I am 21 and I have 6 jobs.
And I’m still getting enough sleep. Here’s how.
I aspire to retire early.
Haha I’m jk. I love working and I love discovering new things. Ever since I was young (I still am, I hope), I really loved doing productive and educational things: playing “Typing Mania” over “Need for Speed”, drawing comics and submitting them to competitions instead of reading them, something along that line.
This grew on me, and now I’m 21 and I graduated 2 years ago from San Jose State with Industrial Design as my major, as well as Business Administration.
I just finished working at a tech company in Silicon Valley, and now I am working at Indonesia’s best kitchenware store as a Marketing Designer and Systems Analyst. That’s my full-time.
I also agreed to become an illustrator / designer for a children’s storybook for freelance work. I am a Social Media Handler for 2 startups. Doing design work for my own company, doing volunteer Design and Photography work for a church and a friend, and lastly.. I am working on launching something with a couple of other people. Is that six? I also am in a long distance relationship with my boyfriend in the United States, and I choose to make time a couple of hours during the day to spend time Zoom-ing him. I also want to exercise 2–3 times every week.
How the heck am I still getting enough sleep?
I didn’t. But now I am. Here’s how.
- Realize you have 24 hours in a day and you cannot always be productive during those 24 hours.
My weakness was thinking I could rush things and do them all at once. I couldn’t. I was constantly working and did not make time for myself. I was trying to stay productive balancing one work with the other, but I just crashed in the end, and the money I was earning WAS NOT worth how shitty I felt. So I took a step back and tried to slow things down.. I realized that there has to be a time for everything. Including to relax. So make time for that, and thus, get enough sleep.
2. Lay it aaaall down.
When you have all these things and when you have to figure it all out in your head, that’s bad news. Sit down, take a paper and pen (or an iPad and Apple Pencil… whichever you prefer), and literally jot down what you have to do. What you want to do. What you need to do. What you wish you want to do. Everything.
3. Prioritize.
This is the way.. (Star Wars style). This saved my life. Figure out which ones are urgent, which ones can wait, which ones take a short amount of time to finish, and which ones are just selfish. Once you figure this out, you’re on the way to success! Cross out the ones that aren’t important at the moment, and highlight the ones you need to get done. Trust me, this is what is getting me through 6 different jobs.
4. Make a schedule and actually stick to it.
I know.. this is very difficult. But every day (or every Monday morning for me), open your trusted Google Calendars and block the times you think is best to work on things. and DON’T FORGET TO REST. I used to just block the hell out of my Google Calendars and forget the REST part, and that shit never worked. So, block time for that too.. you’ll thank me. Block out extra time (like 30 mins cushion) for your project. Example: I want to block time from 8AM to 9AM to do work A — I block time from 745AM to 915AM. This gives extra time for you to relax, check on other stuff, and just be unproductive for a bit without feeling guilty.)
5. Optional but golden: Turn off unimportant time sucking apps. You heard me!
Ah, yes. The beauty of Social Media. This thing is a time sucking machine you will never get tired of (especially when you’re working). Put a timer on it. Just do it. It’s super easy! Just go into your Alarms (or whatever you Android people call the app), and set timer for 10.. 15minutes.., and start it. You’ll have that time and once it rings, your time for Social Media is up, yo. and BE STRICT.
6. Some days will be poopy.
You might have some days that won’t work for you.. and you just wanna lay down on the couch and do nothing. Yes, I feel you too. I constantly have days like that. It’s okay. Growth and productivity isn’t always constant and don’t feel like you’ve lost your groove if you feel that way. Growth is never a straight line going up.
But, you will eventually make it. You will eventually get back up and be productive again.
So, I hope this helps.. and trust me, you’ll make it!
Elaine Lumanauw
