Summer is usually a time for full-time students like myself to have a break from school and focus on personal or professional development opportunities. This past summer, however, I was the busiest I had ever been. Early in the summer, I secured a full-time internship position. I was also enrolled in one summer course. And, on top of that, I was moving to a new apartment in DC.

I am used to multi-tasking (and I have gotten decently good at it throughout the years!), but when it is almost impossible to prioritize your tasks, juggling so many things at once becomes really difficult. All the things I had to do were equally important- I couldn’t delay packing for my move because I had an assignment due, and I couldn’t move a work deadline so that I could do a walk-through of my new apartment. After I was done with my 9-5, the last thing I wanted to do was sit in front of my laptop for a couple more hours to watch a lecture. During the weekends, I wanted to spend time with my friends and enjoy the summer instead of packing. I had to be strategic about my time, all the while making sure I was still taking care of myself and keeping my daily schedule. This meant some days I had to stay up later that I would’ve liked. Others, I had to get up before 6am (even as a self-proclaimed morning person, there were days when getting up was rough). What kept me going was reminding myself that the high-stress situation I was in was temporary- I just had to push through a couple of weeks of discomfort and stress.

Time-management while at school can get tricky sometimes, especially when we are balancing a lot of responsibilities. You will have to break down your to-do list into smaller tasks, sometimes trade-off sleep for two more hours of homework, or maybe even take a step back from a project. Not to mention, we are all want to enjoy our days and do fun activities. I was successful at managing my time this summer, but I definitely would not do that again! Now, fully settled in my new apartment and with school back in session, I am ready to take on the semester (hopefully with more downtime for myself!).