My Flock

Hey Pink Panthers !
     I can imagine how tired and overwhelmed you are. By this week when I was a freshmen I was on the edge of giving up on school. I wont say dropping out, it was more like switching my major to something much simpler...like a history major =). The reason I say that because my "non-music" friends had very little work. Music students has twice as much work compared to a biology major.
     But I knew that I couldn't give up because I have worked so hard to get into the music program at Converse. What helped me stay sane is managing my time. I always kept a journal with me 24/7.  I wrote out my whole day out as soon as I woke up. If I did not have a set schedule for my whole day, I was extremely disorganized. I looked like a squirrel on heroin.
     Even though college is time consuming, you still should go out and have fun. However, do not go to a party if you know you have a test the next day or if all of your assignments are not done. I went out on a Thursday and it was not pretty. I was exhausted and 5 hour energy drinks are disgusting and I took two that day (ewwwww). After that situation I did not go out anymore when I had work to do. When I did not have work and did not feel like going out, I took power naps which lasted for 4 hours.
     I was and still is a commuting student. It was hard to be a commuter my freshmen year because I did not have a car or a drivers license. I had a certain amount of time to finish ALL my work. My mom gets off at five and she picks me up around 515-530. All my classes end at 2:50. So 2 hours was all I had to finish my work..that was impossible for me because I like to take my time doing stuff. If I had a car my freshmen year, then I would have stayed at school longer. Its hard for me to get my work done at home because my brother and sister are always fighting. I get distracted very easily and that's why I love doing my homework in the library because it is so quiet.
     Now that I am a junior everything is much easier. I can manage my time without worrying about "if" I have enough time to do anything. All it takes is patience and start creating good habits with managing your time. I promise you that school will get better and it will eventually pay off.
  

Ticking Time Bomb

 My biggest time management challenge is managing my time ! I always make the excuse of never having time for anything. Even though I know there is time for everything. It's funny how I'm always complaining about never having time for my school work but I always tell my boyfriend "you can make time ! There is always time !" I am literally a walking contradiction. Now that I am in college I have come to realize that managing my time is so important. I am usually OCD about writing stuff down and making sure that I do a certain assignment on time. But since I'm in college, its a whole different ball game. I always have to FORCE myself to write them down because I forget about stuff easily.
A main time management tool I use to help me out a lot is my handy dandy sticky notes. I love my sticky notes, without my sticky notes I really don't know what I would do with myself. Like if I have to clean my room or vacuum my floor, I always put a sticky note on my door because in order for me to get in my room I have to use and look at my door.  Another tool I am trying to use is writing my schedule out as soon as I wake up. When I write out my schedule for the whole day with specific times, I will be able to finish everything I have to do that day. I always have to trick myself into doing my work at a specific time because I will not do my work until the last minute.
If you are having trouble managing your time, the best advice I can give to you is sit down and write down everything you have to do. It is better to write down the things you have to do than trying to do everything at once and getting overwhelmed. Once you get every thing you have to do written down, you should divide and conquer the small things on your list. If someone told you to eat a big giant elephant, you wouldn't eat the whole thing in one bite. You would divide that big beast and eat it a little bit at a time. If you would take the time =) and figure out what you have to do for a day, week, month or even a year, you should be successful in managing your time.