I’ve had a few people, both in blogland and real-land, ask me how I balance all of my commitments. So I thought I would address it in a blog post (warning, this is a LONG post). Currently, I am balancing a full-time course load, two part-time jobs, a bit of freelance work on the side, blogging, training for a half-marathon and having a social life.
First, the post that gave me the idea to write about this came from Healthy Tipping Point. I really like the tips that Caitlin has in her post about Time Management so check out that post for more tips!
On School and Work…
Right now, I have a full-time course load and work two part-time jobs and occasionally freelance. I spend 17 hours a week in class, 10-12 hours at my internship, 5-7 hours working for the school paper and 15-20 hours on homework every single week. This alone equals about 50 hours a week, give or take a few hours.
How do I do it?
1. Stay Organized
I keep my workspace, and life, very organized. I have files, folders, labels, and colours for EVERYTHING. It’s how I keep track of things and that way I don’t waste valuable time looking for something that I need to do an assignment.
People make jokes about my trusty planner, but it keeps me sane. I have all my deadlines for work, school and the newspaper written in there and they are colour-coded so I can just glance at it and see what deadlines are looming. I would die without my planner.
I also write an insane amount of lists. To-do lists really help me focus. That is my list from this weekend!
I don’t care what people say about blackberries, I would go crazy without mine. I get between 30 and 50 emails every day, if I wasn’t able to check and filter them as they came in I would probably have a panic attack every time I opened my inbox!
2. Plan Ahead
I’m always thinking weeks ahead of time. For example, I know that Eric is coming to visit me this weekend and we’re going to Kelowna for my half-marathon, which means I won’t get much - if any - work done. So I’ve already started on my assignments that are due the following week.
On Blogging…
I would say I spend anywhere from 7-10 hours a week writing my own blog posts and reading and commenting on other blogs. I have 152 blogs in my reader, which really isn’t much compared to some people, but I was asked last week how I find the time to read and comment on so many blogs.
The same tips as above; stay organized and plan ahead. It wasn’t too long ago that my google reader really stressed me out. So I decided to organize it into folders. Now, when I open it and there are 95 new posts to plow through there are 20 in one folder, 10 in another etc. And if I’m taking the time to read a post, why not comment on it? It doesn’t take *that* much longer and as a blogger I know how much other bloggers enjoy receiving comments.
As for my own blog, planning ahead is key. If I posted every time I had an idea there would be days with 10 new posts and then four or five days with no posts at all. As you can tell I try to post on a pretty regular basis Mon-Fri, but what you may not know is most of the posts are written days, or even weeks, ahead of time. I wrote the post you’re reading right now on Saturday.
3. Multitask, but not too much
When I was writing this post I was taking a break from writing articles for the paper. I find that multitasking keeps me from getting bored and makes me more productive. However, I try to spend a minimum of 30 minutes on one thing before looking at anything else, if you let your multitasking get out of hand you won’t be productive at all because you’ll be too busy going from one thing to another.
I also multitask during my TV shows. I watch 4 hours of TV every week, and on the commercial breaks I do homework, or I do sit-ups and pushups. That way I’m making USE of those breaks, not just staring at the TV.
On Running and living a Healthy Lifestyle…
4. Make it a priority
This tip works for anything that you don’t particularly enjoy doing, but for me it really holds true for my training and my healthy eating. When I first started running back in January I didn’t enjoy it, not at all, it was really hard! So, in order to keep it up, I had to make running a priority in my life. I started scheduling my runs into my planner so I had a scheduled time and distance to run planned. Now, running IS a priority without me making it one. Running calms me down and clears my mind.
Same goes for eating healthy. Buying and eating real, healthy food is a priority in my life so I will go out of my way to make sure I get something that is going to fuel my body the right way!
On Everything…
6. Sleep
I get 7 to 9 hours of sleep every. single. night. Sleep is so important, it gives my body a chance to re-charge and is the only reason I’m able to keep up with the schedule that I do.
