Heading back to school after a relaxing summer can seem chaotic and overwhelming, and settling back into a daily routine sometimes takes a while. Whether you’re juggling a job with clubs and classes, or just focusing on academics, it’s important to consistently keep your 20/20 vision in check with goal setting and planning.
Planning
Using a planner is extremely helpful for organizing daily, weekly, and even monthly events and deadlines. Writing out your schedule of classes, work, and clubs helps to visualize how much free time you have. It’s suddenly much easier to make time for school work, friends, and most importantly, yourself, once everything is laid out.
Some great planners can quickly get on the expensive side, but that shouldn’t deter you from organizing and planning your little heart out. You can always create your own scheduling or to-do list templates on a spreadsheet program like Microsoft Excel or even Google Sheets. Creating your own planner will encourage you to keep up with it, and even allow your creative juices to flow every once in a while. All it takes to create your dream planner is a few clicks and colorful pens.
Goal Setting
While using a planner is great for the smaller picture, goal setting is just as important. Planning for the future can be intimidating and overwhelming, but setting up a plan for achieving your dreams makes it much easier. The most important step in goal setting is writing them down. Whether you keep them on your computer, journal, or hang them up in your bedroom, it’s important to be able to look at them on a daily basis. Whenever you’re struggling, simply think back to your goals to remind yourself why you’re doing what you’re doing and give yourself a little pep talk.
Breaking down your goals into manageable bits makes them much less intimidating. Your goals should always be specific, measurable, challenging, and timely. For example, if you want to work towards an active lifestyle, challenge yourself to exercise at least three days a week. Once that becomes too easy, start working your way up to six days a week, or simply increase the amount of time you spend working out. Always keep a record of your progress to remind yourself how far you have come from wherever it is you started (and don’t be afraid to occasionally reward yourself.)
PHOTO:Â Madison Paloski
Above all, your goals should be achievable. Don’t try to make the big leap at once because it’s easier to lose motivation that way. Start with the smaller steps and create a schedule for yourself, no matter how long it takes. Once you set your goals, write them down, plan your timeline, and you’ll be able to take on this (and every) semester with a clear vision and a new dose of productivity.
What goals are you currently working toward? Tell us all about them on social media by tagging @Cfashionista.
Featured photo by Kenia Viezcas.
