Do you ever wish you had more hours in the day?

I think we’ve all, at some point, tried to do everything. Studies, work, SASSE-engagement, working out, hanging out with friends, the list never ends. Even though we only have 24 hours in a day, and no one has ever been able to achieve every single thing they wanted to, we still try. Everyone preaches about their time management skills, but isn’t it just about learning how to prioritize and choose what to focus on? Time is not manageable. It doesn’t matter how good we are at prioritizing our time and organizing our lives, time will still go as fast, and the day will still have 24 hours. With so much to do and so little time, it is inevitable to feel stressed and overwhelmed. But we can’t change the number of hours in a day, all we can do is learn how to make the most of the time that we do have.

Personally, I’ve never experienced the immense pressure to perform and to achieve great things before I started at SSE. Everyone here studies hard, is involved in SASSE, and somehow (don’t ask me how) still manages to have social lives. What I’ve learned though, is that what works for someone else might not work for me. It’s just like study-techniques – how the best-performing student in your class studies is not necessarily a good strategy for you. It’s all about knowing yourself and what works for you. Don’t beat yourself up for doing “less” than others. 

Time is precious. Ask yourself, is it really worth sacrificing other aspects of your life in order to manage a second part-time job? I hate to break it to you, SSE students, but everything you do does not have to be career-enhancing. It’s human to take breaks, it’s human to procrastinate, it’s human to feel unmotivated. It’s human to be human!

“No” is such a powerful word. It can be very difficult to turn down opportunities, but sometimes it is necessary. Always keep your own goals and needs in mind, and value your own motivation over what others would say and expect you to do.

Whenever I’m stressing and overthinking about not doing enough, I remind myself that everyone has the same 24 hours a day, and what we manage to have time for is all about what we personally find to be worth it. You don’t have to do everything right now, you have time. Making time for a lot of things in your life doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll perform well. 

At the end of the day, it is important to remember that time is a limited resource, and we need to use it wisely. Make the most of the time you have. The next time you find yourself wishing for more hours in a day, remember that it’s not the quantity of time, but the quality of how you use it that really matters. 

Quality over quantity.