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!
Great post! You should make me a calendar on google too – I hate doing it for myself. And PS – I can’t go to book club on Saturday anymore. My mom called me and my niece and nephew are getting baptized on Saturday night at church!
omg I so would… I love organizing and making calendars. lol and you are just soooo busy!
I’m definitely all about the calendar and the schedule — it helps to keep me accountable, and it feels awesome to cross off a day (I carry a paper calendar) and realized that I’ve accomplished all I needed to. 🙂
I am also a huge advocate of the reward system. Especially when it involves time with friends and dessert! 😉
I looooove crossing things off to do lists!
I need to start using Google calendar. I used to be all about planners back when I was in school. I tend to be old school like that. I’ve gotten away from them since, though. I do have a mini white board on my fridge which acts as my to-do list but I think I need something more organized!
I like the online calendar because I can see it on my computer and my phone
This is a great post! I’m pretty OCD about scheduling. I was a synchronized figure skater all the way through college so I always had a busy schedule of practices, school work and workouts.
I use a planner to keep my life organized. In my planner there’s always a paper to-do list too. For my husband and I, we have two wipe boards on our fridge. One is a full month calendar and the other is a weekly planner where we put to-dos, important events, things we need to buy at the store etc. It’s pretty involved but it works!!!
Also, I use the reward system too. Since I’ve been trying to work out in the morning before my commute to work, I try to motivate myself with my favorite show, meal, or something to do after work to look forward to. Not having the option to go after work helps!
haha that is very involved but it sounds like it works well! And I love working out in the morning because it isn’t hanging over my head for the rest of the day!
Such a good post! You definitely know what you’re talking about!
Prioritizing is also my #1 rule to get through busy periods. It sort of goes along with “just say no” because I have to put my 1st things 1st, and then realize that the other things might slide a little. It’s just how life works.
Thanks for all the tips!
Definitely, it’s important to know what is necessary and what you can let slide!
These are some great tips! I especially like #1 and #4. I’ve found those to be the most helpful when applying time management to my life.
These are all great tips! I think learning to say “no” is a big one that many people struggle with these days. We’re so used to being go-go-go that it’s easy to say “yes” to everything because what’s one more thing?! But that doesn’t mean we should be busy nonstop. We need to rest and prioritize our time wisely!
very true, I’ve learned that I just have to say no nowadays, I said yes too much before and I’d get so stressed!
these are great. learning to say no is the biggest one – it is something i still really struggle with. sounds like you really have a nice balance going.
What a great post sweetie! Honestly, I NEED to get on Google Calendar!!!!
Miss you 🙁
Miss you too! And I love google calendar because I can see it on my computer and my phone!
I use Google Calendar for all of my workouts too. I have it set up to e-mail me at 5 pm the day before the workout so I don’t even have to check it, my workout and all the details show up in my inbox! Super easy!
oh that’s smart! I don’t have any notifications for mine… lol I think I look at it too often to need it
My planner is my life! I don’t know what I would do it I ever lost it. :-).
In college I was more or less married to my planner. I lived and died by that thing. I still write down things I absolutely cannot forget to do, but my schedule is more fixed/routine in the “real world” than it was in school (work all day, workout as soon as I get home, dinner, free time, bed), so I don’t feel as much of a need to write things down when I’m living my usual day-to-day life (Marathon Weekend being the obvious exception to that haha). I’m totally with you on prioritizing, though. When I do have a lot to do, everything goes on my schedule in order of importance.
Haha I used to be tied to my planner too, in high school and college! I’d write every little thing in there!
I use my work calendar for everything. It syncs to my phone which helps.
My calendar is always free for you 😉
awww so sweet. There should be a hallmark card saying that! haha
Love this! When I was in college, I definitely had to learn to say no. Otherwise, I’d end up being miserable because I had made too many commitments!
Haha I always said yes in college, I finally learned to say no once I got to law school!
Great advice! I can’t live without my calendar and lots of to do lists and sticky notes!
This was AWESOME! I love google calendar & use it for everything! Its so awesome to have the reminders pop up 🙂
Bribing myself with TV is one of the only things that gets homework done!
I had a paper planner in college and I loved that thing. I’m still trying to wrap my brain around the best way to use technology to keep track of my life. Call me old school.
I have a planner, and I make a to do list for every day of the week on a white board. I have never heard oh google calendar…just created my first calendar!!! officially obsessed!
it’s amazing! I use gmail, google calendar, google maps, and google reader!
I’ve started putting my workouts into my calendar now thanks to you! This will be my first week of being able to do it, so let’s see how well I follow my own plans
I hope it goes well!
Thanks! Me too hahaha!
I definitely bargain with myself for blog reading! Do class readings/work on an essay for an hour, read blogs for 15 minutes. It’s a great reward system. :-p
I scrolled through the comments and didn’t see anyone else say this (but I was reading quickly)…please do a FAQ post! Those are my favorite ones to read!!
I need more questions!
awesome tips here and i really need to get better about having a calendar or i guess one collective place to keep track of all i have to do and want to do! i’m the queen of little post-it’s and lists that i have around but i need to start gathering them in one spot! 😛
This is such a great post! I use a piece of paper and post it on my fridge for my workout schedule. I also have a little red planner that is filled to the brim with syllabi, appointments and other things. I also use my iphone to put reminders and to do’s.
Great post! I use similar things to keep me on track and stop me from going insane 😉
i legitimately couldn’t make it through the day without my calendar. my friends tell me i need to loosen up a little bit, but it makes me happy to be well organized and know exactly what the day will bring. the less stressed i am the better! oh and i bribe myself ALL the time…you can turn on one episode of chopped if you finish up your reading for class. whatever works!