Achievement and A Life

One of the things I heard all time in high school was, "Do you even have a life?"

I was really involved in a lot of things in high school; I was the captain of the debate and mock trial teams, an executive board member of my school's Amnesty International chapter, an editor for our literary magazine and an active volunteer at my public library. On top of that, I was constantly studying for an endless cycle of quizzes, tests and presentations.

With all of those things going on, it was sometimes hard to have a life. But I already made time for my friends, and I hope all of you highly driven, overachieving readers are doing the same thing.

School-life balance is really important. Everyone needs friends to be their cheerleaders, inspiration and shoulders to cry on when things don't work out (and sometimes they don't).One of my favorite YA authors, Sarah Dessen says it best:

“Life is an awful, ugly place to not have a best friend."

-Sarah Dessen, Someone Like You 

FOMO: Fear of Missing Out

At college, there is ALWAYS something fun you could be doing (or missing out on). My freshman year, I really struggled to figure out how to balance my time. I felt like I was being pulled in so many different directions. Whenever my friends were doing something fun, I would be so afraid of missing out that I would completely abandon my work for the next day, so my grades slipped. I haven't been able to overcome my FOMO, but I've learned some really good tricks for time management...

via: http://thepassionproject.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/fomo.png

1. Make lists on lists: Whenever I start getting anxious about the all things I have to accomplish, I make a list of what I have to get done in order to be caught up with my work and my life.

2. Planners are your best friend: On my iCal, I keep an up to date schedule with classes, practices, meetings, and any social events, so I can instantly know when I have free time. Additionally, I have a Life Planner from Erin Condren that I use to keep track of all of my assignments. By keeping two planners, neither gets too cluttered!

3. Eat & study with friends: By working in the library with my friends or taking study breaks to get meals with them, I can hit two birds with one stone--I'm getting my work done and getting to spend (fun) quality time with my friends. Make sure they have work to do too though or else it will just be a distraction! 

4. Don't spread yourself too thin: One of the easiest ways to let the time slip away from you is by getting involved in too many activities. Freshman fall it seems like this is your one chance to join every single club. DO NOT DO IT. I promise almost all of the opportunities will still be there later. Get involved in 1 or 2 things and you can always ramp up from there if you want to.

Do you have any other great time management tips?

xx