Who ever said going to school and working was easy, lied! & to add on top of that blogging and working out..it damn near seems impossible. Seeming impossible and being impossible are two different things though! Nothing is impossible. Okay, maybe some things are, but going to Grad school, working, and blogging...well that is not impossible. I'm doing it right now.
With that being said, I decided to come up with a list of strategies I use to balance my life...with coffee thrown in the mix there!
One of the things I have learned over the years is the importance of keeping a schedule. Let me explain. In grad school, you'll have tons of work to do, plus on top of that your actual job, which may contain meetings and what not like mine, and add wanting to blog to that mix. Keeping a schedule helps with all that stuff. You know when things are due, when meetings are and when you want to blog. For instance, lots of times, I plan my blog posts ahead. So I have an idea of what I want to write about. When its time to blog, I pull out my ideas and get to writing. Same goes with school and work. I schedule in when I need to do reading or write an essay, and I schedule in what days I will blog.
Keeping on top of work sounds easy, but it isn't. That in itself is a hard job to accomplish. Let something get behind, you tell yourself "I'll do it later" Later comes and it doesn't get done. School is my main priority. My job comes second to school. Because I love blogging, I stay on top of my studies so I can find time for blogging. Knowing when I have to do something and actually getting it done helps with that balance and time.
Weekends are my best friend. No, I do not go out and party, okay on rear occasion I do. But weekends I primarily use for blogging. I use this time to plan my blog post and catch up on any school work that I may have gotten lazy on.
Taking me time also is a big thing. Having a few hours to just focus on myself. Whether it be reading a book (that is not school work) or meditating, that time to myself helps me refocus. My brain doesn't become all mush because of all the the things I have to do, rather I can relax my brain doing something that I enjoy, then get back to my scheduled actives.