Clash days are normal at university. Pretending you can attend everything is how you show up late, half-present, and angry at yourself.
I use a blunt order: protected teaching first, then assessment-critical work, then optional social. Everything else gets a polite no or a move.
Name the non-negotiables
Lectures that feed this week’s seminar, timed assessments, and anything with a mark attached stay. Sports clubs and “optional” talks move unless they are the point of your week for wellbeing.
If two non-negotiables truly overlap, I email the module lead once — short, specific — and ask which recording or alternative exists. Silence is worse than a 4-line email.
Reschedule the flexible pieces the same day
Do not leave “I’ll catch up later” floating. If group work loses the slot, I propose two alternate times in the same message. Momentum dies in group chats that wait for consensus.
On woods I edit the start and finish of the movable block so the week view stays honest — otherwise I keep planning as if the clash never happened.