Student Blog: How Can You Manage It All?

Theatre, work, and school are a lot to deal with, even without school during the summer it is still a huge responsibility. School may be out but summer internships and other fun activities are back in full force. Life is quite overwhelming, especially when dealing with extra work and preparing financially for the next school year.  Sometimes the tasks are never-ending, the jobs are all too much, and I have no time even to exist, let alone be a person outside of my work. Nevertheless, there are a few things I do to make it all a bit more manageable.

My life is filled with things I love, but it's chaotic which means planning is crucial for me. I am first and foremost a planner, the definition of Type A.  Throughout high school, and all of college thus far I have been the person with the colorful pens, highlighters, and stickers all tucked away alongside my detailed and thorough planner. Over the years that planner has had numerous forms and more recently it has taken the form of a Google calendar.

Color-coded panels, extreme details, and most importantly scheduled breaks make it all doable yet looking at it is enough to make many people feel overwhelmed. I find having my entire day mapped out makes it all feel less sporadic and controllable. I have honed these skills through my job as an executive assistant where I have learned how to make the most efficient calendar for both my boss and myself. By planning in this much detail I have a lot of control over how my weeks look. When putting meetings in my calendar I often include details on who I am meeting with, both personal and professional. What is the meeting for? How did we meet? What is their full name? Just any type of detail that best sets me up for success. Everyone's schedule is different, and finding the right balance of detail and specificity has helped me make the most of my time with work, theatre, and school.

A typical week in the summer for me looks something like this:

During the school year, I schedule one to three-hour time slots for homework as I find that is the best most productive time frame for me to get work in. Regarding work, I have the flexibility to choose my workdays due to my role at the St. James, and my morning jobs typically only last until 10:30 am. This leaves me with the ability to fit in rehearsals for school projects as well. During the school year, I do tend to over-extend myself, in truth. I love all that I do and this past year I learned the hard way that eventually things have to give and there is a time and place to politely decline offers. Mental health and physical health are more important than any club or function.

Outside of the scheduling and the planning, there are also other ways I use to help me keep it all together. I make sure to have at least one fun activity a week that is not work or school. I may go see a show, go to the park, call my long-distance friends, etc. It looks different each week and the time and place rarely is the same. Some weeks it may be just staying in my apartment with my cat, Peggy, and enjoying a good TV show. Either way, taking some time to relax is necessary.

I also think it truly is imperative to have a strong support system whether it be friends, family, or some mixture of the two. My family lives several states away, yet we stay in contact and call at least every other week. I want to hear about their lives and vice versa. Some of my best friends live out in Iowa and I love to talk to them about their theatre work as well as their life, it reminds me why we do all of this, connection. I also have amazing friends in the city who are always there for me, no questions asked, which makes the chaos feel more manageable.

I thrive on staying busy, and despite the busy schedule with theatre, work, and school, I manage it all with careful planning, making sure to take time to relax, and having an incredible support system of friends and family.

Photo Credit: Steph Deckard