Chances are you have either had Spring Break or are very close to experiencing it’s glory. An entire week off. Maybe some sunshine or some extra rest. Perhaps bringing many text books to another location to just sit and take up pounds in your luggage and not be touched until you return to campus. It’s okay. We’ve all been there.
Reset at Any Time
Spring Break is a natural pause in your semester to reset. But even if you didn’t get off campus or change up your routine recently, you can still edit your priorities. We think of January 1st or the beginning of a new semester or summer as a time to make some new intentions. These are great times to evaluate what we are doing, why we are doing what we are doing and if those things align with our priorities. And while evaluations and setting intentions are very important and worthwhile especially at the beginning of a semester, I’m here to say they can be done at any point in your year. Even in the middle of a semester! It is so much better to reevaluate and edit something out, than to go through the motions of carrying out a commitment.
Remember that your priorities are those bigger categories in your life — academics, mental health, relationships, your future, faith, physical health, a job or internship, an area of leadership, professional development, etc. It’s always important to make sure you figure out your priorities before you create your schedule. That way you can be sure that your calendar and commitments fit what matters to you, instead of filling your schedule and hoping to squeeze your priorities into the little free time you may have left.
Taking the time to evaluate and edit your priorities on a regular basis will serve you greatly, not just in college, but throughout the rest of your life.
These priorities will shift over time, but not always at a time that is convenient for us. While I do believe it is important to evaluate these at the beginning of each semester, they may change in the midst of a semester. Things happen. Priorities change. If we don’t realign our commitments accordingly, chances are we will end up feeling some tension and friction at the activities we continue being involved in. This often can lead to bitterness, resentment and burnout quickly. Taking the time to evaluate and edit your priorities on a regular basis will serve you greatly, not just in college, but throughout the rest of your life.
Easy as 1, 2, 3
So how do you go about this process? Take some time this week to pause. Go for a walk or grab your journal. If you have 2-3 categories that you have prioritized this semester look over each of those and see if they still matter the most to you. If you haven’t taken the time to identify these categories — do so now.
I like to look at a schedule with a few things in mind.
- Priorities. These are those 2-3 broad categories that matter most to you in this season. See this post if you are having a hard time figuring those out. If you have more than 3 it is going to be very hard to have a schedule that is sustainable. If everything’s important, nothing is important. Remember that something can be important in this season and maybe not in the next. Or maybe something was important to you and is not anymore. This is okay. Lean into the freedom that comes with this idea.
- “Always Items”. These are those things in your schedule that you will always have included. Maybe you aren’t training for a marathon, but running is something you do to take care of your physical health. You might not be asking deep questions about your purpose, but maybe your faith community keeps you grounded. These always items most likely will be a part of your schedule on a regular, consistent basis regardless of your priorities that semester. They may become a “priority” if you are diving deep into something, but in other words they are non-negotiables when it comes to your calendar.
- Commitments. These are the things you have committed to this season. Classes, work, student orgs, leadership opportunities, intramurals, social engagements, trips, etc. Anything that has a time and a place and most likely things that are required from you.
Once you have those priorities figured out, whether they have changed or not, look over your commitments. Take some time to observe. Is there anything that stands out as not belonging or fitting into those? Anything that feels off in light of those priorities? Any commitments you feel like you can eliminate based on your priorities? Write these down.
Take the time to edit your commitments. Be ruthless if you are feeling overwhelmed and burnt out. You can always pick something back up if time allows but no commitment is worth your sanity. Take anything that you wrote down in the step above out of your calendar for the remainder of the semester.
Plan out Rest & Downtime too
Once your schedule is edited, add in your always items, including rest and downtime. And there you go! You can always edit from this point as well. Make it a habit to regularly check over these three categories and you will be able to prevent at least a little bit of overwhelm and burnout. There will always be times in your semester that feel like a lot — midterms, busy seasons at work, getting through everything at the end of the semester, but those can at least be mitigated somewhat with a pared down, simplified schedule. When everything is adding to your priorities, even the challenging seasons are worthwhile.
If you are looking for more help to simplify, check out some inspo here, or here or some easy places to start here. And feel free to reach out if you’re looking for help on figuring out your priorities!
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