Everyone in college knows you need to have a plan in place to be able to balance your schedule. But most do not take into consideration self-care as a part of being prepared for their college journey. Also, you should not limit yourself to one type of platform/media to keep track of your schedule.
Three things were repeating across multiple platforms and the first two shocked me and never even occurred to me that they would be important.
- Have a support system
- Practice self-care
- Print out schedules and repeat them throughout multiple locations
We know we can get information from our professors and college staff that can aid us with our learning journey. Another asset to consider is having someone(s) in your personal corner, I am finding this to be immensely helpful even if they do not know what I am talking about, to be able to just bounce information off them or talk about my thought process aloud is extremely helpful. It makes a significant difference to have someone just say, “you are doing great, you got this!” If you want more emotional objective support, consider a therapist, they can help with many things including guiding and supporting the path you are on and that alone is a great comfort.
Personally, I have a hard-enough time with self-care on a regular basis without having school in the mix. I often think about how I am going to be able to do it with extra things added to my plate. I investigated things other busy parents were doing. Why does everything tell you to exercise when you need a boost? Because it is good for you and feels good, eventually. Seriously though a great option is just stepping away from electronics and being outdoors. I love to take my kids and my dog to the park. For a more substantial retreat to nature, we go camping and laying under the stars and looking at the amazing sky sure feels like self-care to me.
The last, important, key to success is not only having your schedules printed out or added to a calendar but duplicating them to multiple locations. You can use a home desk calendar and synchronize school things for life and work a google calendar. It is a small thing to be sure, but it can make a significant impact for keeping on track.
Hopefully, we can all get through this semester knowing we did our best and being proud of ourselves!
Wow, it’s really impactful to see someone else think about self care the same way I do. I have struggled so much with implementing regular routines that focus on my own wellbeing, rather than the usual focus on work or school. I use to spend so much time just trying to unwind without any real plan. Coming home from work or school and just sitting around scrolling on my phone for hours. Falling asleep with the phone still in hand. It became an unhealthy habit that I knew I needed to mitigate.
Like you Kendel, I found a lot of peace and catharsis from spending time in nature, amidst the disconnection from technology. There is no better way to understand how easy it is to develop a bad relationship with technology than to purposefully disconnect for a few hours. Even just half an hour at the local park felt like three hours of mindless scrolling.
It definitely is not a be all end all, and many times work leaves me too exhausted to justify getting some outside activity in. I have found a lot of success with therapy. Starting therapy essentially changed my life by alleviating a plethora of anxiety symptoms I dealt with daily. Thanks for sharing how you worked on self care yourself, it’s great to learn from others perspectives.
Hey Kendal, I thoroughly enjoyed the simplicity and realism of your article. Your title caught my attention and made me want to read more. Your opening story continued to intrigue me. Self care is vital to success. It can be harmful when we focus on other things before focusing on ourself. I agree with the theme of your article because I believe even though we recognize not taking care of ourselves is problematic, we can not always be in control of our schedules. This can cause stress and anxiety. When we know we are going to busy it is important to stay on top of things so we don’t fall behind. I liked how you listed the steps you take to try to keep an organized schedule. I also agree that having a strong support system is extremely important. My parents are the people I go to the most when I need help. Having people to rely on is comforting when your faced with obstacles. I moved to Arizona from Boston last July. I was only able to handle the transition because I had the help of my parents at every step of the way. It is important to remember that when we feel like we are too stressed we still have people who care about us that we can rely on. Overall, great job.