For a lot of people, the Spring semester of grad school started this past Tuesday and I’m already behind 🫠. Please respect my privacy and don’t ask me how and I’m only 3 days in. Getting this M.Ed is super important and I’m currently on a moderate paced sprint to the finish line (coming December 2026). In order for me to get to that finish line with my mental in tact, I need to make sure I’m balancing all the important things in my life. The Lord did not put me on his good green earth to just work. So I’m making time to work hard and play just as hard.
For starters, setting specific days/times when I will sit and do all things grad school are a big help. I put a prompt in ChatGPT to make a calendar for all the things I am doing. Right now I have 3 days out of the week that I have devoted to this. No matter what, I stick to this schedule because I know it’ll give me the allowance to still do all the other activities I actively participate in on the regular. I rely heavily on my icalendar and my planner to keep me on track. If it’s not in either of those…it ain’t happening.
Monthly solo dates are a major 🔑. Not only is this something I keep on my bingo card every year, but it gives me something to look forward to when the days are dragging and I feel like my fire is starting to dim. My first solo date of the year is coming soon and I’m super excited about it. I can sometimes get dependent if my friends will come with me but I have to tap back into the mind frame of if it’s something I really want to do, then I shouldn’t let if I’ll have a buddy determine if I go or not. Life is crazy 🙃 and we all should find happiness in all the little things.
This seems like it should go without saying but no is a complete sentence. I don’t need to be everywhere, doing all the things if I don’t have the capacity to do so. If I had a long day of dealing with y’all kids and I need to rest, it’s ok for me to do that. I feel like it’s easier to say no or think things over before giving a fast yes. Because the same feelings I have about not saying yes are the ones that come up when I change my mind and have to figure out how to break the news to the other person. Pray my strength. I’m determined to finish out my grad school career better than I did in undergrad. So far I’m on the right track as long as I keep these things in mind. What are y’all doing to stay afloat if you’re in grad school?