My life has been going through spirals lately, because of all of the stress I’ve had to deal with in my career, school, and personal life. After so much time has been spent feeling like a weight is on my shoulders and just taking too much out of me, I basically feel like it is time to sit back and evaluate what is going on.

This time I turned to my friend L, because it never seems to stick on me when I do it myself. It is also always good to have another person looking from the outside, because they aren’t clouded in the situation and it isn’t you judging yourself. L began to tell me how I needed to get rid of all the negativity in my life. To sit down and look at the good and bad of all things going on around me. Was it really necessary to keep doing what had been bothering me for so long? To let go of all the negativity would make my life turn into more positive being generated. I was able to start a new life in a new city, new school, and a new job. This was an opportunity that most people aren’t given and I should take advantage of it. Everything L said made complete sense, so I decided to take on the challenge.

I began to look at this like throwing out the clutter that was overwhelming my life. So I began to write down what needed to change. Starting with work, school, and finally things in my personal life. Things I needed to learn how to say “no” to and things I needed to actually start saying “yes” to so that I can make my life easier. Trust me, evaluating your life is never an easy task. Especially when you’re not accepting of sudden changes. Luckily for me, I love change, so starting fresh is always something I look forward to. It is mainly why I love the start of a new quarter or project. I’m hoping the start of this new project will help me accomplish turning everything negative into a positive by going with this theory of getting rid of the things that are actually negative in my life or figuring out a way to fix them upon impact. Wish me luck!

The following blog post is not something I usually write, but intended to help my fellow readers and close friends who always ask me how I get everything done and where I find the time to do it all:

I recently spoke with a friend who had been completely stressed with what life had decided to drop on her plate. She began to explain her problems having a full time job, attending school, social life, family, making sure her boyfriend wasn’t neglected in the process, and anything else that had been thrown her way recently. I began to immediately relate and think back about all the times I had exactly the same problem. I began to give her advice about learning how to say “Sorry, I can’t make it” or “No” when it is absolutely necessary. Recently I have found myself falling into the same pattern as I had decided to take on so many tasks and in the end found myself not content with the amount of time I had to myself or what I was prioritizing. So I take a breath and go back to my organizational drawing board.

It becomes hard when you have so many things to do and never enough time to do it. Of course we all want to make every event, because we probably don’t want to miss out on the opportunity or we don’t want to let someone down. Although, when you become tired and you find yourself deciding whether your sleep is less important than the fifth social event you might attend that week, it is time to take a step back. Which is always the worst part for me specifically, because then I have to decide what comes first. Of course I know that school and work should take a priority in almost everything I do, but when it has been a while since you’ve seen your friends and you wouldn’t mind going out to that one networking event, your priorities become an option. Meaning, you start to find out where you are going to squeeze in work and school around the event rather than declining the invitation or leaving early and/or arriving late. This usually means the quality of work you put forth is not as great as you know you could have done and in the end leaves you dissatisfied.

I have worked on this by looking around and seeing what is most important. The key to all of my problems is usually organization. When school is in session it takes more of your time than when you only have to work during the summer. This means you have to make a list and say ok, this is what needs to get done. Then decide where you are going to fit all of the social events in after work and school are accomplished. (Don’t forget the time you need to get ready, eat, and rest. Most people forget these three important details.) After you have laid everything all out on the table and decided what is going to be done at what times, look at your list and see if you can shrink down any of it into a smaller time frame. What about spending more time on homework a specific day so that you don’t have to work on it another day so you give yourself some time to relax. (There should always be at least one day of time to yourself.) Or if you and your significant other usually go out to dinner and a movie, spend some of your time at your/their place and watch a movie and fix dinner there. You can both get some study time done [hopefully ] and spend time with each other. And if you need to, say no to a few social events each week. You can’t attend them all and no one expects you to be in three places at once. (How you can respond to these in a positive and appreciative manner I will discuss in maybe a future blog post.)

Without making this too long, those are just some of my tips in the whole scheduling and organizing process. Once you find yourself getting on a schedule and making sure you stick to it, the work flow usually comes naturally and you find yourself not as stressed as you first were. You are able to go out without regretting it and making time for yourself.