How do you balance it all?

[Spriteling]

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A little background: I'm 23, with an undergraduate and masters in mathematics. I currently work full time as a software engineer.

I'm currently taking the prerequisites I need to apply to medical school.

My question is, how does everyone fot everything in? There's clinical volunteering to do, classes, shadowing, work, regular volunteer work, and then still having time for friends/family/personal hobbies.

I'm trying to decide whether to take 2 or 3 classes this spring, and balancing all my responsibilities is weighing on my mind.

So how do you all do it?

 

[MintLiminal]

Besides exercise, I put aside most of my hobbies during undergrad when I was trying to fit everything in for pre-med, although my exercise regime definitely suffered. I didn't hang out with friends often and spent most of my free-time studying. Getting into a routine really helped me.
I'd also recommend finding a steady volunteer gig somewhere, where you can volunteer at least 3 hours a week or every other week. I found one really close to my job, which saved a lot of time. Those hours will build up quickly, and it looks good to have a volunteer experience you can really speak about and spent time on. You can also alternate shadowing and volunteering every other week.
It's definitely a heavy workload, but medical school will be even more intense, so it's good to learn how to handle it all early. You said you work full-time. Can you drop down to part-time? If so, it would definitely help.

 

[kraskadva]

Rigorous scheduling and losing most of the hobbies.

 

[MinnesotaMrs]

Kudos to you! Using a 15 minute increment planner has been wonderful for me. I write down volunteer times, school stuff, work, gym, social stuff and try and write out the time each night I will study and which project or reading.

I've pretty much bowed to the fact that I will not see my friends, but maybe once a month or on breaks, or a quick HH here or there. The gym is a must or I am super unproductive but even that is scheduled out. This works best for me! There's no easy answer but time management and prioritization seem to make it at least manageable.

 

[cjfarrell21]

More or less what everyone above has mentioned. Rigorous, strict scheduling and sacrifice. I've sacrificed social life immensely and do something fun with my friends probably once a month. The other rare times I do see them we study together--one of my buds is studying for the LSAT.

In the mean time I'm going to echo what others have said about exercise. Definitely a huge outlet for me. I wake up at 6 AM and work out before work, then it is work, and then home to study. On days I don't lift I do something else for the hour or so to give myself an outlet.

I think the big key is to create a weekly schedule and plan it out to a dime, then repeat it weekly and set aside one--maybe two--days a month to have enjoyable time with your friends.

Best of luck!