One of my favorite photos from this semester so far!
Now, I know I haven’t been posting much and keeping up with my goals in content creation, and that’s because the transition into college has been… hard. You can read more about that in this post if you’re interested, but in this post I dive into what I’m struggling with most: finding balance & prioritization.
I open my computer and blocks of color stare back at me. Red is for classes, green is for assignments and their deadlines, and orange is for hobbies. Each day is a jigsaw puzzle, where the goal is to fit these blocks into a plan I’ll follow without feeling burnt out. Though, with so many moving pieces, nothing seems to fit exactly the way I want (admittedly, orange doesn’t have much space on my calendar, and green seems to overpower).
Is balance possible?
When people talk about finding balance, I usually hear it in the context of the workforce. This includes setting times for work and trying to minimize the work completed at home while making family, social and physical health a priority.
This is just as important in college, too. Though, the main challenge in achieving balance is the spontaneity and unstructured nature that comes with college. Every day looks different from the previous one, with office hours and recitation sessions often occurring in the evening. For example, on Tuesdays I have two and a half hours of classes (starting at 1 pm) while on Thursdays I have six hours of classes (starting at 10 am). Of course, studying for these classes has to be factored into the week as well; when an exam is on the horizon, that studying time tends to increase.
Each day is exciting, and there’s never a dull moment – which I’m enjoying so far. A con of this unstructured nature is that school has become omnipresent; it’s always on my mind. After I finish classes in the afternoon, I’m thinking about tutoring and recitation sessions in the evening. Thus, blocking off hours to “school” is challenging. That’s not to say it’s impossible, though; it’s just a skill that takes time to master.
To study or to enrich myself
Even if I sit down and tell myself that, “right now I’m going to write a blog post,” I think about how I could do more problems before the organic chemistry recitation, or how I could watch some more videos for calculus. There’s always something more that I could be doing for my classes. Though, a practice I’m trying to adopt is to study “smarter” instead of “harder;” more time spent on studying doesn’t necessarily lead to a better outcome (a topic I’ll be discussing in an upcoming blog post).
However, whenever I look back at high school, my fondest memories stemmed from extracurriculars: learning WordPress for my blog, reading scientific papers, or being part of the orchestra. The scores I got on my AP Chem or physics tests didn’t matter as much as I thought they would; and, the stress I had over my grades wasn’t worth it. As I look back, I don’t wish I studied more. Indeed, I wish I dedicated more time to extracurriculars, as those defined what my passions are today and enabled me to gain the most skills.
Upon arriving at college and speaking to advisors, I got the same sentiment. Of course, I want to excel and do as well as I possibly can in all my classes. Yet, as I fit my jigsaw puzzle of a schedule together, I ask myself: how much time should I spend on each class? How can I consistently dedicate time to extracurriculars daily? Being a first semester freshman, I’ve definitely been prioritizing classes more (going to office hours, tutoring, etc). The amount of time spent on a class will vary per week, as some topics are harder to digest than others; yet, as I develop an optimal study strategy (again, more on that later), I think I’ll become more efficient.
I’ve also been establishing myself in some clubs and organizations on campus; I do believe the rest – content creation & hobbies – will follow. I just need to give myself time to adjust and “get into the flow.”
Eventually, I want to get to the point where I can put something extracurricular “first,” instead of studying. A piece of advice I received from an upperclassman was that assignments and exam prep – with their hard deadlines – will find a way to get themselves done. It’s the other stuff – extracurriculars, which don’t have a “hard deadline” – that won’t.
What has helped so far?
My days have so many moving pieces, and one thing that has kept me grounded is Google Calendar. I enter when all my lectures, recitations, and club meetings are, and then allocate time for studying (though, in reality that time tends to run over) and extracurriculars (though, at the moment, these get pushed off). Time blocking is an extremely helpful strategy in itself, and it’s one I’m working to refine.
Furthermore, acknowledging that transitioning into college is a big step (and giving myself a break) has been incredibly important. College is stressful – not only because exams are worth more and I really don’t know my grade until the end – but also because of the number of decisions I’ve had to make in a short period of time (namely, what courses I should take for next semester). While I can minimize stress, I can’t help but feel it. I think allowing myself time to do nothing, relax and “get all my stress out” has been key to maintaining productivity in the long-term.
Achieving balance – and my ideal jigsaw puzzle of a day – will always be a work in progress. As I continue conquering this battle, whether I emerge victorious is for me to decide at the end. And it comes down to the following question: did I prioritize what I want?
