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You know those times when you lay in bed at night thinking of your never-ending to-do list? One task popping into your head after another, until you have a massive list of responsibilities ~ leaving you feeling copious amounts of anxiety and overwhelm.

I would dare to say everyone has felt this at some point in their lives.

As a full-time college student, working an on-campus job and building a blog and Youtube channel, I am no stranger to this feeling. Last spring semester of college, I fell prey to a negative cycle of spreading myself too thin and pushing myself too hard to try and accomplish everything, causing large amounts of stress. I wasn’t aware of how to balance my life, I was so focused on putting my all into my classes, my job, and various other responsibilities that I made the same mistake that so many of us make.

I spread myself way too thin without taking the proper steps to manage my tasks and responsibility.

Getting yourself sick due to how much you pushed yourself is not worth it. This mistake is what caused me to have one of the worst Ulcerative Colitis flares I’ve ever experienced, being so sick and weak that I literally couldn’t accomplish anything.

All of the responsibilities that I pushed my body to achieve, and worked so hard for, ended up getting neglected in the end.. All because I pushed my body too hard without the proper tools to manage it all.

How’s that for a vicious cycle?

Through that experience, I came to realize how IMPORTANT it is to properly balance your life and not spread yourself too thin.

Did I have to cut back on any of the things that brought me fulfillment?

Nope not at all!

Did I have to give up on any of the goals that I had set for myself so I could be less stressed?

Of course not!

I learned that you MUST follow some basic balance and organizational principals if you want to achieve all your goals while remaining healthy and not losing your mind…

Seriously though, it is so important to prioritize your mental health along with your physical health. They are connected! Running yourself dry is disastrous for your health for so many reasons!

Let’s discuss how to avoid burnout, and the 7 best tips for students, as well as the general overworked individual, to balance all of their responsibilities.

How To Maintain Balance and Avoid Burnout

1. To Avoid Procrastination, Finish Small Tasks As Soon As You Think of Them

The key idea here is don’t push off tasks off until “later.”

We’ve all heard the advice, don’t procrastinate, but that is SO much easier said than done.

If I’m being honest, I am often guilty of letting procrastination creep its way into my life. I sometimes lean on the lazy side when it comes to projects and responsibilities, and procrastination was something that I often struggled with.

I heard countless times how much “procrastination kills productivity”, but I didn’t know how to stop. and… I didn’t want to stop. I mean, it always felt easier to do whatever I wanted in the current moment, and not worry about lingering ‘to-do list items’ until a later time. I remember asking myself,

“Is procrastination really all that bad, if I still finish everything that needs to get done?”

The answer to that is… yes. It really is.

Procrastination causes a snowball effect in our lives. We push things off, thinking we have plenty of time… until we have NO time and there’s SO MUCH TO DO, and we are feeling so overwhelmed at even the thought of where to start. 

This whole cycle happens daily for some of us. Constantly pushing deadlines, letting important responsibilities fall aside, and forgetting crucial dates and appointments. This all just leads to what often feels like a constant state of anxiety.

I knew I had to make a change in my life because my current system was not serving me well. I was only gaining more and more stress and anxiety.

Not knowing where to start, I began with a simple piece of advice. A single daily task that I knew I could accomplish and would change everything.

When you think of something that needs to get done, if you can do it right now, don’t push it off until later. Do it now when you are thinking of it.

This means that if you remember you need to text back your parents. Go ahead and send that text now. Remember that you need to grab a snack for class or work? Throw it in your bag now! Have a mess in the kitchen that you need to clean? Clean it now.

Taking care of tasks as you remember them will leave you feeling MORE accomplished while reducing the mental clutter weighing you down.

As I sit here writing this blog post, I am reminded that I need to take the trash out of my room and bathroom. As much as I don’t want to do that right now, in the middle of writing this article… I have to practice what I preach..

Pause to take out trash

Ok, I am back! See it’s not so hard! And I am actually GLAD I took care of that responsibility, because it is one less thing I have to worry about.

Taking these immediate steps towards your short term goals will aid you in avoiding procrastination and will help free your mind of stress and anxiety.

2. Write Down Your To-Do List Every Night Before Bed – Write On Paper, And Cross Each Item Off As You Finish

Think about that feeling of accomplishment when you cross something off on your to-do list. That wave of pride that fills your chest knowing “I did a good thing today.”

In contrast, recall that feeling when lying in bed and thinking about all of your endless responsibilities. Oof this activities always causes so much anxiety and mental fatigue when trying to remember everything that you have to get done and when they need to get done by.

That is why this technique has actually changed my life. By writing down a to-do list before bed every night of EVERYTHING that I want to get done the next day, I have noticed a significant improvement in my life.

I don’t have to worry about keeping mental track of my responsibilities, because everything is all written down and organized!

Why a paper to-do lists?

I have always tried using digital to-do lists, on my phone and on my laptop, but I find myself losing motivation and consistency with these. In general, I just tend to forget to look and end up not sticking with it.

