We're all working hard... comparatively....
You've heard it before, and you'd be lying if you said you hadn't.
Catie: Oh my God, I have so much work!
Jill: No kidding! I have, like, three papers due next Tuesday and a presentation on Thursday...
Catie: Yeah, I have a presentation on Friday. But I seriously have four twelve-page papers due on Monday. I haven't eaten all day, and I'm so tired... It's going to take me forever to do all this!
Jill: Oh, I guess I haven't slept much either... but all my papers have to be sixteen pages long, with citations. And finals week I have four exams total. Two on Tuesday, one Wednesday, and my last one isn't till Friday. The nerve to have an exam on Friday that I have to stick around till then!!
Catie: Seriously! Gosh, I have too much to do. I'll never get it done.
Jill: These papers are killing me. I don't think I'll ever see daylight in the next two weeks.
And the defeatest conversation continues from there... on and on, and no one gets anything done except reinforcing three points:
1) There is "so" much to do.
2) We (or whomever) will "never" get it all done.
3) Sacrificing food, sleep, and relaxation does not help the situation.
This is the time that everyone lists the things "to do" and prays to get them done with an ounce of sanity remaining. Listening to friends list their tasks to conquer, there's an unsaid comparison taking place. Who has more to do? Whose work load will take longer? is harder? will push them over the edge? Who should be pitied for the number of finals thay have to take?
The lists get longer and more ridiculous, each person pushing their agenda as the difficult one, looking for sympathy? Empathy?
All I've got is apathy. For this situation, anyway...
We probably don't even notice when we're doing this. But, recently, I've been taking note of it and really trying not to let myself get sucked into this "I'm-worse-off-than-you-are" game that doesn't end with a winner and a loser, but with two people that think they have more work to do...
Put it in perspective--by listing the seemingly endless tasks, we're really throwing our own piece of mind at bay. Telling ourselves we have "so much" to do and that it is "so hard" and that we'll "never get done" is conterproductive. Instead of talking about these things we should just haul off and do them!
And don't let friends that don't get this concept to drag you down with them. Let them list their tribulations, if they must, but tell them you're sure they'll get it done and that they'll be fine. Because they will. And so will you; but you are much better off not trying to play "anything-you-have-I-have-it-worse" game. That isn't getting anyone anywhere.
Make your list of things "to do" and put is someplace you'll see it--but don't dwell on it. Schedule time in your day for working on the papers and projects and presentations, but don't forget to schedule mealtimes and relaxation time, too.
Relaxation shouldn't be partying, but maybe just watching a movie with a friend, listening to music while sharing a pot of tea and talking, or just sitting outside listening to the wind and the birds.
Don't forget to schedule sleep, too, if you're the kind that will forgo your Zs to get it all done. Giving up precious sleep might seem like a solution, but in the long-run, it's actually more of a strike against you.
So good luck, friends. Take those papers to the pound. Grind out those last few readings. Study your stuff till you've got it in a snap. These last few weeks are a trial, but we can do it. I know we can.
But don't complain about it. And don't forget to live...
We're all working hard, comparatively.
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Mike, I think almost all of us (well at least a vast majority of us) have been on the other side. The "real world" extracts plenty of complaints people too...we've all got bills to pay, rents to make, food to eat...but you can't discount someone else's reality for the picture of the hard life out there. There's a huge number of college students who balance their academic lives with their semi-professional ones.
It's okay if they want to vent. This stress is just as real as the one thats "out there." The "freaking presentation" is how they prepare to meet the demands of the real world. Their social and collegiate interaction is what prepares them to begin networking and build useful contacts. Karissa's got wonderful advice to offer all of us who are feeling the pressure mounting. Don't you think that people realize their grades affect the way they'll be greeted by future employers? Most college students I know walk the thin line between sanity and a mental breakdown, and I've met plenty my age who've suffered one. It's hardly what I'd call a spoiled brat mentality. It's very very real.
Get to WORK. It's funny how everyone is complaining this time of year, over nothing. Unless you have worked renting cars for a good solid year or more, getting screamed and threatened for 11-12 hours a day, you have nothing to complain about. Consider yourself fortunate. I am sick to death over collegiate "whining." Get out in the "real world" where a 8 page paper will seem trivial, to say the least. Go get yourself an office job, "customer service" or whatever. Sit in a cubicle, feel your lifeforce draining as an uneducated product of "sleeping herself to the top" drills you and insults you over forgotten paperwork. Quit this spoiled-brat mentality.
Consider yourself extremely FORTUNATE to be in a college/university the stature of SHU, where homework is your major source of stress. Thank your parents for thier HARD EARNED CASH that is priviledging you with this environment.
If you've never had a gun in your face or screamed at by a maniac holding an aluminumn baseball bat over a rental car "repo" during your workday, you don't know what reality is. Your whining is laughable to those out there that have witnessed gang violence within a telemarketing job. Some freaking "presentation" doesn't amount to a hill of beans if you've never walked into the office bathroom during a "deal," with a 9mm in your face.
Do your homework, bust your ass the best you can. I've been on that other side and this "homework" stress is a joy.
Thanks for sharing your hope and optimism, Karissa.
Things get very stressful in our hallowed halls this time of year. Thanks for reminding everyone that this is cyclical and temporary. While you can't always plan for emergencies, good planning can make crunch time not quite so... er... crunchy.
Great post. So true, even for me and my own writing deadlines. Whining is a necessary release, but only to a point. When I was an undergrad, I developed a "trick" for myself, that works sort of the same way that people trick themselves by setting their clocks ahead of the "real" time: nothing is stopping you from giving YOURSELF an early deadline...put paper due dates in your own calendar sooner than they really are, and even if you don't "fall" for the trick, at least you'll be reminded that heavy duty work is coming up soon and you need to get started. I also found that starting to do some casual research right from the day I was assigned a project really helped (even if it's the first day of class, and the due date for that term paper is fifteen weeks into the future).
Some folks say that procrastination is simply an act of "rebellion" against the timetable the world always wants to give us...a way of expressing what little "freedom" we have. Others say that some personalities live for the "thrill" of risking missing a deadline by putting it off until the last moment, when panic sets in and drives the creative process. But those who perform best usually actively try to master their calendars and to-do lists early, in small, manageable "bites" rather than cramming it all in or spitting it all out at the very last minute.
-- Dr. A.
Thank you, Rosemary :-) I'm doing a much better job at being organized and positive about the end of the semester than I did last year. Maybe wisdom comes with age? (Although I'm far from wise, haha!)
Rainbow Hector loves this entry and your positive attitude!