In contemplating whether I should even start writing articles for the Odyssey, I examined everything that is going on in my life right now. Currently, I am a full-time student with plenty of homework, I have a debatably full-time/part-time job, I help coach a youth softball team, I attend a weekly bible study, I like to workout regularly, and I now write articles each week.
Yes, I chose to take on each of these responsibilities, but trying to manage them all at once is a lot harder than I thought it would be. I seriously thought I could do it all!
I have learned from taking on too many obligations at once that trying to accomplish each task is challenging, and doing the tasks well is nearly impossible. I am bound to spend too much of my time on one thing— like work— causing me to forget to do my homework, which then induces extreme stress...and stress crying.
The constant stress I experience leads me into a downward spiral of unintentional sabotage. While that description sounds ridiculously dramatic, it is true.
Recently, I showed up an hour late to work because I looked at the wrong day on my schedule. I swear I'm not trying to get fired.
I also missed a class the other day because I forgot that it was not on campus, but at a garden instead.
Forgetfulness is not on my agenda, I just can't help this domino effect of foolish mistakes lately. So in the wise words of Ron Swanson, I think it is important for me to remember in the midst of my absentmindedness: “never half-ass two things, whole-ass one thing.”
The simplicity of that quote is exactly what I need at a time. Like now, when I feel so overwhelmed with life that I could pull my hair out strand by strand. Unfortunately, since only taking on one thing is virtually impossible, I intend to "whole-ass" a few things in my life instead of "half-assing" a bunch of things.
In order to do well at school, I need to significantly cut back on my hours at work, or (gasp) even quit my job. To make the most of my bible study time, I need to finish my homework earlier in the day. Spending a ton of my time doing things that feel like tasks to check off my to-do list makes life much less enjoyable and knowing me, I will probably forget to check off some of those things anyway.
For me, doing things well and doing things happily are complementary. I think as a student in 2016, there is a lot of pressure to always do more.
More activities add more to my resumé, which means I am more likely to get that high-paying job later on. More, more, more.
When is enough, enough, though?
Perhaps when you sleep through all your alarms. Or maybe when you fall into a downward spiral like me. The bottom line is that sometimes we can take on too much at once. It is OK to say 'no' to things and it is OK to quit some things. More does not always equal more if you're stress crying on a daily basis.
Remember, doing things well and happily is much greater than doing everything you can possibly imagine just to look good on your resumé.
Take a step back, examine your life, and decide what makes you happy, what you can do to the best of your abilities, and what you can cut out. I guarantee you will probably only stress cry once a week after that!