When I began to write my to-do list on a physical piece of paper or a planner, I noticed huge improvements in my efficiency. I keep the to-do list on my desk at all times and physically cross each item off the list as I go.

This keeps me reminded of my goals and tasks, while providing a sense of accomplishment when each one is completed.

If you do prefer using digital to-do lists, here are the platforms that I use and recommend.

• I like using Google Tasks for my digital to-do list. Google Tasks is totally free, is easy to use, integrates well with Google Calendar, and is very minimalistic in design.

• Trello is also a great tool that I use every day to organize my thoughts, to-do lists, and upcoming projects. Trello is also completely free and is a true game-changer for organization and productivity. I keep multiple Trello boards for both my personal organization and business organization, and I truly cannot recommend Trello enough.

• Habitica is a more unique to-do list/organizational method that I have recently signed up. It is a habit-building, and productivity app, that lets you gamify your goals and treats your real life like a game. There are different in-game rewards and punishments that help motivate you to achieve your goals. This is a free service and is a great way to accomplish all of your responsibilities while having fun with it at the same time.

Pro tip: No matter what your preferred to-do list is, the important thing is to keep up with it and not let it get out of date. It is easy to stay consistent for a couple of weeks while you are motivated, but the hard part is staying the course long term. Too often we fall out of a good habit, and we lose all momentum to continue. By finding a method that works best for you, and sticking with it, you will find the best results and be more happy and productive.

Definitely give using a pen, paper, and planner a shot for your to-do list! This may be as much of a game-changer for you as it was for me

3. Prioritize Your Health, Even When It Seems Like Other Responsibilities Should Take Priority.

When we get busy and have a lot to do, doesn’t it always seems like the gym is the first item that is kicked off the priority list?

How easy it is to forget to drink water during a busy day? Or choosing to stay up late and miss out on sleep so you can finish that project?

It is easy to fall in the trap of letting responsibilities take away the priority of your health, but what we have to understand is that without your health, you literally cannot do anything else.

Pro tip: On your daily to-do list make sure to include practical health goals like “remember to drink water” or “go to the gym for 30 minutes.” This will help keep you on track with your health goals, along with your life goals

4. Calendar EVERYTHING, And Don’t forget To Schedule Time For Fun, Relaxation, and Time To De-Compress

When trying to balance multiple different responsibilities in your life, it is important to keep your mental state-organized, along with your daily schedule.

That is where the beauty of calendaring comes in. When you plan out your week ahead of time, with adequate blocks set aside for your different activities, you will feel more prepared and less anxiety.

Keeping a calendar with your week’s activities and plans, you will not only increase efficiency but also calm your mind of mental clutter.

Pro tip: Find a calendar type that you like, whether it is a paper calendar, a whiteboard, Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, etc. and make sure to keep up with it daily.

5. Avoid Multitasking At ALL Costs – Avoid Distractions That Are Disguised As Multitasking and Focus On One Task At A Time.

I always thought I was being productive when I did a lot of different responsibilities at the same time. An example I would do a lot is working on homework, while also editing a post for social media, and watching Youtube in the background at the same time.

I’ve always thought multitasking multiple different projects was a good thing. It made me FEEL busy and like I was working hard. What I eventually came to realize is that multitasking was actually KILLING my efficiency.

When we multitask, we are spreading our attention to multiple different projects, while not giving any of them 100% of your time and focus. We are hurting our own progress.

The better alternative is to choose an allotted amount of time for each individual task and project, dedicated time that you can spend in deep focus.

When we get into this state of “deep focus” we enter a state of flow, a mental plane of being fully immersed and full involvement in the process of the activity.

Positive psychologist, Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, describes the mental state of flow as, “Being completely involved in an activity for its own sake. The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz. Your whole being is involved, and you’re using your skills to the utmost.”

By simply making ourself focus wholly on one task at a time, and doing our best to avoid distractions (i.e. social media, other projects, getting a snack, etc.) we can hack our habits to become more efficient.

Pro tip: When you are entering a state of deep work on a project, put your phone on “do not disturb” so you can avoid the most common and most addicting distraction of all time… notifications.

6. Make Your Bed First Thing In The Morning To Provide A Feeling Of Clarity All Day Long

I know that this tip may seem misplaced, after all, this doesn’t seem like a technique to help avoid burnout… But I can honestly say that this habit has tremendously improved my life.

Waking up everyday and making my bed provides a strong start to the day, and leaves me feeling lighter, with less mental clutter throughout the rest of my day.

Having a clean work and living space creates fewer barriers in your mind, which helps you stay motivated towards your goals, and reduces feelings of burnout and stress.

Pro tip: As soon as you get out of bed, take 2-3 minutes to fix your bed, fluff your eco-friendly bamboo pillows, and bask in the feeling of accomplishment. You’re a boss!

7. Learn To Say “No” To Prioritize Your Time For What Matters Most To YOU