I am a mature student, a mum, and a wife who also works part-time. So my time is very precious and if I don’t organise myself. So, I have just a few things that I use to try and keep on top of everything. Some of these are extremely basic but they only help if you actually use them and that in itself has been a challenge.

A diary! I have a diary for the year that has a generous amount of space for each day so that I can put multiple things down. First thing’s first I write in every lecture and seminar, the times and where they are. This allows me to see what free days and times I have to complete pre and post-work for uni and also if there are days that I can work some bank shifts. The first thing I will do is work out how much time I need pre and post-seminar and lectures I need to set aside each day and this is usually between 2-4 hours per lecture/seminar. So If I have a lecture I may spend an hour before and an hour after or if the lecture has a seminar to follow I may need 1 hour before the lecture and 2hours before the seminar. I then block out that time. If I am doing an assignment then I will allocate time later in the day to do this. I prefer to have this in a written diary with a layout like this but you can get ones that look a little nicer.

I do this first because this is more important than booking shifts for extra cash. Once I have done this I will look at what full or half days I have free and I will normally book 1 shift a week. When I am on placement we are not allowed to work over 48 hours a week (or on average over a 4 week period) so I have to plan these carefully and also prioritise my placement. To organise my placement and shifts I like to use an app called My duty. It allows you to colour code and see quickly when and where you are working.

Now most important of all to me is my family and free time because without this I would be very run down. This is another reason why I like to plan and organise my time. So, the housework, it’s boring but must be done. I use a simple to-do list. I will list each bit I need to do and then I will pick one or two to do a day. This way it doesn’t seem like it is all I have down in my free time and in between, I can spend time with my family. I use Microsoft Todoist. I like that I can sign in on multiple devices and see what I am doing whether it is on my phone or laptop or iPad. Then you can tick them off as you go. You can also share the list with others so they can tick off things as they do them. Would be great if you live with others and want to share chores.

Lastly, time to relax and focus. There are a range of app’s you can try but I personally like headspace. It is so important to fit time in for yourself. I hope that some of these tips help you in one way or another and remember, your health and wellbeing is essential to any of these working effectively so make sure you look after you first!