So how do I maintain a busy school life on top of working full-time and having a pretty packed social life?

Is there a secret?

Not really.

Everyone has been bullet journaling since like 2010. Its turned into a pretentious art craze where you spend more time decorating the damn pages than using them to help you.

For those of you who don’t know what a bullet journal is, it’s basically a freeform planner. You get a blank notebook of some kind, and format the month and day pages by hand. It’s kind of like ‘if you want something done right, do it yourself’ thing, because so many day planners out there don’t have space for the things some people need in day to day life, like planning time for social events outside of work or school or including pages no one uses these days (address book and phone numbers by hand).

While I admit that the craze over aesthetically pleasing journals is fun to look it, a real bullet journal looks like shit.

Mine looks like shit

Why?

I don’t have time to keep up an aesthetic while I’m commuting and working and doing schoolwork. Which is what the bullet journal was intended for. Being too busy to care about meaningless formatting.

Does bullet journalling really work?

Some days. If I remember to update it. There’s no right or wrong way to bullet journal, but there are ways to make it work for you. 

It takes time to get the hang of bullet journalling, between setting up your own format and then getting through the cluelessness of spreads and what will work for you and your life.

I honestly love using mine to keep track of what’s due when and to make sure my schedules for work and school are lining up right. 

So how do I set up my bullet journal?

I buy a cheapo journal from the retailer I work at (since I’m there a hell of a lot). Then I crack open to the first page. I relish the fleeting moment of aesthetics and productivity.

Then I begin my spreads. I start with a month 2-page spread. I make a little calendar for the month and list out important days for the month, like birthdays, holidays, etc. On the second page, I write out appoitments or meetings I make throughout the month, as well as test dates and project due dates.

Each class gets a color code; for example one class is exclusively green in my journal. Everything for the class is written only in green. Depending on whether I’m beginning the semester that month or halfway through, I’ll write out my class schedule and syllabus due dates for each class (in corresponding color). If I’m halfway through the semester, I’ll just note important dates for my classes for that month.

Then comes the daily spreads. Each day gets it’s own page. For each day, I block out what time’s I’m either in class, commuting, or working. I also make two columns; what’s due that day and what’s coming up that week. This really helps as I get things done and have free time, I can start working on projects or reorganize my notes.

I do my daily spreads throughout the day. So if I have a couple minutes between classes, I’ll update the spread for due dates that the professor has extended or start setting up my spread for the next day.

I have to keep every day as planned out as possible since I do have very little free time.

Does bullet journaling really help? I’m not entirely sure. Some people swear by it. Me, I just need something that works better than a mass-produced planner where half the pages I won’t use because they don’t apply to my life and my day-to-day. I love having everything written down somewhere so I can look back and kick myself after I miss something that I should’ve remembered.

And sure, who doesn’t like looking like that bitch in class, pulling out a cutesy little journal and jotting down something and looking super put-together and ‘on top of it’.

I get this all the time when I tell people how full my schedule is with school and work. They all get this shocked little look and kind of stammer ‘wow, do you have any time for your boyfriend?’ And I want to slap them all each and every time they say some variation of that.

You want to know why?

Because my boyfriend is not a choice-maker in my life.

Even if he were my husband and all of our financial accounts were shared, he still wouldn’t be the decision maker. Because it is my life.

I understand these concerned people are more-so just because I do have a packed schedule and they’re trying to comprehend how I handle it all.

But how do I handle it? How do I handle being in school full-time, working full-time, studying full-time? By being a complete and udder dickhead.

I literally had to cancel every plan with my family over the summer. Seriously. In my family group chat last night, I had to tell everyone that I was too busy with school to come camping at all this summer.

I told my boyfriend that I’m going to have dedicated study hours and that I cannot break them. I also told him to figure out the 5 days he wants to see me all summer so I can use the only vacation days I have to see him for half the day instead of studying.

And when fall semester rolls around… I don’t know yet.

