Student Blog: Back to Basics

I have always considered myself to be pretty good at time management and keeping track of my responsibilities. In high school, this was pretty easy to do: although my schedule was busy thanks to cross country practices in the fall and musical rehearsals in the winter, my routine was largely the same every day: go to school, do homework, go to practice or rehearsal, come home, eat dinner, do homework, go to bed. 

However, in college, every single day is different: I might have the same general routine of class, homework, and rehearsal, but it’s different classes every day, different amounts of homework every day, different types of rehearsals every day, different amounts of free time every day. And, in addition to all that, I've got the added independence of living on my own in a dorm environment and having the chance to balance social activities with everything else I already had going on. 

This was one of the biggest things I had to get used to during freshman year: the knowledge that the very rough time management strategies I’d employed throughout high school weren’t going to cut it. So, here’s a guide to what I’ve learned that helps me keep my life together, even during the busiest of times. Spoiler alert: for the most part, I’ve just gone back to the basics. 

First up: Google Calendar. I know, I know, you hear everyone everywhere talking about how wonderful Google Calendar (or another similar platform) is and how much it helps people keep track of their lives. I rolled my eyes at all of these rave reviews at first, but now that I’ve seen how hectic my schedule can get, I rely on Google Calendar to keep myself sane. Between the color-coding options, the ability to link it to your email and Apple calendars so everything shows up in one place, and the easily accessible platform, I’ve come to rely on Google Calendar to keep track of everything I have going on, both during the hectic weeks and the calmer ones. 

I’ve found that in order to keep myself sane and organized, time blocking as much of my day as I can before it happens is crucial. Sure, things will change during the day, but at the very least I’ll have my class schedule, rehearsal schedules, and social activities blocked out on my calendar so I know exactly how much free time I’ll have on a given day and can figure out what the best use of that time will be. 

Next up: a good old fashioned to-do list. This might seem cliché, but the feeling of checking off an item and seeing how many tasks, big or small, I’ve completed in a given day is incredibly satisfying. I used a to-do list for my homework in high school, but never for any of my other day-to-day tasks. However, in college, I have enough going on between tasks for the shows I’m in, responsibilities for the newspaper, classes, and other random chores that I need to keep track of and complete in a timely manner that an organized to-do list is essential to ensure I can keep up with everything.   

I’ve learned that even though I always thought I could get away with not setting aside time to plan out my day, it’s important for me to take a few minutes each night or each morning and do that. Otherwise, things will slip through the cracks, and I’ll make myself more stressed unnecessarily. 

I use these same strategies for my theater responsibilities as well. When I'm figuring out my schedule for the upcoming week, that includes rehearsal times and locations, as well as production meetings or any other theater-related commitments I may have. When I’m making my to-do lists, they include off-book dates, scenes and songs to learn, and choreography to review. Staying organized and disciplined in my academic life extends to my theatrical life as well. 

Although it took me quite a while to find strategies that work for me, these strategies have proved over and over again that sometimes going back to the basics of organization can be best.