Recently, I noticed a classmate looked incredibly tired. Granted, it was an 8 a.m. class, but I asked her how she felt.
Her response: She was tired.
I have found this is a recurring problem among students who try to do it all. They run on empty, attempting to gain a little more energy from coffee each day, slipping just a bit further into the red until the final crash over the weekend. I find this a rather unfortunate cycle.
The fact of the matter is we cannot do it all. Like quite literally everything in existence, we are limited.
As the discussion moved along, my friend and I reached a point where I revealed some wisdom I have learned. College is the art of selectively slacking.
Just think about all the things you can do at Ole Miss. There are clubs and Greek life and classes and exhibits. Opportunities exist in abundance, and then you can add to those things all the friends you can make and all the fun you can have with them.
That amounts to a full schedule for just about anyone, if he or she wants it.
One of the common pitfalls of college is that students still have relatively little “real world” responsibility and assume they can do everything or feel obligated to do so.
But I want everyone running on empty to know that you do not have to do it all.
In fact, pacing yourself is much better practice for life than attempting to go hell on leather and manage a full course load, clubs and social events. Cal Newport wrote a book called “Deep Work,” and in it he argues that filling your life with an enormous number of trifles harms the important work you should be doing.
We all need time to be still, rest and process that things we have taken in during our day, week, month, year, decade, life.
The art of selectively slacking means devoting yourself to what is important and letting the other things fall to the side. Deal with the big fires in your life, and the little ones will either burn out or get big enough to grab your attention.
Unfortunately, this practice sometimes means having to forgo drinks with friends or not turn in homework. I know that not doing assignments seems like the wrong thing to do, and it usually is. However, we are not immune to the world. We may sometimes have to choose family or friends or work over class; just make sure that is not a normal occurrence.
I encourage everyone to become a master of the art of selectively slacking because you cannot do it all. I would be willing to bet that the anxiety that permeates so many people’s day-to-day existence would start to alleviate if the attempt to do everything stopped.
So, figure out what is important to you and start prioritizing. Pretty soon the art of selectively slacking will become the art of surviving life.
Ethan Davis is a junior philosophy and English double major from Laurel.
