School doesn’t always have to be boring and stressful, especially when you develop helpful habits! We hope that these five habits would help you in your college life.
1.) Maximize your commute.
With the Metro Manila traffic, we sometimes unconsciously spend more time on the road than in class. I’ve met students who say they’re more exhausted with the commute instead of the school requirements.
If you could relate to this, try carpooling with a friend. You might enjoy a good conversation while stuck in traffic. You could also try to strategize your schedule and avoid rush hour as much as possible. (If your dismissal falls under rush hour, maybe stay in the library and finish work there?)
My favorite hack is to listen to audiobooks and podcasts while in the car. I must have downed over 30 books in less than a year because of my audiobook habit. These books include fiction and non-fiction.
2.)Â Learn to do design on the go.
Regardless of your course or the committee you’re in for your org, you’ll likely encounter the need to come up with graphics–or even professional-looking slides. You don’t always need to bug your friends from Creatives for this.
Canva is an extremely simple design software that’s available as website and an app for iPhones and iPads. This has saved my life countless of times, because I no longer need to go to a laptop and open Photoshop to create awesome graphics. I work on posters while in an Uber!
I recommended this to one of the WhenInManila.com interns, and she texted me within 24 hours to let me know that Canva was “life-changing.”
3.)Â Improve your sleeping and morning routine.
For the most part of my college life, my mornings were horrible. They were rushed. I woke up to the blaring noise of the alarm clock. I skipped breakfast. I was faced with horrible rush hour. I printed papers and wished away the curse of paper jams.
I made some adjustments with the commitments I had, and prioritized sleep. One of my favorite quotes on sleep was Greg McKeown, author of Essentialism. He said, “Sleep will enhance your ability to explore, make connections, and do less but better throughout your waking hours.” He also cited a research which proved that a person who sorely lacks of sleep has similar brain patterns with a drunk person. Greg McKeown then made this analogy: you wouldn’t brag to your boss that you come to work drunk. Similarly, you shouldn’t be bragging about how you had no sleep last night.
Because I lessened my commitments and have better sleep, my mornings are much better. I realized that mornings  are
music
app alarm clock
4.) Read a new book regularly.
Business Insider reported:
Among the world’s richest and most successful people, a passion for books and for lifelong learning is hardly uncommon. Author and self-made millionaire Steve Siebold has interviewed more than 1,200 of the world’s wealthiest people over the past three decades and has noted that reading for self-education is a common thread among them.  Investing legend Warren Buffett reportedly spends about 80% of his day reading, and continues to include book recommendations in his annual shareholder letters. In 2015, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg resolved to read a book every two weeks, and even started a book club called “A Year of Books” so that he could discuss those books with the Facebook community. Media mogul Oprah Winfrey selects a book every month for readers to discuss online as part of “Oprah’s Book Club 2.0,” and when tech billionaire Elon Musk is asked how he learned to build rockets, he reportedly answers, “I read books.”
This is easier than done; we have a lot of requirements for school and for our co-curriculars! It’s easy to set a goal at the start of the semester. (I’ll finish two books a month!) But once the requirements start flooding in, finishing two books a month seems to be an impossible task. Who has time to read when you barely have time to grab lunch?!
Around last year, I started my audiobook habit. I didn’t have to carve out extra time from my day. When I was doing menial tasks (waiting in line, stuck in traffic, washing the dishes, sweeping the floor, sorting clothes, et cetera), I just plugged in my earphones and listened to book. I can’t emphasize just how helpful this new habit became!
I’m not sure what system would work best for your schedule and your lifestyle. One of my childhood friends started a book club to encourage her to read more books. The accountability helps her stick to her goals.
5.) Curate a capsule wardrobe for school.
Power dressing helps when the going gets tough. If you think power dressing is pricey and takes up a huge amount of time, check out these articles:
What do you think of these five habits? Do you have any more habits and hacks to add? Let me know in the comments below! <3 Would love to learn from you. – When in Manila Rebecca