I hope you guy’s found this post useful. Maybe now you’ll realize why I find school much harder than work. With all the things that I balance during the school year I am putting in 15-20 more hours of work every week than I do when I’m actually working full-time. But it’s a choice I made for myself, and honestly, I love my busy lifestyle!
What are some of your tips for managing a busy life?
{ 25 comments… read them below or add one }
That sounds about what I did when I was in college. Now I am a 25 year old with NOTHING ha. Um I come home from work do like 2 cleaning things around the house. Sit down and watch tv and surf the internet until I crash at night. I did not watch much tv at all untl I graduated and there as all this time before midnight available. However, I never slept and didn’t need a lot of sleep. I also lived on Monster’s. Now I want/need more sleep and rarely get it.
Wow, Amber! Kudos to you for balancing all that … I am wickedly impressed!
As for my “balancing act”, I have found it is radically different to balance things when you have a kiddo to worry about. I used to try to be like you (though without as much success as you’ve had) and now it’s more catch as catch can. I have to hope that he naps and work my tail off during his nap if I want to get stuff done. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes just getting a shower is an accomplishment. And I can only imagine how it’ll change when I have the second one!
Thanks for showing us how you make your busy life work!
These are great tips, Amber!
Basically, it’s impossible for me to keep a planner. I’ve tried–I even bought one for this school year. I do, however, set a reminder in my phone for important dates like tests, when to pay bills, etc… Luckily, I don’t have a TON going on in my life, so it’s fairly easy for me to remember deadlines.
I definitely try to get at least seven hours of sleep a night. I wake up between five-thirty and six on weekdays for work, so it’s usually easy to go to bed by ten or eleven. I usually don’t have much to do during the week; mostly, I just work until three, then I come home and do homework and relax. My weekends are a little more full, however, so I definitely have to prioritize then.
1. To-Do List
2. Calendar in full view
3. Yoga/Meditate
4. Sleep (you’re so right–tres important!!)
Good luck this weekend! It’s a great race and I’m sure you’ll kick some ass!
H =)
That’s awesome Amber. I’m pretty organized, but not that organized. I live off of my Franklin Covey planner and google calendars. You have definitely given me a few good ideas for keeping up with blogs and blog posts. I’ve started to write my posts ahead of time - like when I’m on a plane, I have tons of time to think then. The quality of the posts are better when I can realy think about it instead of writing while I’m watching TV. Thanks for always reading and commenting on my blog, it means a lot. I always enjoy seeing what you will say. Have a great rest of the week!
it is true — school is a lot harder than work! when i was in school i was busy, and had at least 1 or 2 part time jobs as well. i wasn’t even working out then.
now it’s definitely a lot easier because work stays at work! so i just do work, gym/running… tv. I should blog more but the writing thing only comes in spurts!
Aww my planner used to look like that when I was in school!
I spend 35-40 freaking hours a week in school alone. Can you believe that?! Absolutely ridiculous.
Organization is just about the only thing that keeps me going :P. I miss sleep!
This was a fun post. I’m a definite proponent of planners. Mine looked similar to yours in college. Sleep is big and exercise/health is so important. A lot of people think, “I have no time for it!” when really, “you don’t have time NOT to do it. For your own sanity and your life. You are a better person when you can blow some steam and sweat it out.”
Ohmygosh girl, your life is so intense! Busy busy little bee! I’m very impressed by all of your organizing and planning — and the fact that you pull it all off! Working, school, interning, homework … and yet you’re still totally in shape and a fantastic runner AND a kickass blogger/blog friend! Man oh man. You deserve some type of a reward! Oh, and you still manage to take the time to take care care of yourself and get plenty of sleep! Man, I need more blogging/commenting … exercise … and sleep in my life! We could all learn something from you! I don’t know how you do it! You rock, lady!
Girl, you’ve got it going on! Love that you color code things. One of my friends in college laughed at me because I also had a highlighter color for every class. But guess what? It helped! I never missed a deadline or showed up unprepared for something.
I used to write everything down in a planner (work, school, family/friends, etc) but lately I keep it all in my head which is a very bad ideas as while I’m still organized, it’s super cluttered.
