<p>It seems that I hit my annual slacker-bump early this year.</p>
<p>I'm a senior, and for the first time, I'm working during the school year. This keeps me unable to do homework until I get off at around midnight, and by then, I'm so exhausted that all I want to do is sleep for days. All of my grades have slipped to the low 90's (B's on my school's grading scale) and I'm desperately afraid that they're going to get worse. </p>
<p>To make things even worse, on days where I don't work, I often have extracurriculars until six p.m. or so. I love my clubs, and I sincerely don't want to quit, but they have given me very little free time.</p>
<p>Quitting the job would be one option, but I'm attempting to save up for a post-graduation trip to Europe, and at any rate, I do enjoy having my own money. My parents are hesitant to lend me pocket change, and I really don't want to go back to that. </p>
<p>For those of you with busy schedules, how do you manage your workload? What should I do in this sort of situation?</p>
<p>This doesn’t sounds like a slacker bump to me, it sounds like a time management issue.</p>
<p>Lay out a calendar for your week. Put in all your class time, extra curricular activities, and work schedule. Leave time to shower, eat, and sleep (say at least 7 hours/night – you should be getting more, but that might not be realistic given your schedule). If you are working on college apps or studying for SAT/ACTs, put in some time for that as well.</p>
<p>Look for the windows you have to do homework (free time and any study halls). Match it up with your schedule and see how it looks… is there really enough time in a week? Does the time you have come when you need it? (eg, you get a math assignment on Wed morning and it is due Thurs morning – if your free time is on Sunday afternoon, it does you no good)…</p>
<p>So… if you have enough free time but it is not allocated where you need it, do your teachers give out a syllabus or post assignments ahead of time on a calendar or blog? If so, you could use excess time on the weekends to work ahead so you don’t have as much work to do during the week. </p>
<p>One of my kids is super busy, and she lays out her calendar like this every week. Blocks her classes, workout and EC time, work. Then she schedules study blocks. Marks 'em on her calendar and sticks with them. Starts long term projects early, too.</p>
<p>If you find you truly don’t have enough time, then you have to give something up. Probably your job or clubs. Or consider finding a different job with just weekend hours.</p>