Okay – my stress levels are getting silly. Are yours?

If you’re a student (or a person with three jobs, like me), you’ll understand the horror of The Deadline. All that lovely free time you envisaged, drifting away as you stare sadly at a blank Word document. Suddenly you’re aware that you maybe need a snack, and then you’ll wash your hair or just read a bit of a magazine, and suddenly it’s half past ten, you’ve got work the next morning and you’ve done… absolutely nothing. This, my friends, is The Slump.

This is exactly the situation I’m finding myself in at the moment. I work from 9 until 5:30 every Saturday in a high-energy and demanding job (I’m a drama teacher to 40 kids aged between 6 and 17), which I love, but it isn’t half exhausting. After working all day Sunday, I need a couple of days in bed to recover.

Unfortunately, that’s a very unrealistic (and unhealthy, probably) idea. We all live busy lives: whether you’re a parent, or you have a full-time job, or you’re a Media Studies student who runs a fashion, beauty and lifestyle blog.

The trick is finding the balance.

I’m not here to tell you I’ve found the magical formula that’ll get all your work done and allow you to function on half an hour of sleep. I haven’t cracked it yet, but I’m working on it. Here’s a couple of tips.

1. Remember your goal.
Do you want a raise at work? An A* in an essay? Working towards a specific goal will help keep you focused and motivated.

2. “I’ll just do this, and then…”
Have a little treat in between jobs. If you’re at work all day, plan a bubblebath for the second you get in. If you’re struggling through a couple of essays, pop a onesie on and listen to a Disney CD while you’re writing. You might accidentally write “do you wanna build a snowman?” into your English homework, but here’s hoping your teacher is a ‘Frozen’ fan.

3. Reflect.
I’m a secret whinger. I feel sorry for myself when I have a lot to do. Oh, poor me, I’m having to do some work so I can get a degree, something I chose to do in the first place. Oh, poor me, I’m having to go to work to earn some money to allow me to buy new clothes/makeup/food whenever I want to. These aren’t really the biggest problems in the world, are they?

4. Stay positive.
“I’m really enjoying writing this 5000 word essay on the concept of ‘verticality’ in science fiction!” I hear you cry. At least pretend to enjoy it. You might trick yourself.

5. Tick it off.
If you’ve read this blog for a while you’ll know that I’m a lover of the to-do list. Just write one, and tick stuff off. It’s great. Write stuff you’ve already done that day just so you get the satisfaction of ticking it off the list. Works every time.

 So what have you done today? I went to work and planned a Christmas concert in a cathedral. Fairly standard day for me, to be honest.