I had really been struggling with the topic for today, coming up with one that is with so many other things on my mind. For those of you who talk to me on Twitter or watch my IMM vlogs you'll know that I'm moving into my university's dorms on Saturday. Not only will this be my first time at a "real" university as the past few years I've been going to the local community college but it will also be my first time away from home. And there's so much that needs to get done. Shopping to do, laundry, packing, cleaning, etc. Which is why coming up with a topic for today's Tiara Talk temporarily fell to the wayside...that is, until I realized that those things were today's topic.
All of us lead busy lives. We're all balancing things like school, work, and families. The other thing that we all have in common is that we're readers, we love books, and some of us even love to blog about those books. Or even just blog in general. Put all of these things together and suddenly you have an insane balancing act...or you might begin to feel like you're juggling chainsaws.
So how do you deal with it?
Over the summer it wasn't that big of deal for me. I wasn't unable to procure a job, I didn't have summer school to deal with, and there wasn't a whole lot going on for a girl without wheels. BF and I live with my Mom right now and they are the only two that have cars. Both of them are constantly working so I pretty much spent the entire summer at home. I had plenty of time to read. Most days I read at least a book a day. [These results are not typical. Your results may not be the same.] I knew this wouldn't last. There is a real world out there after all and I knew it was coming for me. Eventually. Well. Here it is. Summer's almost over and school has almost begun. I'm also hoping to get a job once I get settled there. Toss in some homework and the blog and trying to come home to see my family and I've got myself some nice chainsaws there to juggle.
Luckily I did meet one of my summer goals which was to get ahead in reviews. I should have reviews to last me at least two months providing I don't have time to write fresh ones, which is good. That takes care of two of my four posts a week. The other two are Tiara Talks like this one and my vlogs for IMM [which I'm not at all worried about, I doubt I even have many books to share in the coming weeks]. I had hoped to get ahead in Tiara Talks as well so I didn't have to worry about those. But I didn't. I don't even have an emergency one prepared any more. Which means these are written Tuesday mornings...usually. So I'll have these to keep up with, which for those of you that post daily doesn't seem like that big of deal. You have an entire week's worth of posts to stress over. What's a single post? For me it's a little intimidating. Remember, I'm new to this.
Plus I want to read. A lot. Reading makes me happy and as I'm a really stressed out person most of the time it's one of those rare things that can take that away. Not only while I'm reading but when I finish a book it usually leaves me with a sense of calmness. I need my dosage of calm if I'm going to survive this semester. Especially living away from home for the first time. And with five other girls. And balancing FOUR classes. Which shouldn't be a big deal since I usually take five a semester. But these are UNIVERSITY courses and that word for some reason intimidates the you know what out of me. And the fact that one of those is my second semester of Spanish which will be conducted ENTIRELY IN SPANISH. Oh yes, I feel the anxiety attack coming on now.
*deep cleansing breath* Okay. I'm back.
So my question for all of you guys is this...how do you do it? How do you manage your time so that you're able to get everything done that you need to and want to? Talk to me about time management. Tell me your tricks, spout off some words of wisdom, tell your horror stories, share whatever you feel hits on the topic. We're all ears here. :]
When I have lots of things to do, I find it helps to write it down. When you're just thinking about it, you feel overwhelmed. But when it is written down, it is easier to see what needs to be done, and then set up a schedule for each to manage your time. don't forget to include eating and sleeping in the schedule!
ReplyDeleteI've tried writing everything down before that I needed to accomplish but I haven't tried putting it into schedule form before. I think I might try that. Thank you for the tip, Arianne! :]
ReplyDeleteWhat a great topic! This is something I struggle with this on a daily basis. My goal for this summer was to read, work, get ahead on posts, and make a review requests system, and blog calendar to keep track of everything.
ReplyDeleteMy blog has grown over the months and it takes up more time than ever. Unfortunately I also started law school last year and that takes up A TON of time.
My best tips are to start your days early (and trust me im not a morning person) and to make a google calendar. I use different colors for classes, blog reviews, studying, hanging out, and appointments. Then you can view any combination of the calendars or all of them at once. Each week I print out my weekly calendars and use that to keep track of everything. I also set up alerts that the calendars offer.
I love google. You can do it though, its so excited to move into a college dorm room. Have a blast with it :)
-Michelle @ Book Briefs