And I mean this is going to be a literal step-by-step guide, so keep on reading
The purpose of this article
There are two ways you can go while trying to manage your obligations in college:
- Take on fewer obligations and put 100% into each one.
- Take on lots of obligations and allocate less energy among them.
Every person has different circumstances and needs. Both of these choices have pros and cons. With the latter, you achieve more on paper, but since you have more activities to allocate energy to, it limits the amount of time and effort you can put into each activity, which means you may not be learning as much as you would if you did the former.
When you’re doing too many things at once, nothing will be perfect.
The problem with the former is that since you’re dedicating so much energy to a few things, you miss out on acquiring knowledge in other fields. It is possible to find a common ground, and throughout this article, I will show you how it’s done.
Why I’m Writing This
The reason why I’m writing this article is because I’m doing so many activities that I truly enjoy. I’m intellectually curious. I want to learn as much as I can. If it were possible, I would give every single thing I do 100%. The problem is that I only have 24 hours a day. I have classes and work. I need to eat and go to the gym. That only leaves me a few hours during the day. Now what else do I have going on? I’m studying for business law and marketing research exams as well as reading the textbooks because they help me prepare for lectures, and I find the material to be interesting. I want to put effort into creating a fantastic visual story for my new package design; and read my packaging design textbook so I can learn more about the package design industry; I need to work on my business, which entails not only generating more portraits for my portfolio but also working on a business plan, a pitch deck, a new logo, a website redesign, prepare for pitch competitions, etc. I’m also in charge of the advertising club’s instagram page, and currently, I need to design some new stickers to give out at our upcoming events. I am taking a figure drawing class, and I really want to do well in that class because when I have to design portraits for clients, it’ll be easier for me to draw accurate proportions if I understand the anatomy of the human body. I’m searching for a second job so I can save as much money as possible for my upcoming study abroad trip. Oh, and don’t forget that nowadays, internships mean much more than your actual education, so I’m in the process of trying to find a remote internship for the Summer.
In addition, I need to keep up with my social life and make sure I’m getting enough social interaction because otherwise, I’ll be isolated and miserable.
But the reality is, I have to decide which obligations are going to get Gold Cup energy and which ones are going to get pink and blue energy, and what does that even mean? I’ll explain in a future section of this article.
Now it’s your turn. I’m going to provide you with a methodical approach to how to lower your stress levels, avoid burnout, and enjoy the process of learning.
Step 1: Write Down Your Values
Either take out a piece of paper or write down on an electronic device what is most important to you. I’ll write down my own example.
- My happiness
- My health/fitness/sleep
- Anything that (truly) contributes to my career and personal development
- Work because I need money
Step 2: Write down your obligations
Write down your classes, jobs, extracurriculars, social life, and everything that takes up your weekly routine. Here’s my example:
- Figure Drawing
- Business Law
- Marketing Research
- Branding and Packaging
- Accelerator program (where I’m developing my business)
- Her Campus
- Ad Club Social Media Management
- Going to the gym
- Social Life
- Working to Save Money
- Preparing for my study abroad trip
- Finding an internship
Step 3: Eliminate Distractions or Anything That Wastes Your Time
Before you make any changes, you need to evaluate the amount of time you actually have. You may have more time than you think, but you’re possibly wasting it doing meaningless things. Here are some examples:
- Scrolling on social media
- Watching excessive television (especially if it’s not productive)
- Excessive Texting/Calling
It’s ok to not work all the time. What I am saying is that almost everything you do throughout the day should be something that adds meaning to your life.
Examples of things that may be mistaken as time wasters but actually aren’t:
- Sitting and doing absolutely nothing for a couple of minutes, giving yourself time to reflect on your emotions
- Journaling
- Reading
- Productive content consumption (like a YouTube video about a workout routine)
- Social events
Obviously, you can overdo anything. The point is to use the small increments of leftover time to partake in activities that contribute value to you in some way.
