Throughout my early college career, I heard advice on time management from every imaginable angle. I heard, at painful length, about the evils of procrastination and the wonders of effective organization coupled with unyielding work ethic. I was taught to fear leisure time and embrace new assignments with all the intensity which last-minute panic usually provides me.
The more I am at school the stronger the feeling that I was taught wrong becomes.
Now, in the most general sense, procrastination can be very harmful and being timely in one’s scholastic efforts is very wise. However, I see the people I know who occasionally take some time to be lazy and play hooky and I see the people I know who are always focused and always working to the utmost of their abilities and I wonder, even with the possible future benefits of that added labor, are those people any better off? They certainly don’t seem to be happier.
The happiest people I know are not the Ÿber-scholars whose only friends are their lab partners and study groups, nor are they the keg monkeys who have never been to a class or cracked a book. They are the ones who strike a balance. They work hard, when necessary, but they always temper that with a bit of harmless procrastination now and again.
Sure, that may result in getting a few C’s that could have been B’s. But it also gives them the kind of well-rounded experience and personality that frantic bookworms and mindless partiers can’t ever hope to obtain. If anything, taking some time to enjoy oneself now is good training for how to balance work and play when, later on, the work is necessary to put food on the table and the play is spending time with the very precious people who eat that food.
Most of college seems to be forcing oneself to do things one would rather avoid for the sake of a degree and possible future benefits attached to said degree. At times, it even feels quite contrary to natural human behavior, and yet we do it because our minds are set firmly on achieving the goals we have set for our future selves. But the thing to keep in mind is that we aren’t just here to gain the tools to prepare us for our lives, which are to begin at some later date when we have achieved all the necessary prerequisites.
These are our lives. And if they were to end tomorrow (I hope they don’t, but it’s wise to prepare for all eventualities) I would prefer to think that I didn’t spend my life preparing for a future that never came. So although I am a rule follower and am notorious among my acquaintances for being no fun at all, I encourage people who take school too seriously to take a break, even just for a little while, to recharge and do something completely unrelated to self-betterment. Without going overboard, the occasional blowing-off of minor responsibilities can be some of the very most fun times one can have.
I am sure someone will misinterpret this and assume that I am just a complete slacker trying to ruin poor, hardworking smarties. But I don’t really care. I can’t make people understand my point.
However, if through my suggestions I can get one person to go outside and enjoy a pretty day or read a good book that they’ve been putting off due to their unbearable workload then I will be happy to suffer many misinterpretations and complaints.
I would be sad to think that any of my overworked acquaintances would look back at his or her college days and wish he or she would have had more fun. This is probably the last time in our lives where cutting lose and letting go will be acceptable and not seriously damaging.
Let’s try not to waste it.
We have only four short years to do pretty much whatever we want, versus a life of responsibility. I strongly encourage everyone to take occasional advantage of the folly of their own youth.
Skip class and email Kate at [email protected].