Like many before me, leading up to my first year of law school I was cautioned that school would soon “be my whole life.” Now nearing the end of my first semester, I am pleased to report that although school is a very significant part of my life, it certainly is not my whole life. I have enjoyed fun weekend activities, made memories with my friends, met new people, and maintained a strong relationship with my significant other. It has not been easy to do this, and without meticulous time management skills, law school may well have been my whole life.
What I believe has made my time management successful so far is reimagining my concept of “downtime.” Downtime to me in undergrad and before included doing absolutely nothing for hours, and sometimes even a few days on end. Decompressing while mindlessly scrolling on my phone, reading for leisure, or binging Netflix was blissful to me at times, but had to be nearly eliminated to manage the workload of law school. My leisure time has now been prioritized to emphasize the important things in my life such as experiences and relationships.
My days are long, extremely busy, and exhausting at times, but they are productive and very fulfilling. As I write this, I have just returned from the Outside Lands music festival in San Francisco. To budget my time to have made that happen, this week law school will more or less be my entire life. However, it is assuring to know that as long as I am on top of my schedule, I will still be able to do the things I enjoy, like go to concerts and spending quality weekends with the people close to me.