Everyone has had a time where they receive a text or call from work, a friend, or family member asking where you are. You frantically wrack your brain trying to figure out what they mean and finally have a moment of clarity that event or date that totally slipped your mind. You then rush to get ready and sprint out the door to try to only be 30 minutes to an hour late. You feel awfully embarrassed and vow to yourself never to forget again but in a few weeks from now you forget a sports practice, group meeting, or movie to have the same cycle start again. In order to avoid these stresses and to keep your life balance I've come up with a few tips on how to organize a busy schedule.

As busy students and young professionals our lives are extremely busy trying to balance friends, family, work, school, sports, societies, and hobbies just to list a small portion of things. It takes a lot of time, effort, and focus to balance all of these things. As a student who used to struggle keeping track of all of my activities and staying up on them I decided to come up with a few tips for other students to keep an organized schedule.

1.) Use a Calendar and Update it regularly

A calendar is essential to keeping your schedule organized it keeps you on track and budgets your time effectively. I started to use my Google Calendar religiously and it has made my schedule way more manageable since it automatically puts in invites from emails and texts for you. It is also accessible from your mobile or computer so it’s readily accessible to stay up to date. You can also share your calendar with friends and family in order for them to know where you are and if you have free time to spend with them. Make sure to put new events and activities in right away so you are less likely to forget to put them in. Overall, I think that creating and keeping an accurate calendar can really help keep even the busiest of schedules organized. This is the link to get you started on Google Calendar: https://calendar.google.com/calendar

2.) Budget enough time between activities

Not being able to get from one event or class to another is super frustrating so make sure to map out how long it will take you to get from one to the next. I always like to give myself 5 minutes extra just in case. I find that using Google maps or Apple maps work best for me. Here is a useful link to Google Maps: https://www.google.com/maps

3.) Don’t be afraid to say no

If your friend asks you to move on a saturday late afternoon and you have work until 1pm don't be afraid to say you have something scheduled already. Generally, people would rather you just say no earlier rather than bailing last minute. Saying no every once in a while is a good way to keep yourself from becoming overwhelmed by your pace of life. Be sure to take on things that you are passionate about and other activities that are important to you but just be sure you have enough time to do them well and take care of your mental health. People tend to be understanding of not wanting to overwhelm yourself as well as perform all of your tasks as well as you possibly can.

4.) Be Proactive - Don’t Procrastinate

Another great tip to keep your busy schedule organized is to be proactive. If there are errands or other things you have to get done and you have time, do them! I Find that setting reminders on my reminders app on Apple helps keep me on top of my tasks. There is no time like the present to get things done and it will allow you for more free time or more wiggle room for unforseen or unplanned activities. Not only will getting things done sooner rather than later make you less stressed and less busy but it will give you a sense of accomplishment since you were productive. Crossing something off a to do list is always a great feeling so why not keep getting things done at a good rate. This is probably the most difficult aspect of staying on top of my schedule for myself.

I hope that you find these tips helpful in your own life and that they have a positive impact like they have had for me. One thing that helps me when I am feeling overwhelmed about my schedule or getting my life more organized is to remember that taking a small step every day will improve your life balance over time.

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