Becoming a collegiate swimmer can be extremely stressful and busy. It can be hard to balance class, homework, practice, meets and work all while trying to maintain a healthy diet. Due to all the chaos, it can be beneficial to plan your week ahead of time. Planning your week can eliminate stress, and help you get things done.
1. Get a planner
A planner will be your best friend. You can write down your class schedule, swim schedule and any meetings, work shifts and homework you have throughout the week. It can be a relief to cross off things in your planner that you have already completed. It’s really important to write down assignments or tests dates down so you are prepared when the time comes. Writing all your plans for the week and assignments down can help you plan for other things throughout the week as well.
2. Meal planning and prepping
As a collegiate athlete, you want to make sure you are eating well. It’s very important you are getting a nutritious meal every meal because you are going to be burning thousands and thousands of calories each day at practice. You can pick a day each week to plan and prep meals for the day. If you make a few meals for the week it can cut out time of your day and allow you to eat a nutritious meal each day.
3. Write down your swim schedule
It can be a chaotic week in the swim world. Your practice one day could be different from the next. You want to make sure you are aware of all practices so you won’t get into trouble if you miss one.
4. Homework and exams
In college, you could have no assignments due one week and then the next week, everything possible is due. When you get your syllabus at the beginning of the semester, it can be beneficial to write down all tests and assignments. That way, you are aware of them before they come up and you can begin to study or prepare the assignment ahead of time.
5. Make Lists
Throughout the week you can make to do lists of things you need to do. It can be really helpful to write down things that you need to do throughout the week such as do laundry, pick up prescription and return books. Making lists will allow you to feel less overwhelmed because you won’t have tons and tons to do or get stressed if you forget to do something.
Planning out your week can be a huge stress reliever. If you write down all the things you have for the week, it’ll make things feel a little easier as you go through your college swimming career.
