Dealing with Impossible and Heavy Workloads

Hey guys, I hope the term is going well for you all so far. As we reach the end of the first month of 2023 and are getting that extra step closer to exams, I wanted to discuss with you all my ways of dealing with heavy and ‘impossible’ workloads.

If you’ve been a true reader of my blogs, you probably would’ve noticed a pattern embedded into most of my blogs. The theme of being organised and planning ahead has been entwined into most topics that I have talked about in my blogs, and these qualities are even more essential for dealing with what may initially feel like unmanageable workloads.

To give some context, I have four part-time jobs, I run my own Instagram Food Blog, and am in the final year of my Chemistry degree. At times, trying to manage all of this on top of dealing with complex course content, contact hours and workloads, as well as finding time to socialise and see family and friends is tough. I won’t lie or sugar-coat things – it’s hard. Most importantly, what I’ve found is that if you organise yourself and tasks in order of what takes highest priority, this always seems to help me manage what I need to get done first. Since coming to university, I’ve become so much more acclimatised to juggling numerous things at once, and this has been a useful skill that I’ll be using in future jobs.

A lot of my friends have asked me how I do it. To me, it’s simple. I can’t exactly tell you how to organise your life, because whilst I can appreciate you reading this now and trying to take heed of my advice, everyone is different, and what works for me may not work for you. So, first and foremost, be explorative. Try out different organisational methods. Personally for me, I operate using a daily online planner. Before coming up with the final design of my planner, I tried multiple different ways of trying to plan out my days. But now, I have a reliable planner that I’ve been using for all three years of my studies that I stick to religiously. On it, there is a schedule of all of the lectures/work I have throughout the day, as well as set meals that I plan to eat and a list of tasks and notes, so I don’t forget anything I need to do. This has worked really well for me. I’m someone that likes to stick to schedule and have good structure to my day. What I’ve found, is that if you organise your life and set out exactly what you need to do (i.e. meals, errands, tasks etc), the ‘doing’ will come naturally with it.

In times of stress and negative moods, where I’ve felt like the things I want to get done are impossible under the timeframe I have available, it’s really important to take a step back and re-evaluate your action plan. A lot of the time, I set multiple tasks/things to get done in one day. Whilst this is a way of motivating myself to be productive, it’s important to be realistic. If you set yourselves too many things to get done in one day, the likelihood of you accomplishing every goal is slimmer, which may have a direct effect on your mental health and mood.

Know yourself. Understand your body. Do what works best for you.

Remember, if you are ever feeling stressed out about workload or uni things in general, there are always people you can ask to help you. Feel free to reach out to me if you’d like further advice or just fancy a chat 😊

Jess x