HOW TO FEEL MORE ORGANISED

November/December is doubtlessly one of the busiest times of the year; there's just so much going on! The semester is wrapping up and there are so many deadlines to meet (student struggles), social events galore as we enter the festive season and Christmas shopping to do. All the while, you're expected to juggle hobbies (such as maintaining your blog aaah), catching up with friends and making time for your family! 

It's simply exhausting but try not to stress! Here are my tops tips for managing your time and getting organised in the build up to Christmas..

Carry a Diary 

I always carry my diary around with me. It's so useful to just scribble in events and manage your time effectively, without double booking yourself. Most diaries come with 'Notes' sections on each page and this is really good to just jot down any reminders which spring to your head in the middle of the day.

If you don't have a diary, don't forget your phone has many of the basic functions of one! I set reminders on my phone sometimes, just to double check that I'm where I'm meant to be at the right time and I'm a big fan of writing 'Notes' on my phone. I hope no one ever steals my phone because I have some seriously weird things scribbled down! My phone doubles up as a shopping list and somewhere I can jot down random thoughts that pop to my head such as blog ideas or outfit ideas! 

Prioritise 

Christmas is just round the corner but now is not the time to abandon your responsibilities. For most courses, there are various coursework assignments due before the end of term or just after the Christmas holidays.

I don't know about you but I would kind of like to enjoy the Christmas holiday at some point, so now is the time to get organised and plan ahead.

On Sunday evenings, I like to plan the week ahead, prioritising what is most important for me to have achieved in a week's time. Write down your deadlines on a piece of paper and stick it up on the wall, somewhere you will be able to clearly see it when you're sat at your desk working. It's really important to be clear on what's expected of you because it then becomes so much easier to break up each task into manageable little deadlines for you to achieve. 

As a self confessed compulsive list maker, I like to do daily To-Do lists to give me some direction as to what I need to have done. It can be anything from bigger tasks like certain readings I know I need to do, or seemingly insignificant ones like remembering to put a wash load on! Either way, it really helps me to structure my day and it's one of my top tips for getting organised.

Be Realistic!

The reality is you will have lots of events to choose from this Christmas, so it's so important to be realistic.

It's okay to not say yes to everything!

Pick and choose what you would like to go to and be completely honest with yourself. If you can picture yourself going out every night for 5 nights in a row, then by all means you should! But if you have other responsibilities on, it's okay to pick and choose. A good friend would understand your need to prioritise other things over a single night out. 

Brainstorm Ideas

Christmas shopping embodies the nightmare of Christmas to many people. I may be the anomaly to this consensus as I actually really enjoy Christmas shopping, but that's often because I have a rough ideas in my head of what I want to get for my loved ones and where I can get it from. 

Shopping with purpose ultimately saves money and time, as opposed to when you're just aimlessly wandering around the shops. 

If you're stuck for inspiration, check online for some inspiration or pick up a gift catalogue (Boots do a really helpful one!)

If you're really stuck, go to somewhere which caters for everyone such as Boots or a department store like Debenhams/ John Lewis as a starting point

Schedule People In 

Being away from home for the first time last year, I found it really hard to keep in touch with family and friends from home, in addition to keeping up the friendships with the new friends I had made. 

I contact each of my closest family members once a week and have learnt over time what their time schedules are to accommodate that.

For example, I know roughly when my brother is at college or what days my Mum works so I schedule them in with I know we are both free.

It's exactly the same for friends at uni. I know that weekdays tend to be really difficult to see each other but weekends are far more flexible as there is less going on.

Ultimately, try not to stress. Your family and friends all have their routines on anyway and it is an understandably busy time of year, so as long as you're making the effort to keep in touch, that's the most important thing.

I hope my tips on how to feel a bit more organised at this time of year have helped! I think it's really important  to get ahead of things and to balance your time effectively so you can really enjoy the festive season with family and friends later on! 

Antonia x