Off to a good start

I am about 1/3 of the way done with my last quarter of classes (not that I'm counting or anything).  This quarter seems to be a good test of time management and organization.  While we are only in the classroom for 2 classes, we also have two classes online that we can't forget about.  Let's just say I'd be a nervous wreck without my planner.  While other quarters seemed to be very test heavy, this quarter seems to have a lot more writing and reflection assignments which can be a bit time consuming.  Not to mention that online assignments are easy to push to the side until last minute.  I've learned that to get through this program I need to focus on one thing at a time.  I look at my week and prioritize everything I need to do and when I can do it.  Then I just slowly check things off my list.

I have clinical Monday nights, and while I thought I would use the day to get some work done, I have the tendency to just do some mindless tasks and ease into the week.  Plus, it's nice to not have to set an alarm at least once a week.  After clinical I head to the grocery store and get food for my lunches.  I've found that packing lunches for the entire week at the same time is a time and money saver.  Tuesday I usually work 12 hours so I call that a wash as far school work is concerned.  Sometimes, if I'm sitting with a kid, I can get a little studying in, but it's usually not very productive.  Wednesday I have clinical at 6:45-3:30 and while they're usually exhausting I am getting into a new routine of going over notes and studying with Nadine afterwards.  Thursday is a day of class and Friday is a day of work unless it's my rotation to work weekends.  I like to pile on the work and responsibilities on my busy days so I can completely veg out and reboot on my days off without worrying about doing anything.  It might sound backwards to some, but it's what works for me.

I feel like Im managing fairly well.  I know I'm not as stressed out as I was this time last year, but that doesn't mean I have my moments.  This week was my first test in comprehensive management of health through transitions of care.  This is what I'd like to call my "hard class."  I didn't get much time to study on Tuesday so I crammed on Wednesday after clinical.  I was so beat that when I stopped to pick up a burrito salad for dinner the guy at Chipolte was like, "looks like you've had a long day."  All I could respond was, "yeah, something like that..."  It all paid off though.  I ended up getting an A on my test.  I think this only the second or third A I've gotten in my "hard classes" so I was really pumped.  I'm hoping to keep this up and not have a freak out session at the end of the quarter where whether I pass or not depends on my final exam grade.