It's Official: It's Time to Be Social

Where does the time even go? Sleep, school, work, workouts and extra-curricular activities may be taking up majority of your time. Where does one even fit in a social life? Who even has the time? You may not think you do, but I’m telling you, you probably do. I don’t want to hear about not having time to maintain a social life because it’s so crucial that we do so. I am definitely guilty of this, but we can’t isolate ourselves or only prioritize the above listed things and forget to have fun (outside of the gym, of course). We all need social interaction, so we need to find ways to throw it in to our schedule. Being social is something we also need to prioritize if we don’t want to tank our mental health. Also, don’t go believing people who say you can’t have a social life and maintain your grades because it’s completely possible. Here are ways to combat losing your social life to the academic year. 

I’m a firm believer that all friends need date nights. I will not be persuaded otherwise because we all need an excuse to go to a semi nice-ish place to eat, or maybe a self-care day at a spa, or even just a picnic at the park. Girl Friend dates are the absolute best and if you don’t already have this enacted between your friends, it’s time to start. One of my friends is over 1300 miles away when we are at school, so when we are both at home, we go on “Subway Dates”, which basically entails chowing down on an entire footlong and catching up on what happened in our lives since the last time we saw each other. I’ll expose myself and say I’m the slow eater, so we’re there a while. One of my other favorites are gym dates with my best friend! Who doesn't love a workout buddy? It doesn’t have to be big and it doesn’t even have to take long. Things like getting a meal together or doing homework together won’t take out of your schedule or mess with productivity, since these are things you would have done anyways, but now have another person to do them with. 

Parties may be a bit too much for someone, especially if they are tired from a long day, or are introverted, so I won’t put too much emphasis on it. If you do go to a party, be responsible. Neither I, nor Girl Gains co. promotes underage drinking and tbh, it messes with the gains anyways, so don’t feel pressured to do so. Personally, I don’t drink, if that makes anyone feel better about not doing so. The one great thing about parties is you get to doll yourself up, go out with friends, maybe show off those crazy quads or maybe your back muscles in an open back, or neither if you’re hiding the gains and going to pull a shapeshifter one day. Plus, you can get food after and if you get your protein in, don’t feel too bad about a cheat meal. 

Don’t feel like you must have all your assignments done in a small amount of time. You can turn things in early, but also, don’t wait until the last minute to do them, or wait until the night before they’re due. If you are spacing out your work it makes it easier to digest, increases your motivation when you’re able to switch between assignments after completing small portions of each, and you have more time to look things over or incorporate time for friends or going out. I usually make sure I know what I have due throughout the week and have a rough plan of when I want to have each assignment, or parts of each assignment complete. Don’t feel bad if you aren’t able to completely stick with it. I said 'rough' for a reason because I know firsthand how we can’t control all of the other things that come up in our lives on a daily basis. 

The idea that you have to choose between a social life and maintaining your academic self are a myth. While it takes a bit of time to get used to it all, it’s easy to schedule in time for friends and going out. If you are truly crunched on time, try to just spend time with others while running errands or doing daily tasks. Another person’s presence makes all the difference, especially if you’re incredibly stressed or drained. Halloween is coming up, so you need people to match cute Halloween costumes with! Go shopping to find stuff for the outfit!

Here’s your reminder to reach out to your friends, and family, who are most important to you, even if they’re thousands of miles away. Sending positive vibes to anyone in midterm season right now, but also initiate those study dates to avoid losing your mind from endless readings, flashcards, or whatever else you use to study.