“In your 20s, the World is at your Fingertips.”
That phrase has been on repeat in my mind since I started college and it’s been a reccurring thought. If the world is supposedly at my fingertips, why does it feel like it’s constantly tipping? Why does it feel like I’m so drained by the end of the day that I have no energy left for extracurriculars?
These are questions I’ve asked myself the moment I found myself between classes, commuting and more than one job. Having a foundation, whether it be set or not, helps us maintain order in our lives. Education is a priority; thats the first thing that must be done, but it can’t be the only thing. Every person has a different life outside of school, but I have found it difficult to enjoy that life when school has been running my life. Life should not revolve around one set thing, its life. Life is a multitude of experiences, emotions, activities, lessons and relationships that don’t call come from having our nose in a textbook. Which is why we must find a “sweet spot” amidst the chaos.
Find a routine
Simply sitting down, at a random location, and saying, “I am going to do this.” didn’t quite work for me. That became a one-time occurrence and wasn’t a routine. A school-based routine should be flexible and able to change because school-based activities shouldn’t absorb the entirety of your day. There’s so much to be accomplished in a day that cramming everything into one isn’t beneficial to the level of detail that we want to put into an assignment or to our life balance. By creating a routine for yourself, not only will you be able to get the things done in an orderly manner, but it will also allow time for other activities. For example, my routine is to head to the library with snacks, sit somewhere comfortable, and work on assignments using study techniques to help. I’ve found that sitting in bed at home and trying to work on assignments doesn’t work because there are so many distractions, especially since I’m a commuting student. Which is why I’ve found that staying in the library after classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays to be beneficial to get the things I need done in one timely sitting. I do my best to keep all the school-based side of my life on campus, meaning doing homework in the library, studying in the library, etc. that way it’ll help my mind stay on task and fixed on what needs to be done in the moment.
Of course there are some instances where I move studying to be at home, which is why that routine should be flexible in case something changes. This routine doesn’t just apply to what’s done on campus; it also accounts for what’s done at home. As a commuting student, there is a lot going on once I leave campus, as do many other students. Sticking to a routine at work or at home also helps with our minds transferring that focus to where it needs to be without wandering into possibilities or what ifs about something else. That prevents us from overloading our minds and thinking about something that isn’t happening in the moment or something that could make us forget what tasks need to be accomplished. This also falls into the category of organization skills. Organization skills aren’t just physical, they are mental. Having these routines on and off campus helps keep our minds and lives more organized than us trying to remember everything or cram to finish what needs to be done.
overwhelming workload
With the mix of school work and jobs, it becomes overwhelming when we are trying to cram everything in our mind without a routine to support everything. It’s like trying to fill a plate that can’t be finished. Which is why going off our routines helps keep us in check with what’s been done and what needs to be done. College workload can be a lot and isn’t for everyone. Going into college, we are given a glimpse of the potential workload but don’t experience it head on until it becomes too much. An option for us students to do if the workload does become too much is to drop a class before Census day. This is helpful for us to remember because we get a sense of how the workload will be, and we have that option to back out just incase. Being overwhelmed from our workload doesn’t have to just be school assignments or exams; this overwhelming feeling applies for our social lives as well. That overwhelming feeling isn’t permanent. It is absolutely temporary, but it is also up to us if we want to push through this overwhelming feeling and deal with everything at once or break it down into chunks to better benefit ourselves.
Finding that sweet spot
It is perfectly normal to feel overwhelmed or burnt out, but there are ways to avoid this. Which is why we need to listen to our bodies and know when enough is enough. We aren’t robots; our minds can’t intake a constant stream of information in one sitting and expect to playback the new information the very next day. There’s only so much we can learn, process and retain in a certain amount of hours that if we try to take more it won’t stick the way we’d like. Finding this sweet spot, or sense of balance, helps us separate our chaotic lives. That perfect in the middle, balanced, schedule can help us ease our minds and bodies while also getting things done. Say for instance in the mornings it’s fully dedicated to classes, using this time to complete homework, study sessions and sometimes attending office hours if necessary. Then have a gap in between when classes are over to eat, rest and socialize. Finally, later in the day dedicate it to work, extracurriculars or spending time with family. Of course, this is very straightforward and a little stereotypical, but again, a routine should be flexible. So this instance can change at any given point, which can be stressful, but I’d much rather have that temporary stress of readjusting a schedule than the stress from trying to cram everything in a set amount of time.
College life isn’t easy and is meant to be challenging, but that challenge is something we knew and something we’re ready to take on. But having the right mindset, routine and balance amidst it all will make a difference in the long run. So we can avoid negative emotions or burnout that could potentially ruin our flow. The world is truly at our fingertips, it’s just a matter of how we balance it. It isn’t impossible, it’s possible with the right goals, mindset and drive to balance our world on our fingertips.