In December 2023, I officially graduated college with my bachelor’s in marketing from Western Michigan University — go Broncos. What is less known about my time in college was the juggling act that I did daily. On top of having a full course load, I also worked nearly full-time during school, and full-time in the summer. And of course, on top of that, managing all that comes with cystic fibrosis.
As someone who historically has not been very open about my CF fight, I want to share some wisdom — if you can call it that — for others who may be in the same position as I was. For me, being able to effectively manage all that I had on my plate was certainly a learning curve. However, there are some tips and tricks I learned along the way, which I am more than eager to share.
Tip 1: Get into a routine
I’m putting this first as, in my opinion, it is the most important. I started each semester incredibly flustered and feeling like a chicken running around with its head cut off. Why is that? Because I had not gotten my routine down yet.
Life became much easier when I set a schedule for myself. This includes a weekly calendar that I follow like the Bible, a daily to-do list, and goal setting for each week. These three things have allowed me to stay on top of my deadlines, get the satisfaction of crossing things off the list, and achieve small goals for myself. The lift I got from seeing goals accomplished each week only further solidified my belief in how important they are.
I challenge you to do each of these three things and see if you notice changes in your productivity and overall quality of life. Make them personal to you. For me, things that went on the daily checklist included my treatments, medications, time for exercise, and even blocking off downtime to give myself a little break during the day. Recently, I set a goal to increase the number of steps I take in a day. I started by blocking 10–15 minutes in my schedule each day to just get up and moving. In addition, I take my dog on 25–30 minute walks after dinner most days to get more steps in. After three weeks, I realized I was taking an average of 3,500 additional steps per day.
Once you have your routine down to a science, it becomes a matter of repetition. Having everything written out may feel like a lot at first, but the more you do it, the easier it becomes.
Tip 2: Learn to prioritize
My next tip for balancing responsibilities is to prioritize. This is nearly as crucial as getting a good routine down. You may be asking yourself, ‘how do I decide what things take priority over others?’ Well, I too struggled with that same issue. After doing some digging online, I discovered what is called the priority list. From here on out, I’ll refer to the to-do list as the new and improved priority list. I do it by listing everything I need to do in a day. Then, I assign a number to each item between one and five — one being the highest priority items, and five being low priority. Rearrange the list items in ascending order from one to five so it’s clear what tasks need to happen first.
For example, things that I place in the one and two categories on the list include taking my medications, completing homework, meeting goals at work, and making time to go to the gym. Things like the downtime I mentioned above fall in the lower priority range. Now, that is not to say the things in the four-to-five range aren’t important, but rather the negative impact of missing those things have less of an impact on my daily life.
Tip 3: Over-communicate
My final tip relates to the art of communication. Communication is key to being successful in both professional and personal aspects of life. All great relationships have a foundation of strong, open, and honest communication. This was essential for me when it came to my school and work life.
At school, communicating openly with professors about what I had going on during the week greatly helped them understand what a student with CF has on their plate. I was often met with gratitude for being upfront and honest. It certainly helped build deeper connections with professors and other school faculty.
In the professional world, I made sure my colleagues at work knew about upcoming exam times, paper deadlines, and project due dates. I am fortunate enough to work with a company that was more than accepting of my school responsibilities and offered amazing support. So, for your own good, try to maintain constant communication with the people in your life.
Graduating from college was a major goal I had set for myself and checking it off from my list was incredibly rewarding. It took a lot of hard work and dedication to make that possible. But learning these tips and incorporating them into my daily life helped make it more manageable.
With that, I hope you can take at least one good thing away from my ramblings. I am more than happy to discuss this with anyone who may have questions via email or social media. Thank you to the CF Foundation for the opportunity to share a bit about me!
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