Flash forward a few weeks past graduation and I’m finally realizing how much free time I had in college. I meant what I said a few blog posts ago about college not being the best years of your life, but I will say, I had a lot more time to bum around on tumblr and color in those adult coloring books.

The things I’m busy with aren’t all bad, in fact, a lot of them are social and fun. It’s just everything has to be scheduled in now in a way it didn’t have to be before. So, as a beginner to this rush and go lifestyle, I’m going to share a few tips I’ve learned over the last month or so.

• Declutter now: I’m talking about your house, room, and your electronics. I know you hear the advice about turning off notifications alot, but it’s a good one. An even better way to get rid of electronic clutter is to unsubscribe yourself from all those sells emails. Use the website unroll.me to make the first sweep, if it doesn’t get rid of all of them, buckle down and do it the hard way. We don’t realize how much time clutter takes up once it’s piled up for so long
• Organization and planning is key: I don’t know what works best for you. Some people are really in love with digital planners and calendars. Me? I stick to an old fashion paper one that I keep in my purse. You can see how I organize mine here. It’s good to have something with us at all times. We can’t trust our memory and people tend to ask you to do things while your on the fly.
• Give yourself Wednesdays off: It doesn’t really have to be Wednesday, but pick a day somewhere in the middle of the week that you don’t do anything after work. Use that day to unwind and do all those things you enjoyed doing in college when you were supposed to be writing that paper. *cough cough* like searching through tumblr for hours.
• Make an occasional hangout helpful: It’s hard to balance social with the things we need to get done. A nice way to do this is to sometimes get together with a friend to do something that you’ve both been putting off. If you need to grade papers for your teaching job and your friend has loads of emails to catch up on- meet for coffee and pour over your work while sharing laughter and chit-chat in between.
• Balance spontaneous plans with long-term plans: I know this is where most people would say that you need to plan in advance, so that way everything is set up and ready to go. It’s a great tactic and honestly its something you should do. It makes it a little easier on your friends too. But, there is something to say about spontaneous adventures, and you shouldn’t be so pre-planned that you don’t have time for them. whether it’ leaving a whole weekend empty here and there or just not having to rush on to something after a lunch date- leave time for the unknown.