This summer has been and is going to continue to be the most hectic summer of my life. Right now, my schedule is a crazy one, consisting of working at Express, interning at Zeeberry and CollegeFashionista, taking ten credit hours of college classes, and simultaneously letting all of my creativity keep flowing here on the blog.
Needless to say, I’m feeling a little bit stressed. I would literally be a complete mess at doing all of these things if I didn’t have some serious time management skills down. Because of everything that’s on my plate, I’ve just become so aware of how precious my time is and how I don’t want to spend any minute wasting my time away. I want to get all of my goals accomplished for the day so that I can have enough time to spend my free time with the people who I love the most.
So, today I decided to share some of the things that have kept me going this summer with you just in case your summer is going a little like mine…
1. Create a fun Spotify playlist to get your productivity going.
I don’t know about you, but good music is SO powerful to me. If I’m feeling down, all I need to do is put on some jams and I’m immediately feeling in a much better mood. This is why, at the beginning of the summer, I started curating a fun playlist on Spotify to keep me going whether I was studying for economics quizzes (yuck, right?!) or writing a piece on the latest street style fashions. My playlist is an ongoing one, so that anytime I want to change it up and add or delete songs, I can. I would definitely recommend creating a playlist specifically to keep you cranking out your work. Believe me, it helps.
2. Take the beginning of your day to plan + relax.
I love starting my mornings by sitting in my room, listening to music and drinking a cup of coffee. This takes but 10 to 20 minutes, but that is just my me time where I can sit and relax before I begin my busy day. Whatever this looks like for you, I’m a huge fan of this because I think it prepares you well for the day. Instead of waking up and immediately having to rush into things, get up a little bit earlier so you can ease your way into the day. Think about the things that need to be done and prioritize them, and make a game plan for how you’re going to get those things done.
3. Take advantage of small windows of time.
I’m such a procrastinator sometimes that I can see half hour time slots in between school and work and think, “Oh yay, I’m going to catch part of a Gilmore Girls rerun” or something along those lines. While a break like that is well-deserved if you really do need it, I usually do not. These little slots of time add up quickly, so take advantage of them. Do some homework. Run some errands. Make the most out of the little breaks in your schedule so that you can end up with more free time later!
4. Break it into pieces.
Sometimes I take a peek at my math assignment or a 2,000 word article that I have to write, and I just want to go crawl right back in bed. It’s so daunting to take an assignment as a whole and try to start working away at it. I like to break it into maybe three or four pieces and give myself a goal to complete one or two of the pieces, then take a break. On this break I can either relax or just move on to a different assignment to get a change of scenery. Once I’ve been away for a while and had a little time where I don’t have to think about that specific project, I’m in much better spirits when I think about completing it than I was before. This is probably my favorite piece of advice because this is really what helps me accomplish all of my tasks on a day-to-day basis.
5. Wear a watch.
As cliche as it is, wearing a watch has really helped me keep a sense of time about my day. I can tell myself to work on assignment for a certain amount of time, and wearing a watch really allows me to not let the day slip away from me. Something so simple can really go a long way. JORD does a really great job at making watches that work amazingly with my wardrobe and makes me want to accessorize with a watch instead of forgoing it!
So, there you have it. Do you have any helpful tips that I didn’t mention? While I’ve gotten a lot better at my time management skills, there is still work to be done and I can always get better! I’d love to hear from you and how you stay productive even with what seems like an incredibly daunting amount on things on your plate. Good luck and start chipping away at that to-do list!
//complete outfit details//
//kimono – PacSun (similar)//
//tank – American Eagle//
//shorts – thrifted//
//watch – JORD Wood Watches//
Much love,
Olivia