We all have priorities, even if we don’t actively think about or define them. Sometimes, when life gets busy, we have to determine what exactly we deem important in order to spend our time wisely.
Choosing what to prioritise can be a daunting but necessary task. So to help you out, here are a few tips that will make things easier.
Step 1: Determine what the main areas of your life are.
Most people can divide their life into two or three major categories. These categories do not have to be super specific. Some examples are social life, hobbies, studies, and work.
Step 2: Figure out what it will take to fully maintain each category.
Once you have determined what exactly is important to you, you can break down each category into what is required to maintain each one of these areas of your life.
Every single one will require continual maintenance and upkeep.
For example, ask yourself what the baseline requirements are for upholding your specific hobbies. If you like rock climbing with friends, regular exercise will be a requirement to maintain your hobby.
So establish the basic requirements to keep each area of your life going the way you want it. You don’t have to go down your list, analysing like a robot. You’ll see that you do most of the things intuitively. But when life becomes overwhelming and exam season hits, it helps to know what’s needed at the base level to maintain your social life, family life and hobbies.
If you maintain what is important and life calms down a bit, then, reusing our previous example, you won’t have to regain your physical strength entirely before you can enjoy a proper rock climbing session with your friends.
Step 3: Be realistic about your time.
Often people are overly enthusiastic about the amount of time they have. It’s part of the human condition: We think we have more time than we really do. We think we are more capable than we actually are.
If the basic requirements to maintain the important areas in your life are too demanding, you will not have enough time for anything at all.
If this is the case, be realistic about the time that you actually have at your disposal and determine what exactly is important to you at this specific point in your life. Life goes through busy seasons and, especially when studying, some hobbies might have to take a back seat until you have finished your degree.
This doesn’t mean that you have to give up anything forever, but you might have to put it on the back burner until you can realistically free up some time.
Step 4: Don’t underestimate the importance of taking a break.
It happens time and time again; exam season comes around and the dutiful student isolates themself from all forms of social contact, sits in their room with a steady stream of coffee, and does nothing other than study. Sleep can wait, friends and family can wait, because there is nothing more important than passing the upcoming exams.
As an unknown person on the internet once wrote: “Every dead body on Mount Everest was once a highly motivated person. So… maybe calm down.”
Rest isn’t something that should be taken for granted. Calm down, take a nap. You can’t study well if you have not rested well first.
If you are one of those weird people who feel refreshed after spending time with friends or family, go do that. Make time to maintain the things that are important to you; it will leave your life in much less of a wreck once exams are done and, besides, you will function better having done so.
Neglecting every other area of your life in order to accomplish one goal is never a good idea. Especially not if it is at the expense of the most important areas of your life. Rather take the time to think through what is truly important to you and prioritise things as best you can. Busy seasons pass, so take the time to not abandon what you want to still be there waiting for you after you come out of exam isolation.
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