Flava Flav might be one of the most “time conscious” person out there… because the dude wears a clock around his neck. He is very aware of what time it is, how long he spent somewhere, because he can track it on his very own unique necklace.
In college, you will HAVE THE MOST AMOUNT OF FREE TIME UNTIL YOU RETIRE. Think I’m wrong, ask your parents or someone that is beyond the college years. Where in life do you get the following:
– Meals prepared for you by a campus Dining Hall staff
– a Fall Break
– a month-long winter break from school
– Spring Break
– a 3 month-long summer break
– you might have 2 – 50 minute classes that you need to be at today, that’s it
OMG. You will not appreciate the schedule of a college student until after you have moved on. Now I get it, I have been there, I went to class, I had to study… but that’s all I was truly responsible for in college. EVERYTHING beyond that was up TO ME. That’s right, YOU get to choose how you fill all those extra hours of a day/week/month. And I understand if you need to have a part-time job to help pay your way through college, I completely respect and honor that. I worked around 20+ hours a week in college for 3 of my 4 years, I took 15 to 18 hours of classes, I was involved in some student organizations and yet I still had time that was available.
My question to you is: WHERE ARE YOU GOING TO INVEST YOUR TIME?
I hope and pray that you take advantage of the place you are in life by using it to the best of your abilities. You might choose to be involved in student organization, Greek Life, volunteer in the local community, you might workout on a regular basis, you might find a part-time job in a field of interest to you to see what it’s like as you think about your major in college, etc. I believe that how and where we spend our time is a direct response to what matters most in life to us.
For me today, I know and want regular exercise to be a part of my life. I love the alone time I have with myself, my Savior and the open roads. I love what running and lifting weights does for your mind and spirit. But with a wife, 5 young kids, a full-time job, a part-time job and our family/kid activities… my time can get swallowed up pretty darn fast. So lately, I have made the decision to get up before everyone in my family and get my workout in, therefore it doesn’t get lost in the other important things in life that I have going on. It’s a desire and passion I have so I MAKE IT HAPPEN, I do have time with everything I have going on to do the things that matter to me.
Time is so valuable, we don’t ever get it back. When I was working for Young Life, I would have donors give me a check in lieu of coming to an event. Their TIME was more precious to them than their MONEY.
Over the years, I have heard many college students use the phrases “I don’t have time to do that” or “I am so overwhelmed” or “if only I had more time in the day,” and it scares me because if you can’t manage your time now, what’s going to happen when you have a full-time job from 8-5 then you still have to do:
– you need to mow your own yard
– do home maintenance
– take your kid to the Doctor unexpectedly
– pay your bills
– go to your kid’s school functions and athletic practices/games/music class, whatever
– have a date or conversation with your spouse
When I would have a college Young Life volunteer approach me about why the didn’t have time to invest in high school kids in our area, I would ask them questions about their time each week, because if you have a passion for kids and God is calling you to invest in people, you make the time.
The simple exercise I would do is get a blank weekly calendar printed off the internet. I would ask them to make boxes on the calendar for the times that they have class. (ex. Mondays from 9am – 10am, Noon -1 pm) This way you could see when you have class and you can even color code the different aspects of your calendar with colors, oooo la la. Then make boxes of your upcoming work schedule or mandatory Sorority meeting etc, the things that are essential for you to be at based on some of the commitments you have made. Maybe box in some possible study times so that you make sure you are doing that, meal time, etc… and it was amazing that these students who felt SOOOOOOOO overwhelmed by life, that when they would see their whole week lined out on paper, it didn’t look as bad as they thought. There is a power on seeing it on paper.
You can track a week to see what this looks like for you. You can look back at last week and see how you ACTUALLY filled it up. Leave room for “fun” things, and RED ALERT EMERGENCIES are the official trump card in your calendar. This means things like a sudden death in the family or something, not the dorm friends are all headed to Andy’s Frozen Custard.
Seeing your life on a calendar can help you make a big impact on how you feel about your time and you can see where it goes. You can see what was important enough to spend time on.
Live the college life, enjoy it, do cool things in the summer besides just work, have fun with your friends, dance it up to latest Nelly hit.
If I could go back to college now, this is what I would do the same or different with my time:
-
SAME
– invest in other people through Young Life
– go to class
– hang out with friends who were genuine and real
– take advantage of my summers (worked on Lake Michigan for 2 whole summers)
– I played an appropriate amount of video games (not too much)
-
DIFFERENT
– I would have studied harder
– I would have exercised more – trained for a Marathon
– I would have been in a small group Bible Study
– I would have “job shadowed” or talked to more people about future job opportunities so I knew what types of jobs are out there
OTHER NUGGETS TO SHARE
– It is okay to say “no” to people or organizations to protect your schedule
– Time management will be key, having a planned time to study and sticking to it will help you be less stressed out
– Workout first thing in the morning, before 9am. When the gym is empty your workout will take half the time
– Don’t get overcommited in too many things on campus, eventually you are only 40% committed to all of those things and it leaves you feeling frustrated
INTERESTING QUOTES YOU MIGHT THINK ABOUT
“The key is in not spending time, but in investing it.” – Stephen Covey
“You will never ‘find’ time for anything. If you want time, you must make it.” – Charles Bruxton
“Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michaelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.” – H. Jackson Brown
“Time is more valuable than money. You can get more money, but you cannot get more time.” – Jim Rohn
At the end of your life, I don’t think any of us would say, “Man, I am bummed I spent so much time with my spouse and kids” or “I am mad that I invested in deep relationships with people” or “I wish I hadn’t taken care of my body.”
But a lot of us could say, “I wasted a lot of time on dumb stuff” or “I spent a lot of time playing video games and not on more important things.”
So think about what matters most in your life as to where you spend your time, and stick to it!
Tomorrow, we get “saucy” if you will, so you must check out tomorrow’s post… oh baby…
KitchNasty is out my peeps.
lifeinthekitchin 