A college junior balancing a double major, business, and internship applications shares his schedule: 9 AM wake-up, 10-11 AM workouts, afternoon classes, then 8-11 PM focused work blocks. He prioritizes nine hours of sleep and daily exercise as non-negotiables, fitting social time around them.
People always talk about the impossible triangle of sleep, social, and study in college, but that's just because you haven't figured out what works for you. And as someone who's really ambitious, I was sleeping at 4 or 5 AM my first 2 years of college. It took me a long time to figure out what actually works for me, but let me walk you through a day in my life as a junior in college who's doing a double major, running a business, applying to internships, working out basically every single day, and cooking for myself. I try to wake up at around 9 o'clock every single day regardless of when my classes start. I find that setting your circadian rhythm is so, so important. I also need about 9 hours of sleep every night, so I'm winding down around 11:30, 12 every day. I schedule all my classes to be in the afternoon so I can work out in the morning. I get a workout in around 10, 11, I shower, I have a brunch, and then have class at around 1. And if I have time, I'll get some work in before that. My classes typically end at around 4 to 5, so I usually run some errands after that or I work a little bit before dinner at around 7 PM. I really I really try to get a big chunk of dedicated work time every single night. This is after dinner from around 8 PM to 10, 11 PM. I can get stuff done in short chunks of time, but I really need a dedicated block because of everything that's going on in my life. I see my roommates every day, and that's honestly enough social for me. Sometimes I go to parties on the weekends, but honestly not that much anymore now that I'm a third year. I try to grab lunch with people. I work out with people. So you can be productive while social. And I definitely put self-care over everything. I have 2 non-negotiables. It's sleep and workout. If I don't get anything else during the day, these have to stay because they determine everything else. Little things like cleaning, self-care, skincare, all of that is also really important. If you set your priorities straight, it's possible to have it all. High school me would be so impressed because back then, sleeping at 2 AM was early for me.