But managing a relationship inside or outside of school… That’s easy. Everyone makes it seem likes it’s hard, but so many couples (especially straight couples) forget about communication and commitment in a relationship. They forget that a relationship is a commitment you make ahead of time and that you have to make time and sacrifices for it, for those people.

So what are some tips I have to make a relationship last during hectic semesters?

1. Have nights out with your SO every so often. Catch dinner and a movie and just talk. Not everything has to be about sex, not everything has to be about being a perfect couple. Just connect as friends would.
2. Communicate as mush as you can what your school commitments are. Don’t blindside your SO when you have to cancel date night because a project group is running late. Communicate everything ahead of time, like what your week is going to look like and what your workload is going to look like. Let them know when your study hours are so they won’t be disturbing you during crunch time.
3. Think of them as your break every week from studying. Maybe you facetime, or actually call each other, or it’s your date night once a week. But make time for them once a week as a reward for making it through another grueling week.

Does this always work? No, hell no. I’ve been dating my boyfriend for over three years and doing work and school in between all that. We’ve fought and screamed and had our bad days. Just like anyone. But we’ve worked through them.

So is there any way to really make it all work perfectly? No, and anyone who says otherwise is lying. Or trying to sell you something. Just TRY to make it work as good as you can. That’s all you can do.

We’ve all heard that advice for college: don’t take an 8am. But let me tell you something that no one else will; there will be a semester where that 8am is unavoidable. It’s going to be one of those classes offered only for spring semesters on even years that you absolutely need to finish your major and its only offered at 8am.

So how are you going to get to that class since you’re so used to getting up 10 in the morning? Here’s my tips for getting to that pesky unavoidable 8am.

First some prep work.

1. Get used to getting up early. In that break between semesters or summer break, get used to getting up earlier. Start with getting up 15 minutes earlier each day until you’re up about an hour and half before 8. This will eventually give you enough time during the semester to get up, get breakfast, get ready, and get to class on time. It’s going to suck ass for the first few days but it’ll be worth it when the new semester comes and you’re not scrambling to get to class.
2. Get used to doing something first thing in the morning. It’ll help you get used to going to an 8am. So if that means do some workouts or just going through emails first thing, just get out of bed and do something. Then when the new semester rolls around, your brain will be ready to go at 8am.
3. Get used to coffee. I mean it. Get used to coffee if you’re not already drinking it. Why? Caffeine is what you need most to keep yourself up through those shitty mornings with 8am’s.

Now for game time. You’re used to getting up early now, you’re ready to go to class. So how to actually make it through the class itself.

1. Get a travel mug, fill it with coffee, take it to class. Self-explanatory. Something hot will keep you up through a boring ass lecture. It’s hard to be completely awake at 8am and completely focused, even if you were looking forward to this class. So bring your coffee and be ready to learn. Or if you have time and money, just buy a coffee and take it to class.
2. Don’t look at your phone. Don’t take notes on your computer. If you look at your phone even once during an early lecture, you’re going to lose focus on the class. Taking notes on your computer is going to tempt you to do something else. I have seem so many people in lectures just take a quick peak at Facebook or Messenger or their email and get sucked down a hole for 20 minutes.
3. Treat this class like you’re spending $500 each class. Treat this class like it is make or break for your entire life. Act like your entire future is riding on this class. It will make you a bit more motivated to get to class and will reduce the desire to skip class for a few more minutes of sleep. Because once you break the habit of showing up, all the hard work you may have put in beforehand goes down the drain.
4. Don’t fucking talk in class. I’m not talking about asking questions to the professor to clarify a point. I’m talking about ‘whispering’ to your buddy all through class about the party you guys are going to this weekend. Not only is it rude to the professor, it’s distracting to the people who can’t get away from you in a crowded lecture hall. Save it until after the damn lecture. Or if it’s a question about the material, pass a fucking note like in middle school, you heathens. There’s too much information going on in the class to try to pick out all the important stuff around what you and Lindsey are doing next week.

There’s going to be a day when you can’t avoid an 8am lecture. But take heart that it isn’t the end of the world. It’s just a dumb class you have to take for approximately 15 weeks then it’s over and done with.