Balancing Social and Academic Demands and Pressures
by Sydnie Duong '28
As a college student, it can feel very overwhelming to manage every aspect of your life. Young adulthood life tests every boundary you have with school, friends, and family. Fulfilling the social and academic aspects of life can be very overwhelming as well as demanding. At the same time these trivial endeavors allow you to learn lessons from.
If organization is a challenge for you, I offer three helpful tips:
First, get a planner or use your calendar on your phone to schedule activities and deadlines. These tools will help you organize your tasks. When you are able to visualize how much you must complete, you will effectively allocate ample time respective to each task. It may look daunting if there is a lot but this will help you remember priorities and avoid any inconvenient “double booking.” This is also a great habit to instill when you are young because life can get quickly hectic very easily when you are unorganized. Personally, I enjoy using a physical planner because I am able to write down my tasks and plans I need to complete which I will eventually cross off; the feeling of putting a strike through the words provides great satisfaction and that relieves some of the stress I once felt.
Second, try to multitask to try to condense your to-do list. I strongly believe that multitasking is a very essential asset and should be implemented in your everyday life as early as possible. Everyone starts somewhere and habits form through repetition so I would recommend starting now! For example, instead of going to the gym and then studying, I would suggest listening to or watching a lecture video during a workout. This is a great way to incorporate studying without taking time away from your personal life. Another example is to call your family or friends when you are either walking to class, or even laundry. Figuring out time management and multitasking will greatly decrease the pressure you feel when you feel overwhelmed by these aspects of life.
Finally, prioritize self-care and make time for yourself. This is such a crucial learning curve that everyone will eventually learn. Many times through adolescence and young adulthood, many people will stretch themselves thin in order to appease others. It is a common experience; however, you will ultimately become burnt out if this pattern continues. With that being said, if you are burnt out, then there could be a high chance of it affecting your social and academic life negatively. Therefore, making space at the end of the day for your favorite hobby, TV show, or sport can put your worries at ease. It is easier to excel socially and academically when you are not bound by low energy and exhaustion.
In the end, it is inevitable that you will feel overwhelmed by academic and social pressures but will come to realize that you will successfully make your way through this period of life.