How to Organize Your Time As A Busy Person

I will always consider college as the time when I finally began to flourish. As I mentioned in my hair transformation post, I really started becoming my own person and developing an identity through my style and interests. However, this was also a time in my life when some of my worst habits developed. Every semester, I became burnt out, I struggled with my mental health, and I had no understanding of how to take care of myself. Now here I am a few years later: I am working full-time, starting classes for my master’s program, and creating content for my blog, which is basically a full-time job by itself (bloggers know what I’m talking about). Now that I’ve discovered the beauty of sleep and the benefits of taking breaks, I have set out on a journey to create a healthy and balanced schedule. In this post, I’ll be discussing how to organize your time as a busy person!

A Little Background On Me

I have never been skilled at the balancing act. For instance, when I was in college, I had no sense of organizing my time at all. Here is a glimpse of my college habits:

• I would study late into the night without any breaks.
• I would get roughly 4-5 hours of sleep nightly. And if I was lucky, a 15-minute nap on the train commute to school.
• I had an irregular exercise schedule, which is something I still struggle with.
• I worked at a restaurant part-time and since I went to school during the days, I often worked closing hours until midnight. So picture working until 12 am, getting home by about 12:30 am, possibly studying, and squeezing a shower in there.

As an incredibly busy person at the time, I had no idea how to maximize my time through organizing. And upon graduating, I really gained an appreciation for sleep. Knowing that I would soon be working full-time and returning to school, a number one rule I told myself was that I had to get enough sleep!

Day In My Life Now

Nowadays, I get up by 7:40-8:00 am and prepare for the day. I won’t bore you with the details, but I try to allow myself time every morning to drink coffee and journal before I start my remote meetings.

Then I work roughly from 9:00 am- 11:30 am. In my breaks, I take time to stretch, do yoga, take a walk, meditate, and/or eat.

In my second break, I try to get a cleaning project done i.e. vacuum the house, mop the bathroom or kitchen, or start an organizing project. As the saying goes, “A clean home is a happy home!” After eating lunch, I go to work until about 5 pm.

Once I return home, I get started on my studies, which includes lots of reading, online assignments, and discussion forums. In between my studies, I take a couple of breaks to stretch or work on my blog.

Around 8-8:30 pm, I prepare and eat dinner and then focus my attention on anything blog related. Finally, I end most of my days with a shower, prep for the next day, and time to unwind, usually watching a show. Currently, I’m hooked on Mr. Robot and I highly recommend it. It’s gritty, angry, and unapologetic.

Anyways, that’s what most of my full days look like!

Let’s jump into some of my suggestions on how to organize your time when you live a busy life:

Create To-Do Lists

I have a tendency to get overwhelmed pretty quickly, so what I like to do is pick the top three tasks for that day. Not only does it help prioritize your life, but it makes the list a lot less daunting to tackle. Endless lists only create headaches. Break down that list! I also recommend creating a to-do list that’s meant to be taken care of within a week. Get a little done each day and you’ll complete it in no time!

Have Designated Calendars

When organizing a full day, it can be incredibly stressful to have every event, assignment, and task sharing space on one calendar. That is chaos at its finest. To avoid that, I highly recommend having multiple calendars designated for each important category of your life.

For example, I have a whiteboard I use for anything school-related. I also color code assignments as a way to stay extra organized and alert to each task. That may seem overboard, but it helps me tremendously.

For blogging, I have a separate calendar on my computer. Here, I am able to designate tasks for Pinterest, creating drafts, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), social media outreach, and research. I also color-code this to make everything more distinguishable.

Break It Down

I am a firm believer in creating a schedule that works best for me. As I mentioned previously, I get overwhelmed easily, so I’ve started utilizing a breaking down strategy. For example, I divide up the number of pages I have to read each week for school. Two chapters’ worth may seem like a lot, but split it up between 5-6 days, it is completely doable without stress.

Returning to my to-do lists suggestions, I like to focus on my top 3 tasks. Breaking down my to-do lists helps me categorize everything I have to do for my blog, school, and cleaning tasks.

Make Time For Breaks

This is self-explanatory. I never used to practice this, but not taking breaks is the surest way of burning out. Not only is taking breaks a chance to recharge, but it makes you more productive in the long-run. I tend to take breaks in between my readings. Most of my breaks entail something that’s enjoyable and doesn’t require too much brainpower. Basically, if you’ve been sitting for way too long, take a break, stretch, and get your butt moving.

My Final Take

Creating a healthy and balanced schedule can be very challenging, but I found that through the art of organizing time and breaking tasks up, it is completely possible. Think about your livelihood and ways to personally better your life. Then try applying it. Oh, and before I forget it: Don’t be hard on yourself. Some days you may be able to get a ton done and other days may not seem as productive. That is totally okay. Do what you can. Whether you believe it or not, it is enough!

Hope you found my tips on how to organize your time as a busy person helpful. There are so many ways to be organized and productive, so if you have any recommendations, please feel free to share them down below!

Good luck with your journey,

Harumi