Every year since second year of university, this process always happens to me. Every. Freaking. Year. Let me explain through the magic of gifs:

1. Classes are so interesting! Way better than what I was learning last term.

2. So much free time. I should join a bajillion clubs on Clubs Day.

3. After joining a bajillion clubs and forking a lot of money to said clubs.

4. I’m so inspired to do more for other people and the community. I should apply for a position or two (or three…or four…).

5. Damn, so excited to be [insert position title] at [insert organization name] doing [insert job description]!

6. Repeat #5 2-4 times.

7. Proceed to spending all my free time doing #5 and #6.

8. Ehmegawd kill me now, I have no time.

9. Commit seppuku.

As time progresses, I’ve discovered this is what is called “Student Leader Problems.” Don’t believe me? There’s a Twitter account for that.

Now after 3 years of university, I’ve discovered what I am truly passionate about instead of doing random things because it peeks my interest just a tiny bit. Now I’ve broadened to organizations outside of UBC and they are even more exciting and incredible than the ones on campus.

So far my involvement schedule includes:

• Two jobs: Hollister and the English Language Institute. Both of are awesome jobs and I’m really glad I’m working with great people.
• 5 courses: 4 psychology and 1 business.
• Involved with a few school clubs, like CVC and Right to Play.
• 1 volunteer opportunity that is in the works, but one that I am so passionate about. I’ll blog about it as soon as I get it secured.
• A mentorship/connectorship program with the Burnaby Board of Trade.
• Dragonboating with Dragon Heart. So addicting, it’s crazy.

And things were going great…

Until I found out I had 9 midterms, 5 finals, and 3 papers.

At first I was like

Then I was like

And then this happened

And this is me now

That’s a total of 14 exams this semester. I’ve had midterms since late September and they last until mid-November, not to mention having 2 midterms and a paper on the same day and 2 finals on the same day. I’m just on the edge of my seat every day and my Google calendar looks a rainbow threw up on it.

The good thing about this, and this took me awhile to figure out because it felt like hell at the beginning, is that I’ve learned that I don’t procrastinate as much. Truth be told, I don’t have time to procrastinate. It’s not that I’m super efficient now, but I’ve learned to manage my time better.

Here are some tips that I’ve been doing that have pretty pretty effective:

1. Know your limit.
   Although I would love to be working a lot with international students while making some sweet money too, I know that school is more important at this point. The first thing I did when I noticed I was falling behind was cutting back my hours at work. Then I was able to study and do homework in between classes instead of staying up until 3 in the morning. Don’t overexert yourself.
2. Use a calendar.
   I can’t stress this enough: as much as you think you can fit you can organize your life like an Ikea catalogue in your head, it’s so much easier when it’s laid out in front of you. At first it’s stressful seeing all that you have to do, but it’s the first step to success. Then you can arrange meetings in between classes or reschedule appointments until you have a break in between exams or papers.
3. Don’t be a party animal.
   As much as I’d love to go to all the cool events happening around me, I really can’t. I pick and choose things I find I absolutely want to go to and leave behind things that aren’t as important. It’s a hard thing to do because all your friends are going, but you have to value what you think is most important. For me, that’s school right now. Plus, you get to save some money from conference fees, entry fees, and booze money.

To everyone who’s having similar to problems or just time management in general, how do you manage it all? I’d love to hear how you are being awesome and how you deal with it. Please leave a comment below and share some ideas!

This blog post is inspired by #whatweshouldcallubc and if it not for the genius behind that blog, I would not be able to complete this post. I have no idea what ninja skills he/she has to find all these gifs. *slow applause*