Oh My Donkeys I Need To Chill Out

I actually had to look up how to spell donkey. Too. Burnt. Out.

I found my old school reports not too long ago. There's 2 things that repeat since I've started school;
1) Talk more in class. Too quiet.
2) Takes on too much.

Those are still applicable. I'll talk about the first one some other time.

I had an idea that I was going to write this post with everything figured out, with a clear list of things to do in order to strike a good work-life balance. But that's not happening. I'm used to doing lots. There's so much out there - shows, gigs, interviews, talks, exhibitions, socials, articles to write, people to meet, things to try. I want to do EVERYTHING.

Here's some of the stuff I'm doing this year:

• Uni degree
• Work 
• TV station
• Radio station
• Newspaper (on editing team and have a column)
• Creative Writing (President)
• Razz Magazine
• The Student Journal

I love it. I love press passes to events and review copies of books. I love interview opportunities, I love learning all the things I want to do, I love how doing each task gives me so much in return. I say yes to pretty much everything. Go to this talk? Yes. Social? Yes. Run this? Yes. Write this? Yes. I regret nothing I've said yes to. But I should make time for myself.

"Stuff your eyes with wonder,' he said, 'live as if you'd drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It's more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories. Ask no guarantees, ask for no security, there never was such an animal. And if there were, it would be related to the great sloth which hangs upside down in a tree all day every day, sleeping its life away. To hell with that,' he said, 'shake the tree and knock the great sloth down on his ass.'"

- Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury 

I could plan it all out, use my planner to schedule my time, but things just pop up and then I want to go to it. You get something out of everything and I don't want to miss out.

Got on the guest list for Clean Bandit - perks of student media

I took Friday evening off - I haven't had an evening off in years. Shut down my laptop, hid my phone and then I spent the next few hours giving my hair a deep treatment (it's still uber-shiny and it's been 5 days), put on face masks and read. No messages, articles, essays or academic reading. I'd completely forgotten what it's like to be relaxed. I tend to work until my head goes muggy and my brain shuts off. Then I wake up to the next day. That's not a very good way to live.

Friday lead on to a lovely weekend - I had to work a bit (have to pay for accommodation after all), but then my friends came round. We ordered pizza and watched Marvel films until 4.30 am, sleeping in till 12pm. It was a pretty good first sleepover for me.

I AM NEARLY 20 AND I HAVE NEVER HAD A SLEEPOVER. If you've seen Gilmore Girls, I thought Lane Kim had a pretty relaxed childhood...and this is why I want to do everything.

Credit: Buzzfeed

I've got this list of tips to help me work out a balance:

• Focus on one thing at a time. No multi-tasking, it never works and it's slower overall.
• Have one evening off a week. This is sacred time. And I like having shiny hair.
• Delegate. I have friends and a team for everything.
• Do I really want to do this thing? It might sound kinda interesting, but do you really? (No, it is NOT always yes).
• If I schedule a cut off point (stop working until midnight), I won't procrastinate and call it taking a break
• Prioritise

It's great advice we all know, and I really need to take it. Doing a lot with your life is good, but enjoying life is better.