How I Manage My Week as a Dental Student
Friday:
This will sound unconventional, but I want to start with Friday. This is my DO-NOTHING DAY. After a whole week of class and studying, by the time Friday hits, I need to just unwind and take a break from school. On Fridays, I like to just watch tv, enjoy a glass of wine with my dinner, and cuddle with my two cats. =)
Saturday and Sunday:
Now that I have had a mental break from school (and stress), I feel re-energized to get back to work. I reserve both Saturday and Sunday as catch-up days, whether it’s lab work or studying. These are also great days to put in volunteer time! I am much more likely to sign up for organization events if it’s on the weekend.
Also, I do like to call my momma on Sundays since we are both off at this time. =) It’s so easy to get lost with school and forget to call home, I try to make it a priority because it also helps to lower my stress!
Sunday is also to prepare for the coming week. I buy groceries and cook on Sundays. I don’t necessarily meal prep; I just cook a large meal that will last me a few days. Also, I look ahead to see what classes are scheduled and make goals of tasks to do each day. I keep this schedule set as a homepage on my phone so that I am forced to look at it every day, it helps to keep me on track! As an example, here is a preview of my upcoming week..
Monday:
In general, my thought process is if I start my week off being productive, my productivity will be consistent the rest of the week as well.
Definitely up by 6:30am; if I work out, I wake at 5:30am
6am – Work out (I did NOT work out today nor was I on time for 8am class lol; today was just one of those days…)
But figure out if you like morning work outs or evening after class.
Personally, I like mornings because after an 8am-5pm class day (sometimes longer), I’m going to the couch first thing.
Class 8am-5pm (Oral Radiology Quiz @ 1pm!!)
5:30pm – Eat
6:00pm-?? – STUDY FOR TUESDAY’S PHARM QUIZ!! I really fell behind studying this week, and we had our class Halloween party on Saturday, so I spent Friday and Saturday making my costume and preparing for the party (I made cocktail weenies!). So yea, today is all about Pharmacology. Eek.
Tuesday:
6am – No work out because I will be reviewing for quiz..
Class 8am-5pm (Pharm Quiz @ 8am!)
5:30pm-?? – LAB CATCH UP DAY!! I didn’t have a productive weekend (Sunday inadvertently became my do-nothing day lol), and since we have lab classes Wednesday-Friday, so I need to survey and mount my cast ready for Removable Partial Dentures class. It sounds easy but I’m not great with mounting and it never happens on the first try…
?? – Eat
Wednesday:
6am – Work out
Class 8am-5pm
5:30pm – Eat
6pm – PHARM EXAM IS NEXT MONDAY, so back to Pharm it is… Plus tack on whatever lab work is assigned in class today. Also need to put together a picture portfolio for ARCT that is due Friday.
Thursday:
6am – Work out
Class 8am-5pm
5:30pm – Eat
6pm – More Pharm… Plus any new assignments in lab. Proof the portfolio and ensure it is ready for print and submission tomorrow.
Study break – I’m usually out of the family-sized meal that I cooked on Sunday, so Thursdays are usually my cook days to last me until Sunday.
Friday:
… Now do you see why this is my do-nothing day?
But jk.. I’m behind. So I will be studying Pharm. My goal is to have information to be near solidified so that I can start doing practice questions over the weekend.
Oh, I also have 6pm-10pm Meharry ASDA/SNDA Mentorship Meet and Greet.
Lather, rinse, repeat.