Student Blog: An Acting Student's Guide to a Busy Schedule

Any performer knows how busy and overwhelming life can get. Your mind is constantly racing with ideas and to-do lists, and your rehearsal schedule on top of every day tasks and expectations can be seemingly impossible. 

I’ve often had people in my life ask me how I have time to do everything I do: school, shows, create social media content, events with friends… And honestly? Sometimes even I have no idea.

Throughout my life, I’ve struggled with burn out from overworking myself. I set impossible standards, and then become increasingly frustrated when I don’t reach them. I’m always creating new goals, thinking of ideas for new projects, but physically don’t have enough hours in the day to complete them all (try as I might). And I only get more and more disappointed in myself when I don’t have enough energy to do my best work. Not to mention struggling with mental illness, causing a lack of motivation, and ADHD, making my thoughts scattered and my productivity unpredictable. 

My first year of college has been transformative for me in many ways. But one of the biggest things I’ve noticed is that I’m making huge strides to becoming more organized, and managing my time more effectively. I’m still a work in progress, as we all are, but I went from always being a few minutes late to always being early, and am maintaining a 3.9 GPA despite my busy schedule.

So, here are a few things that have helped me manage my time while earning my Acting degree. 

Number One: List making. I know, I know, you’ve heard this one before. But I will go absolutely insane if I don’t have everyhing on a to-do list. And when I say everything, I mean EVERYTHING: What I need to accomplish on a specific day, what I need to accomplish that week, what homework I have to do, what scenes I still need to memorize… Everything is on some sort of list. This may not work for everyone, but for me, I feel so relieved when something is written down, as opposed to trying to balance everything in my mind. And physically checking things off helps me remind myself that I’m making progress!

Personally, physically writing things down on a piece of paper or in a notebook has never been effective. I lose it, I forget it exists, I never bring it anywhere… I always utilize the notes app on my phone. It’s so much more convenient for me, and I can have everything I need in one place. And did you know you can organize your notes into folders? Who knew, right?

Making things digital has been a huge help for me during school. I finally was able to commit to using a digital calendar, because again, I am so much less stressed when I can see things laid out in front of me. These can be hard to commit to, but the stress of me forgetting events or not knowing my schedule far outweighed my lack of motivation to make a calendar. I have one calendar shared on all of my devices (I use Google calendar myself, but there are so many apps you can use), and color code everything based on what kind of task/event it is. I have one color for classes, one color for rehearsal, one color for seeing friends… and it’s been incredibly helpful!

But even if we’re physically organized, how do you handle everything on those lists and that calendar? How do I not panic just by looking at the sheer amount of things I need to accomplish? 

One thing that really helped me was giving myself plenty of time every morning. Starting my day off rushed only makes me stressed and anxious for the rest of the day. At the beginning, I had to force myself to start waking up earlier (I am definitely not a morning person by nature…) But, by the end of the year, I was enjoying my long mornings before class. Starting off my day slowly waking up, having time to get my coffee, arriving to class early and being able to take in my rehearsal space for the day, all helped me get into a better mindset for the tasks at hand. The more rushed I feel, the more anxious I become. Giving myself as much time to get ready / prepare as I could allowed me to feel more at ease!

It’s also important to remember that it’s okay to say no to things. If you feel too drained to go out with your friends, or if you really just need some time to yourself, that is okay! Don’t let anyone make you feel guilty for taking care of yourself. And it’s very important to give yourself time to recharge!

Self care can look like a lot of things: watching your favorite TV show, eating your favorite food, or spending time with your favorite people if that's what you need! But making time for self care is the most important part of a busy and demanding lifestyle. I’d make a goal of at least one day a week, make a point to take the time to do something that truly just makes you happy. Or once a day if you’re able! You deserve it!

Above all, remember that we’re doing this work because we love it. Sometimes I get so worried about deadlines, or auditions, or living up to certain expectations, that I forget to take a step back and realize that everything I’m doing ( acting classes, rehearsals…) is an opportunity to do something I truly enjoy. Getting into that mindset makes a packed schedule look just a bit easier.

Of course this is all easier said than done, and simple lifestyle and habit changes can’t just magically fix anything. But any progress is still progress! In the end, it’ll all be worth it.

Take care of yourselves,

K

(TikTok: starksnova ; Instgaram: katiesgleason)