The importance of time management hits me every fall.
I have never been the timeliest person in the world. My morning routine consists of a few more snooze button clicks on my phone than it should, along with a last-minute shower and, in most cases, a breakfast sacrifice. I cannot imagine I am alone in this routine, either. The fact is my life has never had to be scheduled to a tee. Nor am I the kind of person who needs their entire day planned out two weeks in advance. But as I get older, I have begun to realize what my priorities should be.
As I write this I am far past my deadline for turning this story in, which my editor is most likely not very pleased about. I feel guilty for it but that is the way life works out. I decided to put something before writing this article and now I must hope I do not get a severe lashing for it.
Putting my life into consideration, I think maybe this should be a cause for concern. I was not very prepared coming into college last year. I had no idea what to expect and on top of that, I had the weight of being a pre-pharmacy major on my shoulders. I remember the first thing I was asked after I told someone my major, “So, when are you switching to accounting?”
From the beginning of my freshman year I told myself my main focus would be school, with social life and family following that as best it could and then the smaller stuff would fall into the cracks. But that was last year, I should have learned by now. My sophomore year is now underway and I have noticed the cracks are getting bigger and are filling up with a lot of unproductive behavior.
Like most students I face an insurmountable load of material to study each week, I have a job, I have friends and family to keep in touch with, and, well, to put it simply just a lot of stuff to do. So before I choose a Monday night football game over studying for a quiz tomorrow, let me talk about Randy Pausch.
Some of you may have heard of Pausch thanks to his YouTube video titled “Randy Pausch Last Lecture: Achieving your Childhood Dreams.” Or at least I hope someone on campus has, the video is going to be three-years-old soon. Pausch’s inspiring video came back to me the other day as I was thinking about how out of shape my time management skills had become thanks to the summer and my general lack of care. I have watched this video before in its entirety and although it is a video about time management, it sure does take up a lot of time.
Pausch is no longer with us, but his words will be immortalized thanks to his last lecture. Something I have taken to heart recently is a quote of Pausch’s he said on the topic of having 10 tumors in his liver and having only a few months to live, “We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.” I do not think many people put that into perspective enough in their lives. There are many setbacks in life, but ultimately you are the one in control of your own destiny.
Instead of wishing and dreaming for things to go right or wishing to change the past, we need to focus on what we have, and what we can in fact do with what we have. There are plenty of opportunities I take for granted each day, so I am sure there are people who are in my exact situation. Pausch has helped me realize I should face the facts and take charge of my life with the intent to seize the day. n