Step 4: Decide if Anything Could Possibly Come Off the List
If you have an obligation that isn’t required, doesn’t fulfill you, and/or doesn’t really benefit you too much, remove it from the list. I’m currently taking business law because I thought the course material would be essential for me to have knowledge as an upcoming businesswoman. Since I’m not required to take it, and at times I find it difficult to put an adequate amount of time and energy into each and every single thing I do, dropping the course is an option if it’s something I want to do. If you’re not in a situation where removing items from the list is possible, move on to step 5.
Step 5: Decide Which Obligations Will get Gold Cup Energy, and Which Ones are Fine With Pink and Blue Energy
Before you begin, I must explain the following concept:
Every year around Christmas, Starbucks sells a golden cup, which is a limited edition. For the remainder of the year, they sell the same cup but in pink and blue. The pink and blue cups are still pretty, and they serve the same function. The Gold Cup represents the rare, best-of-the-best energy. Without knowing about the gold cup, you still think the blue and pink cups look nice, which means you don’t even realize that there are better-looking products out there. When you do a good job at something, people usually don’t even realize that you could probably do better because what you’ve already done is adequate.
If we want to avoid burnout, we must treat our obligations like the Starbucks cups.
The reason why we compiled our lists in steps 1 and 2 is because they will assist us with step 5. Knowing our values will help us determine which obligations will get gold energy and which ones will get pink/blue energy.
There are many ways you can decide how to allocate your energy:
- Individual Rankings
- Write down each obligation, with #1 being the thing that receives the most energy and #10 being the least. (This isn’t my exact ranking, just an example)
Example:
- Mental/physical wellbeing
- My business
- Her Campus
- Branding and Packaging
- Figure Drawing
- Ad Club Social Media Management
- Marketing Research
- Business Law
2. Clusters
- Personally, this is the way I prefer to do it. In my values list, I indicated that anything that significantly adds to my career development or contributes to my portfolio is important to me.
- Three examples: Her Campus, Branding and Packaging, My Business
- My mental and physical health rank above everything
Step 6: Consider the Fact that Priorities Can Change
Just because we decided which obligations will receive the most energy in step 5 does not mean we should neglect everything else. For example, just because I would prefer to give more energy to my business does not mean I shouldn’t study for my marketing research exam. It’s important to think about the consequences, “If I don’t do this, what will the result be?” Well, in this case, if I get into the habit of not studying for my marketing research exams, it could result in course failure, which would result in having to repeat the course, possibly setting myself back for graduation. I’ll still study, only I’ll give it pink/blue energy instead of gold.
Step 7: How Do You Know What to Prioritize?
Again, for each task, think: “If I don’t do this, what will the result be?”
I know you’ve probably heard this in many articles, but a planner really does help you stay organized. It’s even more beneficial if you write your schedule and tasks you would like to have completed the night before to avoid scatterbrain. You know exactly what to do.
In the calendar section, write your due dates. Examine everything. Now here’s how you can decide what to do:
- Complete anything that is easy and you know for a fact won’t be time-consuming
- Complete the tasks that are due the soonest (at least start)
Step 8: This is the Most Important Step – You Have to Only Focus On One Thing at a Time
This may seem difficult, especially when you have so many things on your plate. But that’s the problem, the more you worry about everything that needs to be done, the less productive you’ll be. The time you’re wasting on worrying could be used to do your work.
Just pick one thing on the list and do it. Forget about everything else. Focusing on one thing will allow you to enter the flow state, which means you’re so focused on what you’re doing that you lose track of time and you’re not thinking about other things. You’ll find afterward that your task took less time to complete than you thought, and you did a great job.
If this is too difficult, start small. The next time you eat a meal, just eat the meal. Do not watch a video, do not try to do homework, and don’t even have a conversation. Just eat. I tried this myself and I found that without watching a video, it takes me about 10-15 min to eat. If I’m watching a video, it takes at least 30.
Now, of course, you’ll have to give something up, and that’s ok. Not everything has to get done in one day. In previous steps, we have established what is deserving of significant energy and what we value, and we’ve evaluated the consequences of not following through on certain tasks.
Congrats if You Made it to the End!!!
If you read my previous article, you’ve heard of urge surfing, and if you’re here, you have successfully practiced it. If you’ve been feeling stressed about the upcoming week, I hope these tips provided you with a sense of relief. Before you click off, I just want you to know that everything is going to work out in your favor.