Make the Most Out of Each Day

I’m always looking to improve my life to get more out of each day. 

Finding a way to balance everything that you want to do can be very hard at any point in life.

College has definitely been my biggest challenge to find a balance.

There’s a large expanse of free time in between classes, so I’ve been challenged with trying to utilize it in the best way possible to make the most of each day. You have to find a balance between school and your social life, along with finding time for yourself.

I have been in school for almost a month now, and though I don't want to claim that I have a handle on the whole "college" thing, I have found a few ways to optimize my time each day so that I can be my best self. 

MAKE A LIST OF YOUR PRIORITIES

What are your goals? What are some things that are the most important to you or that you would like to improve on? What can you do to work towards those goals and habits every day?

I came to college determined to make the most out of my time. Every day I am working towards my goals and making my dreams become a part of my reality. 

I wrote down the four parts of my life that are the most important to me: relationships, health, school/career, and happiness. Some goals I put two sections beneath because there were two parts to the subject and I wanted to make sure I was paying attention to both. For example, with health, I put sections for both physical and mental.

By knowing your priorities, you are raising your awareness to what is truly most important to you. Though I enjoy going on social media to take a little break from a hectic day, it's definitely not something that takes priority.

Acknowledging what your priorities are is the first step.

WRITE DOWN YOUR GOALS 

Not only are we entering into the final stretch of 2018, but for a lot of people, we've just begun school. I believe that putting intention behind everything you do will get you better results and make you more successful in whatever you choose to do. 

Every month, year, or at the beginning of a long project, I like to write down my goals: a relative list of what I would like to achieve from what I am putting my energy and time into.

With those goals, look at your priorities and think of habits or things that you can implement into your everyday life to work towards them. They don’t have to be big, important things; rather, simple and enjoyable things that will help you eventually reach your goals or improve your quality of life as a whole.

WAKE UP EARLY

I know to many (especially college students) this seems like a terrible idea. Why would you purposely get up at 6:30 when you don't have class until 11? 

The simple answer is that you become more productive when you wake up earlier. Rather than waking up late and being in a rush, you can implement a routine to start your day off right.

Of course, to counter the lack of extra sleep, you’ll need to make sure to go to bed at a relatively decent time. The average person needs around eight hours of sleep, so if you want to wake up at 6:30, then you should try to go to bed around 10:30.

MAKE ROUTINES TO IMPLEMENT GOOD HABITS

Coming up with a routine for specific parts of your day is the best way to use every waking moment to your advantage. Since I’ve started college, I've been working on finding a morning routine that helps me start my day off on a positive note, regardless of the weather or the events of the previous day.

If it helps, print out a habit tracker and write out productive/fulfilling habits that you'd like to implement. 

I like to wake up between 6 and 7:30 because it allows me to get the most out of my day with my busy schedule. A habit I have worked into my morning routine is meditating for at least five minutes. But before that, I read a page from “365 Tao Daily Meditations” by Deng Ming-Dao. It’s a way to guide my meditation and gives me something to focus on and ponder over throughout the day.

After that, I’ll grab a book and read a few pages before I change and head to the gym. Exercising in the morning has become a game changer for me. For one, I get it out of the way early, but by the time I’m done, I feel better, happier (thanks to that endorphin rush) and ready to start my day.

By doing all of this, I’ve already started my day off with a bunch of things that make me happy. It not only improves my mood in the moment, but sets the tone for the rest of my day as well.

Being conscious about how you spend your time is the greatest change you can make. You have to be the one to make the change, just as you have to be proactive towards getting the most out of your life.

If you have goals and aspirations that you want to reach, you have to be the one to work towards them—they’re not going to simply come to you. Incorporating habits that you know will help you get closer to those goals and improve the quality of your day is one of the best decisions you can make for yourself.

You choose. 

I hope this helps you. Finding a routine takes time; I've been in school for almost a month now and I'm just beginning to feel like I have one myself.

Be kind to yourself, and be patient.  It will benefit you in the end.

As always,

Rachel.