That's a great outlook, and I swear it feels so much better once you let go of that hope for great grades. For me, I developed a set list of priorities that I abide by in terms of how to spend my time, and it really helped in allowing me to justify the things I do. Since I knew my schedule wouldn't be nearly as flexible once clinical rotations hit, I decided take advantage of the huuuuge block of didactic teaching time for which attendance isn't absolutely mandatory (i.e. I only attended like 20% of lectures)
My priorities have been:
1.) Be able to float by in vet school (I try to get a B or above in courses I care about, but could care less if I get C's in those that will never matter to me beyond passing boards)
2.) Maintain a healthy and happy relationship with my SO. If that meant I take 2-3 days off of school when there aren't any mandatory classes, that's what I did. And when I do spend time with him, I give "us" my undivided attention.
3.) Get myself in clinics/hands-on activity or electives that remind me of why I'm here. It also helped because I
needed the clin experience.
4.) Have a healthy support network of vet school friends.
5.) Excel in schoolwork
I pretty much never get to #5, but then I think about all the other stuff #1-4 I accomplished in a given week, and I find a lot of peace in that. Instead of feeling guilty about having spent time with my SO and friends, and having helped out with a c-section instead of studying, I think of those things as
accomplishments as long as I passed my exam that week.