I’m pulling my planner back out and will get back into it =)
Wow that’s a lot of stuff to keep on top of! I really take my hat off to you for balancing it all and fitting it in so well. You go girl!
I love to use planners, BUT they have to be exactly (and I mean exactly) the style that I want them to be in. Otherwise, I will abandon it within weeks if not days. However, when I do use a planner, I am almost never ever late with anything. Without one, I’m a mess. I also love wall planners - especially for the academic year. It helps me to see ‘the big picture’ with greater clarity than I can imagine. Colour coding doesn’t work for me - it confuses me and so puts me off!
My main problem with doing, um, almost anything is that I just can’t get off my backside to do it. I hate - really, truly and intensely - starting anything. Once I’ve started I’m usually ok, because I always set mini-goals, but starting is such a pain in the ass. And that is why I really look up to yourself and people like you who manage to do so much with their time. Life is short and I think it’s great that you get to fit so many experiences into it.
All the best with everything in your schedule Amber!
great tips! I am having a bit of a hard time adjusting from student like (aka so much free time) to student teaching life (aka no free time) this week and these tips will really help me get back on track
Wow, you’re so impressive! I can’t believe that you manage to juggle so much. I think that I need to take some of your tips to help me manage my life a little better.
Your color coded files look almost fun. I think its the colors! Its inspiring me a little to buy filing cabinet and start putting things in it!
And even though I’m blogging and know how it works behind the scenes for me. Its still really interesting to find out how it works behind the scenes for someone else.
I am the same way with my planner- though I have to say it worked better when I was in school. Now that I’m teaching, I have a lesson plan book, and my own planner. Sometimes I write something in one and not the other and boy does it get confusing. I am a big “To Do” list person. Though I sometimes put something on it that I’ve already done just to check it off…haha
Thanks for this, Amber! You’re sort of superwoman haha. I’m super Type A so planning and staying organized is KEY to maintaining my sanity
youve always been so damn organized!! i kind of envy that!!
I use alot of the same organization techniques. I live and die by my calendar. I write everything down and usually have it on my blackberry as well (or try to).
My schedule is going to be much busier now that I am starting this new job, so I know i am going to have to make adjustments.
Oh, and I have learned that sometimes, you just have to say no to people when it comes to social stuff. I will only do one social thing per week because i tend to have one social thing a week for work, and I can’t have stuff going on more than 2 nights a week or I go al ittle cookoo!!
What’s hardest for me is getting enough sleep! I definitely need 8-9 hours and I’m impressed you manage to keep that up every day
I’m sure it helps having a Blackberry, too
Woah… I am majorly impressed with you! I think I would need a mini-Amber to help me out once in a while, lol!! I’m also finding that I am juggling a LOT this year. I only have 6 hours of class, but they require a LOT of work because I’m a graduate student. At the same time I have to do research for my research paper, but also for the final paper for one of the classes. I also have to meet with my supervisor. I have to work out. And I have to have a social life lol! I do try to plan things out as much a I can but sometimes when I get stressed out, I use the “hide and don’t think about it” method which doesn’t work and results in more stress.
Ok, now I’m stressed again… back to homework
I need to print this out and use it to organize my life. I have a planner somewhere, I have file folders still in the box I bought them in and stuff every where. I am just not disciplined enough to be organized. I need to work on it though. Thanks for the inspiration!
Your planner and file folders make me happy. I love office supplies!!
I’m impressed.
Love this post! It reminds me of a post I wrote awhile back. We have a lot of the same organizational methods.
I divided my google reader up into 2 accounts…my blog account only has fun blogs and there are about 90. My personal account reader has lots of PR blogs, writing blogs, reading blogs, etc. It helps keep me sane.
I LOVE this post to death…I definitely have a little OCD and I LOVE to plan!!!
Starting December I will be taking courses online to finish my degree. I have 10 courses and want to fast track it so that I can be finished within a year…I just wrote down a million notes so that I can start preparing and be ready when my classes start!!!
You are amazing!!!