Photo by K8 on Unsplash

As someone who frequently struggles with feeling overwhelmed with the amount of work on their plate, both educationally, professionally, and personally. I thought it would be helpful to share a quick guide on what has helped me fight these feelings and successfully get through my workloads. The first piece of advice is far too easy said than done: fight procrastination.

Procrastination is really putting off a tasking for a later date. I am a strong believer that if I am not in the mood to do something, there is not point in forcing my mind and body to do that task. The main reason is that it simple will not get done to its fullest potential if I force, and the most important reason is that I want to list to my body. However there are occasions when procrastination leads us into situations in which we cannot wait and have to force ourselves to get things done. In order to avoid this I have found that it is best to tackle a portion of that task, homework, assignment, or project in small increments daily. In my program we get assigned about 5 to 7 assignments per week. Doing it all in one day even if it is the same day that it is assigned, only makes this work more daunting and draining. Often times we are given several articles, videos, and podcasts to read and listen to, to supplement the work. Prioriting the assignments that affect your grade the most as well working on elements of your end project/final exam study guide can help to narrow your focus before diving in. The Entrepreneurship for Creatives MA program is divided into 8 week semesters and they move quick.

To save time while moving through your degree keep in mind that a lot of the work you have already done in previous courses, your program, undergrad, and even work project most likely relate to your current assignments. It is totally okay to pull from previous pieces of you own work to add to your current projects and even reuse them if the deliverables aligned to what you have already created. Not only does this save your time and energy, but it also gives you the opportunity to improve an older piece of your work and update your portfolio. Additionally, connecting with your cohort to form a classic study group or group chat to brain storm ways that you all can work together can be helpful in simply relieve some stress and making sure you are all on the same page. The group of students in my cohort are a lovely bunch and have definitely helped me through several problems.

Thanks to Sincerely Media @sincerelymedia for making this photo available freely on Unsplash

If you don’t take anything away from this blog post take this point away in what I believe is most important when it comes to getting anything done in a busy schedule: do something that makes you happy and give yourself breaks. Every other advice article you have ready probably told you to get organize, use your google calendar, and plan out your day hourly. These are amazing tactics – all of which I do use – and definitely help you see how much time you truly do have in a day. Therefore I definitely recommend to try them out but I highly encourage you to plan and organize time for passion projects, activities, exercise, naps, eating happy food, and generally something good for your spirit! You are working hard and accomplishing a lot rapidly. Rewarding yourself is not a gift you should do for yourself during spare time, but a requirement in make sure you feel your best and rejuvenated to keep working!