Recently  I ran across the daily schedules of some famous and successful people and it sparked an interest that peaked my curiosity. I  began looking at the schedules of different people, especially those of famous and important people throughout history. Links to these various items can be found here and here. It’s a pretty cool thing to l

From Huffington Post

ook at. It also makes you realized that some of these people are absolutely insane because there is no reason why I would ever wake up before 7:30 am on a daily basis (okay maybe 7:00 depending)

It gave me  the idea that I could try to bring some of these aspects into my life. If possible, maybe I could allow myself time in the morning to actually wake up, do some yoga, meditate, or even take moment to drink my coffee. Maybe even make time to workout or take a walk.

So, why did I start doing this? Last year I realized that I needed some sense of schedule and a perception of personal time within each day.   I was starting to get over-stressed, not sleeping well, and fall behind on work.  I know I am overtired, over-stressed, and generally just over everything, when I spontaneously start crying for no reason.

I break up my addition of personal time into two different areas: “pre-going to sleep” and “after waking up”. Both of these are important to me  and contribute to my at least feeling like I have my life together.

My “pre-going to sleep” ritual: I decided to start by making myself go to bed earlier and at the same time every night. I tidy a little, journal and read for about 30 minutes, lay out my clothes for tomorrow, and most importantly, I create the giant to do list of everything that needs to be done the next day. This includes times of classes, when I am going to the gym and if I have any meals with friends pre-planned. This at least gives me perspective on what I have to do, and most importantly, I am not staying awake worrying and making lists in my head of everything I have to do.

In the morning: I also tried to start waking up at the same time every morning around 8:00am, and I then proceed to lay in bed while drinking coffee and eating breakfast. This is generally the most important time for me. It’s simple really, no one should approach me before I have had my first cup of coffee. If you do approach me before a sufficient dose of caffeine has been ingested, expect grunts that don’t make sense and glare
s if you are one of those chipper “morning people” (to be fair I don’t think that any of those sorts of people actually exist, they are illusionary unicorns who have actually gotten to the coffee before me).

This morning coffee is where I take the time to breathe, read the news, peruse Facebook, and plan out my day. It’s here that I list out the top three things of the day. These top three things are the critical things of the day that absolutely must get done. These present a sort of focus to the day. Honestly I can normally get at least one or maybe two of these things done before noon. If I am lucky all three will be done before noon.

Throughout the day, I make sure to leave time to workout, stop and chat with a friend over coffee (obviously a reoccurring important thing in my life), listen to music and more importantly, take some time to play either Animal Farm or Pokémon. These things are the important moments in my day as they keep me sane. This socialization is vital to me being a good student,.

I like to keep in mind something my mom always says: “Don’t boil the ocean.” Boiling the ocean is something that is completely nonsensical, it is physically impossible to do, and that is the point. You aren’t always going to be able to do everything, and understanding that is something that will be good in both school and life in general. Recognize you can say no to something if you have too much to do, or ask for an extension if this homework is just really not happening. Just have reasonable expectations and don’t try to take on something too big to boil.