As a full time student and freelancer, I’ve learned the art of time blocking.

As an American who’s fully aware of how ridiculous the cost of schooling is in this country, I knew that when I wanted to go to graduate school, I didn’t want to take any more loans.

I took about $20,000 in student loans for my undergraduate education, and that gave me enough anxiety already when it came to debt. Graduate school was something I knew would take a big chunk of my money if I wasn’t being smart about it, so I chose to attend a school where I could (in a privileged way) live with my parents and commute as needed.

I also wanted to be able to work during my education, so I chose a program where I was able to take classes at night and do my own thing during the day. So I worked full time on top of school, which helped pay off the tuition I did have to pay each semester. One of my jobs is a graduate assistantship this last year, so I was able to get half off of tuition while getting my master’s degree.

That said, I’d like to stress the importance of balance here, as someone can easily go quite insane with these kinds of schedules. Most of my program worked during the day, which led me to many conversations with others about how difficult everything is.

Here was my daily routine as a graduate student working full time!

The early mornings were meant for me time, or catching up on work.

Although I would go to bed a little bit later in the evenings, I always set my alarm clock for 7:30. I wanted to wake up early each morning because I wanted to dedicate a portion of my time to one of two things. One would be simply having some time to myself, where I would endlessly scroll through Instagram or watch a Korean drama.

Once I'm up for the day, I have a tendency to keep working all the way up until I go to bed, because that’s the reality when you’re a worker during the day and a graduate student by the night.

The second thing is that I would try to write some blog posts or an article or two for one of my freelance writing gigs during this time. Sometimes I simply didn’t have enough time to sit down and write an article whenever I need to, so when I was in a particular time crunch I would sit down at my desk in the morning and try to get as much done as possible.

Now, this would change depending on what day it is. Sometimes I would have to go in and work at my job on campus at 11 AM, which means I would leave the house at 10 AM. No matter what, though, I’d always eat a breakfast and drink two cups of tea before heading out the door. Other mornings I was working at the Smithsonian remotely, starting at 9 AM, so I would cut less time away for myself on those kinds of days.

All the way through the afternoon I would enter a work flow zone.

Starting from when I start working, I try to enter flow zones as much as possible. I know that if I end up breaking my chain of focus when it comes to getting work done, it’s really hard to get back into that mentality.

So I limit my distractions, put an an audiobook so my brain can tether myself to those words, and then start chipping away at what needs to be done. The day is dedicated to my paid work, not my graduate school ambitions, because I need to get the money for my bills and tuition.

I have a tendency to dedicate specific days to specific things. For example, if I need to do a marketing day, I would sit down and do all of that kind of work in bulk.

Other days I dedicate to my GA work, or trying to achieve XYZ goal. The only thing that consistently happens each day is that I work on my blog, which you’re reading here right now. I am blessed to get an income off of this blog, no matter how meager it is, but it truly is a source of enjoyment for me.

I know this is a habit most people do not have, but I only eat two big meals a day. I eat a big breakfast and dinner around 3 or 4 PM. When I have to go to school, I will pack a lunch, just to try and save some money, but this tends to be one of two major break periods for me when I enter the work zone.

Nights are meant for classwork and homework.

Around 5 PM, I take an hour long break to catch up with my mother and make a cup of tea if I’m at home. If I’m at school, I try tot take my hour off before class to sit and let my brain rot by watching YouTube videos or my dramas.

I try not to constantly work, as I know I’ll get burned out. If I have class, I go to class for three hours then drive thirty minutes home, take a shower, and go to bed.

But if I don’t have class, I try to get all of my homework done on the days I’m at home. I hate procrastinating on my readings, as I’ll have up to five hundred pages a week along with the essays, so it gives me major anxiety if I’m not done everything by the weekend before, as I like to have a balance (see below). If I need to drink a coffee at night to get everything done, I will do it. I know what I have to do, but I don’t really drink coffee outside of that, only herbal teas.

I try to strike a work-life balance.

You probably think I’m insane for this kind of schedule, but I truly do find moments of joy throughout these busy kinds of days.

I don’t need to work as much as I do, and I am immensely privileged to say that because I live at home and my parents help out, but I want to have and make money so I am in a better position coming out of graduate school. Having multiple businesses going here while being a graduate student has taught me a ton of incredible lessons throughout the years, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

That said, I take the weekends off whenever possible. I refuse to work when it’s the weekend because I want that time to myself, which is why I get anxiety about completing things early.

I also write my final essays starting a month before they’re due, so by finals week I am already completing them and editing the final copies before sending them off to my professors. It’s so much less stressful to do this, and I am grateful to have worked out such a schedule that works for me.

Emphasis on me here though—everyone’s different, and you know yourself best. This is tailored to me and who I am, and you shouldn’t be comparing or beating yourself down because of it.

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