How many times has someone told you “Don’t stretch yourself too thin?” As college student, you’re probably going to hear it more and more.
I tend to be the type of person that likes to take on responsibility.
If I join a club or organization or get a new job, I do not usually just participate. I find myself trying to take on additional responsibilities, leadership roles or climbing up the ladder in employment situations if I can.
It seems that since I’ve been in college, I think of everything in terms of “Oh, that will look good on my resume”. When it comes down to it, we think that way because we are taught to think that way.
We are told that we are supposed to have a full and outstanding resume complete with perfect grades, internships and extracurricular activities.
We’re supposed to have so much experience before we really get to experience anything.
For the first time in college I really feel like I’ve “stretched myself too thin”. I’ve always taken on a lot and I have had my fair share of busy times, but I always seemed to push through until I felt like I had a handle on my life and workload again.
This year, it feels like I am always in a little bit over my head and I am sure a lot people my age can relate.
Over the past few weeks, I have discovered something that may be contributing to this problem…I can’t say no.
I think a lot people struggle with this. We don’t want to disappoint anyone or feel weak or simply give some things up when we’ve taken on too much. It’s a hard thing to do and it requires critical thinking about how much we can handle.
We all want to be superman or superwoman, but we’ll be more successful at all of our endeavors if we know our limits.
So here’s some advice I’ve compiled on how and when to say no to responsibility and evaluating your time and schedule.
- Just because you have time to do something, doesn’t mean you have to do it! – Keep in mind that every available hour in your day does not have to be filled. Those hours and minutes are yours and you get to choose what you want to do with them.
- Don’t be afraid to say “I don’t want to’’- Never feel like you need to make an excuse for saying no. No matter how good it will look on your resume, if you don’t want to do something, it’s not going to be all that beneficial for you if you do it anyway. Saying “I don’t want to do it” is reason enough.
- Think critically about your passions, not just money, jobs and status – You’re not going to be happy every minute of the day, but it’s important to frequently ask yourself “Does doing this make me happy? Am I passionate about it?” If the answer is no, it may be time to let it go.
- The world is not going to fall apart if you lighten your load – You’ll be surprised that everyone will be ok if you work a few less hours or drop a class because you took one too many.
- Always remember that it’s your life – You deserve to be happy and comfortable and to have some time to yourself each day. The opinions, wants and needs of others are important, but your needs and wants are important too.
At some point in your life you will disappoint someone, it’s a fact, but once you’ve made the decision to say no to someone or something, move on, no justification needed.
I hope these tips make you realize that “no’’ isn’t a bad word and you’re not mean or disrespectful for using it.
There are so many things that will happen to you that you will have no control over, you should try to shape and sculpt your life wherever possible.
You have every right to add and subtract things from your life as you see fit.
Bridget Goedke
Senior Viewpoints Editor
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