If you ask any of my friends, I am the queen of procrastination-something I will never admit aloud. But it is true, no matter how much time I have on an assignment, it seems like I wait until the very last minute to complete it- I think I like the rush at this point. But as soon as I started my first week of classes in Rome, I knew there were going to be some problems. Before, I could attribute my procrastination to being tired from working, but that excuse did not exist here. I will be honest; I lost my ever-loving mind when it came to distributing my time wisely. I wanted to experience the city and I could not do that if I was in my apartment typing away at assignments all day. Or so I thought, after two late assignments, I began to feel like I took my eye off the prize. It was time to get it together and put in the work to have a successful senior year. So as the queen of procrastination, here are two tips to manage your time wisely when the city calls.
Tip one: Do the small things first
As you start classes, there will be a point where you feel overwhelmed by the number of assignments you have. Pace yourself; Rome wasn’t built in a day after all. Working on the smaller assignments allows you a buffer period before tucking into the more time-consuming things. As a liberal arts major, I rarely have tests, but I get many papers. Sometimes sorting out your bibliography is less overwhelming than completing the full essay. Reward yourself for small bouts of productivity because they matter just as much. By breaking your assignments up into smaller bits, you make some progress which is better than leaving the assignment to collect dust. I find that when I start with something small, I get a burst of energy and end up powering through the full assignment anyway!
Tip two: There is no shame in the extension game
When it seems like no matter how much work you do, there is still something else to be done, don’t hesitate to ask for an extension. Any professor will tell you that most students do not utilize extensions- don’t be that student. When I first arrived in Rome, I had orientations, class excursions, and my internship to divide my time between. No matter how organized I thought I was being with my time, it felt like there were not enough hours in a day. I felt like I was drowning in assignments, but communicating with my professors allowed me time to catch up. In the end, those extensions allowed me to reapproach my work schedule and turn in better-quality work. It is normal to feel overwhelmed when you’re in a new place and you may have to try different strategies to divide your time effectively. That is why communicating with your instructors is so important.
Tip three: Bring your work to the city
When you feel like you are missing what your host city has to offer due to the influx of schoolwork- bring it with you. I found that bringing my laptop or iPad with me let me explore Rome and type a few paragraphs of an assignment while I was out as. If you find a third place like I mention in my other piece, you can explore the city without feeling like you’re blowing off your assignments. This helps mitigate that feeling of FOMO. And if for some reason you don’t feel comfortable bringing your electronics outside, you can always bring a notebook to scribble down any ideas you may have while in the city or download docs on your phone to work on the go. While work is important, so is getting immersed in your host city; make a flexible schedule that prioritizes both.
