Settling into a new schedule isn’t easy, and it’s especially difficult when you’ve become so accustomed to your old routine. However, as your new semester, sports season, or rehearsal schedule begins, it’s important to find your new flow as quickly as possible. Here are some tips and tricks to help you get into a new swing of things!
Keep your schedule as your lock screen
Most of the time, you can access schedules online, but having your class schedule set as your phone’s lock screen means that you’ll always be looking at it, which makes it a little easier to imprint it in your head. Since class schedules don’t change from week to week, you hopefully won’t need to have it there for too long and can reset your lock screen after a couple of weeks. For changing schedules such as rehearsals or practices, it may be a good idea to change them out every time there’s an inconsistency so you don’t forget the changes.
Related: Tips for Choosing Your Senior Year Schedule
Set alarms and reminders
Set alarms for 15 minutes before every new item on your schedule so you don’t forget where you’re going or what you’re doing. If there’s a long period where you don’t have a lot going on, set a second reminder for 30 minutes before. That way if you want to take a nap or relax, you won’t lose track of time, because it’s often really easy to get distracted and forget what you’re supposed to be doing.
Decide if your schedule is too much
Since you’re still figuring out your schedule, it can be easy to think you have more free time than you actually do, and you may be jeopardizing precious study time to go to five meetings a week. This can ultimately cause a lot of harm in how you function as a student, which should always be one of your top priorities.
However, make sure you’re not sacrificing your mental health for the sake of doing everything. That’s another top priority you should maintain. Nothing is more important than your mental health¾so if you need to drop an activity, do it.
Related: How to Balance College, Work, and Social Time: Top 10 Do’s and Don’ts
Enjoy what you’re doing
Another important thing about your schedule: you should enjoy most of what you’re doing. The word “most” is used here because some things just have to be done. You won’t love every class you take, and sometimes you’re going to have a miserable practice or shift at work. On the whole though, most of your time should be spent doing things you enjoy. If you absolutely hate running, don’t join the track team. If you’re not too crazy about acting, don’t audition. Doing something for the sake of making your résumé or application look better means nothing in the long run if there isn’t passion behind it, and you’ll inevitably start to get lazy with certain commitments you make.
Related: 5 Tips for Choosing Your Extracurriculars
As you start to find your new rhythm, try to remember that you can get a handle on these things and that you should be having fun!
What’s one more thing every student should add to their schedules? Searching for scholarships!
