When in college, you may find it a challenge to take a break for yourself. Some students find it difficult to have an outlet because of the constant urge to work or complete important tasks. Balancing out responsibilities should not be a constant hassle for students; by planning ahead and being efficient with your time can make things easier to handle.

My Personal Experience

In Freshman Year of college, I knew this was the perfect time to find out what I am passionate about; I was not stressed about time management, my work and class schedules were perfectly balanced, and I was able to rest during my long weekends. Everything went well, until I transitioned into Sophomore Year. I would never have imagined how much of a challenge time management would become for me.

Sophomore Year became a personal struggle, considering I had full class schedules, weekly work shifts, and an officer position in Vietnamese Student Association (VSA). I truly thought I was someone who was capable to balance everything on a plate. Turns out I was the opposite; I became exhausted after days of work and no break. Because it was difficult for me to balance everything on my shoulders, I gave up my personal time just to get my tasks completed, including time in my sleep schedule and in my social life. Different things in my agenda would stack up and I was unable to take some time to even sit down and rest.

By accepting the reality of having a difficult time balancing my schedule, I was able to learn and grow from this experience and test out different methods of stress relieving and schedule planning. One hobby that I found fun and helpful was bullet journaling. I like to think of it as a DIY planner where you get to decide what format or design to have. The reason why I enjoy bullet journaling is because it allows me to make use of my passion in drawing while prioritizing my schedule every week. For more information,  here is a helpful guide on how to start your own bullet journal! By incorporating your passions with schedule organization, you are able to not only enjoy what you do but also have fun with planning out your days!

Tips!

Here are some things to consider or to try when you are stressed or when you think you are unable to find time for yourself:

1. Do not think that you have no time to rest. Your mind might tell you that, but your body might say otherwise so remember to listen to your body
2. Set aside time for free time with your friends, your family, or even yourself. Don’t let your responsibilities be the only things you’d be doing every week.
3. Make time for the things you enjoy doing, whether it be hobbies or passions!
4. Seek out opportunities that enable yourself to go outside and enjoy the fresh air. Staying inside can create a lack of motivation or even increase your levels of fatigue, so having some time just to go outside can help reduce stress and wake you up!
5. Use a planner or schedule organizer! I find it easier to balance my time out by writing out what priorities must be completed within the week.
6. If your schedule restrain you from resting, try to rearrange your agenda or even communicate with your team or your supervisors in request for time off.
7. If you are on campus, there are always different events and activities that can help you de-stress and enjoy so keep an eye out on promotions (especially towards the end of the quarter!)
   • An example of an activity you can do during Finals Week is de-stressing with coloring in the library!

Don’t force yourself to constantly go on a workflow. Although some people may seem to think that they can handle the amount of work given, everyone deserves a break at some point. I learned that despite my motivation to continuously stand up and do something, it isn’t bad to stop and find time to rest. Of course, everyone does have different experiences with stress or time management so make sure to test out what methods are helpful for you and take time for your well-being!