3 Tips on how to better juggle your hectic schedule

You have your big semester project due in 3 of your classes, 2 major exams and 1 essay due in your others. You're in season for school basketball, so you have 2-hour practices directly after school and you're playing club volleyball so twice a week you go straight from basketball practice to a 2-hour volleyball practice. You'd think the weekends would be a nice, relaxing time for you to get caught up on everything you left undone during the week, but after Friday night's game you're packing up in the car, headed to your out-of-town club volleyball tournament. You trade off between catching up on homework and catching up on sleep in the car. When Sunday rolls around you're barreling in late that night from the tournament and have to go crash hard to squeeze in your 5 hours of sleep before it all starts again Monday morning.
And managing your social life... oh wait, what's a social life? Who has time for that, anyway?

Borrowed from
searchingtheinnerme.blogspot.com.

Being an athlete saddles right up along with being so busy it can make many people's heads spin. It just comes with the territory.
So how in the world can you juggle it all?

Here are our top 3 tips on how to better juggle your schedule to keep you from LOSING YOUR MIND!...

1. Whose turn is it? Make sure you have your priorities straight.
Sit down and really think thoroughly about what "to do" on your list needs attention first. Remember, maintaining good grades is JUST AS IMPORTANT as maintaining your speed, vertical and agility in your sport(s). If your goal is to play collegiate ball of any kind, grades have to have the utmost priority. Make sure you know what needs to be done first on your list!
Practical step: Write down your entire "to do" list, categorizing it by schoolwork, class, sport, and chore. Now, take a highlighter of your choice and highlight the top one or two things that must be done first in each category. Decide that you will finish those today instead of tomorrow, and get crackin' until they are crossed off your list! Tomorrow, repeat.

2. But there's just no time! ...Make time.
It's really easy to get so overwhelmed that we start speaking in absolutes... "I'll NEVER be able to get this done in time!" or, "There's just NO WAY I can do this." Even though it feels like there's no time, it can be found.
Practical step: This is where the "power hour" comes in to play. During this hour of your choosing you set literally everything else aside but what you have to absolutely get done. Yes, that means no cell phone, no Facebook, no Twitter, NO INTERRUPTIONS for 60 minutes straight! Plug away, doing as much as you can as fast you can.. You'd be amazed at how much can get done when we refuse to be distracted!

3. Get enough sleep.
Hey, we heard that! Yeah, you, mumbling under your breath, "Who has time to sleep?" Well, it's important, so buckle down and make it a priority. A sleep-deprived student is an unhealthy student. Trust us, we really do know how you're feeling because we've been there! But when you don't get enough sleep your focus is lacking, your motor skills are slower, and your brain retention lessens. That said, going to bed an extra hour early is well worth rearranging your schedule a little bit.
Practical step: Pick 2 or 3 nights a week that you will absolutely, positively go to bed at a decent hour and get enough sleep. Try really hard to stick to these "sleep days." It will start to become a routine, and you'll be amazed at how much better you perform with just those few extra hours of sleep a week!

Remember, high school and college athletes are simply the best students out there. They are focused, determined, and goal-oriented. Athletes usually have high success rates in their grades and eventual careers because managing a hectic schedule has become second nature to them. If you are feeling buried, you're not alone! Many before you have gone forth and conquered... and you can too!

Happy juggling!
- Amarillo Juniors

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