Orientation Week- Time Strategies

I have said this since my freshman year, and will probably take the statement to my grave, but the most important lesson I learned in college is time management. Now, thats a fairly broad statement, but what I mean by learning time management, is that I learned how to balance school and social. This means being able to get everything done that needs to be done, and making it to everything you wish to attend. As a high schooler, or someone preparing to enter college, outside forces do a very good job at making you think that you will spend most of your time in college stressing and studying. Yes, you do stress, and yes, you do study a lot, but there is more time in one day than one person could need if handled correctly. It is a process that can't really be taught, but is something that is learned through time and experiences. One learns very quickly to get their work done during the day if they wish to have a fun, stress free night. I read an article not long ago, resembling one of the articles I chose, The Myth of Too Busy, and it was called "The Disease of Being Busy". The article spoke on how detrimental it is to our well being to label ourselves as busy. All to often, when someone asks us how we are doing, we say something along the lines of "good, just busy". I am so guilty of this, and have been saying it since probably 2009. The reality of it though, is that this is just the pace of life we live. Having things to do isn't necessarily a bad thing, but when we use words like 'busy', it can put a negative connotation on things. The second article I read, Why Time Management is Ruining Our Lives, does really good at explaining why we should be embracing the all the work we do, and deeming it as 'making good use of our time', rather than busy work. In the article they mentioned how labeling a workplace as 'busy' puts added stress onto workers, and can lead to an unhappier workplace. Workplaces that are labeled as 'very productive', carry a more positive image than its opposite. So, not only do we need to learn how to balance all the things we do, but we need to learn how to embrace it as a positive part of our daily life.

Fine Balance