London has been nothing short of fun for my adventurous self. Having traveled here for the first time, I find myself constantly wanting to explore new places in and around the city whenever I can catch a break from school. Unfortunately, the insane number of things to do has often had me planning my next weekend a week prior. And I have started to feel the three and a half months in London aren’t enough to cover so much that this beautiful city, and the whole country, has to offer. Although it is gratifying to relax and explore on the weekends (and now the reading week), one thing I’ve found myself struggling with is keeping up with deadlines during these times. It is so easy to indulge entirely in exploring and traveling and eventually run out of time over the breaks to finish tasks.
Staying in another country has made me want to explore as much as I can in the short time I have; however, with the school workload, it is often challenging to keep up with both. It was not until recently that I realized I’ve been compromising on my work over the weekends just for the sake of making up for all the time I’ve spent in school over the week and not being out there. The guilt of not finishing tasks on time, not delivering quality work, and not being able to catch up crept in on me as I battled the most challenging week of my semester so far. The importance of time management had never been put more into perspective before this incident.
It is so easy to lose ourselves to all the fun and experiences that come with living abroad that we might end up neglecting our health, and the primary reason for being in another country – actually studying. I have found myself exploring throughout the weekend even though the week drained the life out of me, not taking a break to rest at all. Maybe it’s just the FOMO, maybe I want to make the best out of my time here in London, but neither of those reasons is an excuse for not taking a well-deserved break. Not to say it is not therapeutic to be out of the confined walls of the room, but for some, catching up on quality sleep and just being with themselves is an essential part of the process of unwinding that is often given up to keep up with the “fun” parts of living abroad.
It wasn’t until today, when Storm Eunice brought everyone’s lives to hit pause, that I reflected on how much I’ve missed unwinding in my own space and finishing up work at my own pace on holiday. Then, as I started to write, I realized that I missed a couple of deadlines last week because I was so involved in exploring and staying up later at night to catch up with school work. It made me reflect on how I could manage my time better while staying healthy, meeting deadlines, and exploring all at once.
Getting organized is one of the biggest skills I started lacking ever since my arrival in London. I’ve been so engrossed in settling in, socializing, and now traveling to every corner of the city that I’ve forgotten how beautiful organizing can be. Getting organized can help one get everything structured, ensuring nothing is left incomplete.
Another activity I think would benefit anyone considering studying abroad or generally getting their day together is planning with a calendar synced across all devices to help keep track of tasks and commitments. This way, we don’t end up promising our presence at two places simultaneously. Scheduling, including breaks, can go a long way and help us stay on track to meet deadlines. Pro tip: Not just planning the tasks, but planning monetary expenditure as well, can help take some stress off your shoulders when you know you definitely won’t be going broke towards the end of the month.
Making your health a priority can help to stay sane amid deadlines. Take the time to unwind and relax to boost your productivity. Not to mention, a new country and traveling, in general, can be hard on your immune system, so take breaks to not only stay physically fit but also avoid mental exhaustion.
Overall, I have slowly realized that studying abroad is helping me get to know myself and my habits better. Living abroad really is a period of discovering so many new things, not just about the country you’re staying in but also about what you want. It has made me realize it is difficult being both a student and a tourist. Not every box will be checked on my “to see” list, and that doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing. This experience and reflection are helping me better prepare myself on how I should be dividing my time between tasks, deadlines, and adventures as I enter the reading week!
