymore. There are things you can do beforehand. For example, when you are blocked and don’t know/can’t do the paperwork, you can start executing the quick wins. What are the quick wins? It’s the minor tasks that can be done early without the main key.
Like:
- Compose the document and write a title and your info
- Develop the introduction (if you can)
- Start gathering information and do the bibliography
- Create a WhatsApp group (if it is a group assignment)
- In each class write what can be related to the assignment
- If you can do 10min every day, you probably will manage it well, but it depends on the type of paper. My goal is to have the paper completed one week earlier than the due date, so I mark in my planner the tasks to do and spread it through the weeks that I have available to do so.
It is also wise to use college vacation periods to catch up with work or improve performance in your professional life, and to spend more time with the people you like.
Step 6 – The girl’s night out
If you’re like me and have several groups of friends, a boyfriend and a family that needs to know how your life is going, the truth is… you won’t have time to have lunches and night outs with all of them. But do you have at least 5 minutes during lunch, commuting or the toilet to send a “Hi, girl! How are you doing? ;)” or “Hi, love. How’s your day so far? Sleep well?” text. Be digitally present.
When you have time to devote to your Boo, go dining out, travel, go to a museum, and try to do something you both enjoy.
Try to schedule a date with your friends every month to go out to the disco, on a picnic, a bar. Try to grab a bite at lunch during the week or even a board game night.
They all likely know that you are doing to “double life” by working full-time and going to school, and they will encourage you and support you in every way.
What also helps
Set the Goal
Establish a vision of what your life will be and why you need to do this. Set the goal and break the tasks until you get there
Get the Student Worker Status
Most universities secure a reserved status for students who work and go to school at the same time. Although the benefits may vary, it’s always a plus.
Be Healthy
Check what you eat, because it influences how you feel. Drink water. And take supplements, but be conscious: they are not meant to be used as salvation. I take Folic Acid and Acetyl L-Carnitine, advised by a nutritionist (if you experience some difficulties, check one) and it makes a difference.
Do everything that can help you be healthier, from a better hygiene routine to exercise.
Exercise
Every opportunity you have to walk or take the stairs, do it! Say no to the elevator, move that booty! Do stretches every day for at least 5 minutes. And Take 1h on the weekends to run, swim or do yoga. I’m lucky enough to have yoga sections at Angry ventures every Thursday 😉
Be Minimalist
Being minimalist helps you not to waste time. Devoting hours for cleaning the house is not fun, productive, nor easy, so you have to choose. I also ditched makeup, for several reasons, but mainly this one. Less easily became better for me.
Be careful
Humans are not meant to work 24/7, so if you feel anxious, tired, overwhelmed or exhausted, take a break. Burn out is a perilous thing that shouldn’t be taken lightly. Constantly remember to put yourself first. If you feel like you’re in the limit, take a day off in advance, work and university can wait.
Be Positive
Do you know the phrase “fake it until you make it”? Undoubtedly, there will be weeks where you feel like shit, but you have to be positive. Why? Because it spreads. If you’re optimistic and encourage others to be better and feel happier, they will do the same with you. And by any means, I’m saying that you have to vomit rainbows. I’m saying that you can help yourself by lightning the mood to others.
It’s all about the mindset.
