Finding the Right Balance

Image I took while studying for finals for the fall semester last year.

College is stressful. Everyone knows that.

It’s a constant battle between what I call the 5 S’s.

1)      Sleep

2)      Social Life

3)      Studying

4)      Showering

5)      Snacking (eating in general, really)

The trick with these 5 things is that you can only pick a couple of them at a time, depending on the week, it could be 3 or 4. For me, usually its only 3. A lot of times, you have to multitask when doing these, so things overlap and it can end up being all 5, but that’s not easy. For example, a lot of the time, I find myself eating while working on either work or homework. As I type right now, I have a coffee and a breakfast bar sitting next to me.

As for the content of the list, I know. It's weird that showering made it on the list, but really. You need to make time to shower at some point. As for sleep, well, sleep isn't always a priority, as it should be. Some nights I can get 8 or 9 hours of sleep, while the next, I'll only get 4 or 5. It just depends on my workload.

As your workload shifts, your priorities shift. This week, I had 13 papers due (don’t worry any prospective college students out there – this is NOT a typical week). I opted to sleep, study, and shower. Clearly eating is in there too, but it mostly occurred while I was studying/writing paper after paper.

Having a social life in college takes up a lot of time. Luckily most of my friends are just as busy as me, and they don’t seem to mind that I don’t always have time to do things with them every week. But, when I’m really stressed and do need a break, it’s good to know I have people to do things with, and the same goes for them.

It’s a struggle to find the right balance, and sometimes I feel like I’m being pulled in a thousand different directions. Early this week, I knew I really should focus on my papers, but I had promised my friends last week I would go off campus to eat dinner with them. So I went, but that meant that I had more work to do later.

Every choice has a tradeoff. Opt to take a break from homework for one night, and the next night you’ll have more to take care of.

But college is fun. That’s what I need to remind myself when things are particularly stressful. My friends and I watch movies, eat ice cream, bake things in the dorm kitchen, paint nails – things that seem simple enough, but they’re enough of a break and a stress reliever that they help make college life less stressful.