Take It One Hour at a Time

During one week this semester, I had much to do. I spent Sunday trying to determine my weekly itinerary. I planned on going home the following weekend and wanted to get as much done as possible. Over thinking caused me to stress. There was no way I could determine what I would do day-to-day. It was too much to plan. I had no choice but to stop dwelling on the issue. The stress left once I stopped thinking. Taking it one hour at a time paid dividends. Everything that needed to get done was accomplished and the rest of my week was stress-free.

Students, take it one moment at a time. Don’t think too far ahead. Pace yourselves. Play your schedule by ear. Thinking too far ahead will overload your brain. You can’t control what will happen tomorrow or the next day. Anything can come up that will hinder your plans. It’s ok to plan ahead, but not excessively. The important thing is knowing what needs to get done. Once you know, the next important thing is doing it. You must accomplish your tasks at your own speed. Don’t procrastinate; but at the same time, don’t rush through it.

I’m still learning to not look ahead too far. My mind is constantly thinking about the next move. I even think about what’s for dinner right after eating breakfast. To improve this condition, I always evaluate what I can and can’t control. It was easy for me to get over the food scenario. After realizing I can’t control what the chef cooks, I stopped worrying. This mentality has helped me academically. I can’t plan on writing a paper at a specific time because I don’t know what will happen that day.

Don’t make plans too far ahead of time. For example, don’t tell your friends you’ll go to Philadelphia with them in two weeks. What if you have a few papers due the day after the trip? You see where I’m going. Wait until the last moment in making plans. You know academics come first; so plan your social schedule around that.

Taking it one moment at a time gives your mind rest. There’s no way to pre-plan a five-day schedule. You never know how hard an assignment will be or how long it will take to study for a test. If you work on an assignment longer than expected, everything gets pushed back. Then you’ll stress over getting everything else done. Why? Because you had a specific time in mind to get the assignments done.