When you sit down to make a schedule, the first impulse is to put in everything that needs to be there. You put in your classes, your work commitments, your travel times - the immovable blocks that everything else has to fit in around. But once you have a first draft of your schedule, after you've put in everything you think needs to be there, I challenge you to do something radical:
What is missing from your schedule?
"Katy, how do I know what's missing if it was never there in the first place?" I imagine you yelling, in frustration. Here are some ways to find out what might be missing, or what you could add in as a regular schedule block that you haven't ever considered including.
What are the tasks that you are consistently doing at the last minute? Could you schedule regular time to get on top of them?
What are the long term projects that you wish you could work on more? Can you find time, even bi-weekly or monthly, to set aside to focus in that area?
What kind of invitations (social, family, professional) are you consistently turning down? Would you be more likely to go if you set the time and place?
What are the skills you want to build? Are there places in your schedule, a project you could undertake, a group to join, to help build a structure around your learning?
Do you need to build in a block that's purposefully unscheduled? Could you use some time, every week or even every day, that you protect but don't decide ahead of time how to use? That way, when it comes up, you can use it however you want and still have a little spontaneity in an otherwise very scheduled life.
Sleep is often missing!
Schedules are great - they help keep us on track, they protect our time, they make it easier to wear all the hats that we do on a daily basis. But they're also a good place to look to see how our values are being reflected in our day to day lives. Is everything that's important to you reflected in the way you use your time?