How I balance it all: health, schedules, and happiness.
Beginning my master’s degree feels incredible, but my new schedule is overwhelming. It feels like the time I use to have for myself has completely vanished. What they don’t tell you when you sign up to be a student while working full time is the pressure that comes with it. I’ve started to get forgetful: Did I turn off the oven? Did I finish my post for the class website? Have I emailed my boss back yet?
With the impending stress swallowing up my life, I’ve decided to take a few steps to focus on my well-being. I’ve cut out major stress inhibitors in order to manage my newfound obligations.
Since beginning my classes last month:
I’ve begun drinking green smoothies in the mornings with extra protein in order to start my very long day off strong and energized.
I’m committed to eating greens at least twice a day for brain food and energy fuel.
I’ve made the commitment to exercise 2-3 times per week, no excuses.
I’ve cut out all excess sugars that keep me tired.
I make myself go to bed by 10PM on weeknights in order to get a full 8 hours of sleep.
I try to eliminate excess social media usage before bed to calm my thoughts.
I try to voice my frustrations early on instead of letting them build up.
I’ve learned deep breathing techniques for mindfulness.
I do my homework as soon as possible to eliminate stress on the weekends.
I respond to all inquiries at work and mark everything that I haven’t responded to as ‘unread’ before I forget to respond.
I’m learning yoga, and it’s kind of painful, but worth it.
I am trying. I’m not always succeeding, but I’m learning. I think that a great part of growing up is pushing yourself to the limit and seeing what you can do to manage. Right now I’ve definitely reached my limit of activities, but I’m taking my days one at a time and seeing things with a fresh mind.
