It's easy to look at your schedule for the week and say, "Sure, I can fit that in" while contemplating an event or study session or even another extracurricular. It's pretty simple to organize a meeting or make time for hanging out with friends after classes or going out to dinner, even while knowing it might mean staying up a few extra hours to prep for class the next day. It's always convenient to say, "I'll get it done earlier, ahead of time," before something else comes up and suddenly it's 4am and you still haven't started.

It's easy to plan and make lists and map out your week or your day or even just the next few hours, but sometimes it's hard to really know what it's going to take to get it all done.

When you start thinking things like showering or eating take too long, or you catch yourself hoping that everything -- from classes to practices to the shortest of group meetings -- will end just a few minutes early, it's time to consider taking a step back.

What are you doing with your time?

I know that for me -- most days (lately) feel like I'm swimming through a pool of maple syrup. I know that I'm doing work. Things are slowly getting checked off my to-do lists, but it still feels like a never-ending litany of busy-ness.

What does it take to get it all done?

I know that until very recently -- I had almost never asked myself that question. I always assumed I could do "it," whatever "it" may be. If something needed done, I could probably finish it. If something needed to be taken care of, I could manage it. If it was a task, I could take it.

And then, last week, I nearly broke into tears when a professor asked me if I could three-hole punch a 78 page script for them. It was a insanely simple task, and it completely overwhelmed me. The question wasn't if I could do it for them, it was what it would take for me to do it.

In that case, it was a pretty simple answer. Taking the time to three-hole punch 78 pages meant racing through dinner, running back and forth between my roommate's printer and my desk, and frantically dashing to rehearsal (just barely on time) with the ink still drying on the pages. I could have said, "Oh no, I'm sorry, I don't think I'll have time today," or any number of simple (valid) excuses, but I didn't. I decided to make it happen -- one of my mottos in life.

I've been making it happen for awhile now, but I'm only just realizing that maybe I shouldn't always. It takes a lot -- doing it all -- and it's important to remember to ask the right questions about what we're doing. Everything takes a sacrifice, as simple or as complex as it may be, taking time to do one thing means taking time away from something else.

So maybe, instead of all trying to "make it happen" all the time, we should think about what it takes to make it happen, and plan our lives realistically. That way, when you look at your planner for the next week, you'll know that you've got what it takes.