Making Time for Yourself as an Honors Student

By: Valerie Barrero

Last week, in one of my business classes, I overheard a student say that he needs to take 18 credit hours every semester in order to graduate on time. My jaw immediately dropped. But the truth is, packed schedules are not uncommon.

In Canfield, we have a plethora of students double majoring, triple majoring, and collecting every minor under the sun. Most notoriously, we house the ECB and CSB students, but we also share a large number of students with Plan II, and beyond that, countless students are getting degrees in math, foreign languages, and I myself am pursuing English.

But courses are not where the workload ends. UT has 1,000+ student organizations. McCombs alone is known for its extensive, rigorous business orgs. And naturally, we overestimate ourselves. We sign up for more events than we can handle. We leave very little time for rest.

So how do we make time for ourselves in the midst of such daunting academic and extracurricular demands?

The first step is to identify what “rest” means to you. Some people like to go on hikes. For others, it’s spending time with friends, or going out to eat, or binge-watching a new show. Personally, I love cuddling up with a good book. Pinpoint the ideal way to spend your evening off, and then get excited about it!

Treat taking time to recharge as a priority. Put it on your to-do list. Create an event for it on Google Calendar. That way, we associate it as something that needs to get done, not something that may get done in the distant future. Leisure is just as productive as work. And I would argue, in the midst of a busy week, it’s okay to turn one assignment in-late if it means you’re getting the proper rest to get going again the next day.

Here’s the hard part: limit your screen time. Leisure does not mean doomscrolling on TikTok, and I promise you will feel much better after a movie night to yourself, than four hours of social media. During the day, it’s easy to get distracted and turn to your phone. But the more time we spend procrastinating, the less time we have to devote to actual rest. Make your work time efficient, and your free time will be longer.

Amid assignments, essays, midterms, and all of the responsibilities we juggle, it’s difficult to remember that we are human and we need rest. But making small efforts to devote time in our busy schedules to unwind has lasting impacts.

Make a plan today to do something for you!