One of the biggest difference between high school and college? The schedule and how crazy it can be. There is so much to do: classes to go to, friends to hang out with, clubs to join that it can be super crazy and hectic on you and your planner. Here are my tips on everything you need to know about keeping yourself sane during your freshman year and throughout your collegiate career.

Learn to say no

This is the biggest tip. I will give you a pep talk about saying no next week that will probably include some clever ways to say no, but for now, you need to learn to say no. There will be a million things you want to do, but you can only do maybe one or two of those things (depending on the tasks) but hopefully one if you are devoting your full attention to whatever you
are doing.

Learn the difference between doing something and “doing” something

Ahh quotation marks you change the simplest word into something else entirely. If you are studying your are very engaged with the material and you are working really hard to pay attention to what you are learning about, but if you are “studying” you are not focused, probably snap chatting the cutie in the class you are studying for, and watching Vlogbrothers on Youtube. Make sure you know when you are studying versus “studying” and that you are correcting yourself if you are doing a bit too much “studying.” You are much more productive when you are studying and you will get done studying a lot faster so you can go out and enjoy life with friends.

Limit the amount of clubs you join

I know that you want to join at least 50 over the 200+ organizations your school has but limit that. In college it’s not about the amount of clubs you have joined, but what you did in those clubs. High school clubs can be so superficial, but in college you can actually make a lot of difference. Joining Student Government gives you the chance to actually govern over parts of your campus; being in a sorority/fraternity gives you the chance to host events, meet people. and donate real money to charities; being a member of a political organization allows you to meet real elected officials or ones that want to be elected and campaign for them or hear them speak; being an Ambassador your campus allows you to meet real perspective students and show them around your campus, and so on and so forth. College clubs will take up considerably more time than high school clubs so make sure you are ready for it.

Keep a weekly to-do list

Each Sunday write down all the meetings you have, major assignments due, and any fun activities you know you want to do. Keep it on your desk each week and even break it down by day so you can see where all your to-dos are in terms of days. Mark off each done item as you complete it for a better look at your schedule each week.

Make classes mandatory…not optional

You go to college, first, to get an education. The clubs you get to join and friends you get to make are important to keeping you at college, but don’t let them take priority over going to class. If you have that type of mentality, you won’t be at college long. You have to make the grades to stay in school so make sure you are making the grades by going to class. Don’t treat class like an option and go to class. If you are sick that is one thing, but skipping for the sake of it will not help you in the end. Go to class.

These are my tips on how to effectively keep up with your schedule as you get to college. I hope these helped you out and as always if you have.