As an undergrad, I applied to several scholarships, summer programs, and graduate schools. There were various times when I felt overwhelmed by the amount of work an application entailed and I wanted to give up before the application was completed. Over the years I acquired, and developed, many time management tips and tricks that aided in the completion of my applications. Here are three tips that I found useful for keeping things manageable.

1. Organization is essential. Keeping track of due dates and deadlines is helpful for completing any application. Additionally, making sure you allocate enough time to each activity you need to complete. This combats feeling overwhelmed. I found excel spreadsheets useful for creating checklists for pretty much any kind of application. Below are a few sample spreadsheets that I used to create my checklists.

Sample Spreadsheet A:

Scholarship/ Fellowship/ Grant Name	What is it for?	Due Date	Letters of Rec. Needed	Amount
Grant blah blah	Research abroad for 3 months	2/15	4	$15,000
Scholarship bloop	Tuition costs for 2 years	3/18	3	$50,000

Sample Spreadsheet B:

Uni. Name	Located	App. Fee	Program	GRE Code	Deadline	Length of Personal State.
Blah Uni.	Ohio	$100	Comp. Lit	1234	12/1	No more than 2 pgs
Uni. of Bloop	Paris	€85 or $96	English	No Code	12/18	500 words or less

Simultaneously, I used calendars to help me organize the rest of my life and figure out how to best allocate my time. When it comes to calendars I found color coding most useful for keeping them visually organized. For example, red/pink was for family activities, purple for coursework, green for scholarships, fellowships, etc., black for work and work related activities, and so on. This method works best when using digital calendars, such as Google calendar. You can use whatever kind of calendar you like, whether digital or handwritten. The point is to have at least one calendar helping you keep track of all the things you have to do. How meticulously I maintained my calendars varied. The more I had to do, the more I needed them to stay organized. You may find that checklists and calendars are helpful for you as well.

2. Prioritizing is crucial. Everything can’t be done all at once. Competing events or deadlines sometimes mean choosing one thing over another when it’s clear both can’t be done. For me, I found I avoided a lot of stress by coming to terms with the realities of certain situations early. Instead of trying to juggle too many tasks, I decided what was most important to me and focused my energy into completing one task or a few tasks out of many. Recognizing when you need to prioritize, and learning how to do so, is also important because it helps rationalize any guilt or self doubt that may arise when we feel like we can’t do it all. Just because you can’t do something doesn’t mean you’re a failure. It just means you’re human.  

3. Self care is important. In between family, school, and work – and add on internship, scholarship, or graduate school applications – it can be easy to lose sight of ourselves. Organizing and prioritizing helps you manage your time, but self care is how you manage your overall health and well being. Pushing yourself too hard or constantly being over-scheduled can take its toll mentally, physically, and emotionally. In all that you do don’t forget to go get a massage, make time to read the book you wanted, take that dance class you’ve been eyeing – do whatever you need to get some stress relief and to reward yourself for your hard work. School, work, applications, none of these are easy, even though many people may try to belittle your efforts by telling you otherwise. You know how hard you’ve been working. You also know when you need some time to yourself, so give yourself that time and your own reward and recognition. 

While there isn’t a ton of nuance in my advice, hopefully you found something useful that you yourself can use or that you can share with a friend.