Give Yourself an Hour

Give Yourself an Hour College is an exciting time, and it’s also a very busy time. Between your classes, work, student organizations, and a social life it can be difficult to find some time to yourself. It’s certainly something I’ve battled with for the past two years. For me, at least, the fear is that of falling behind. There’s always something that I could be doing at any given moment. I could get that one piece of homework out of the way. I could send out that email to my exec board. I could go out for food with my friends. I could work on that internship assignment I have. I’m also constantly surrounded by students who are very successful themselves, which can be both a blessing and a curse. I love working with students here because of the great things we get done together, but it can also create a consistent nagging stress of “I’m not doing enough right now”. I’m here to argue for your health. Nothing I’m about to say is new, but if it helps one person to hear it again then writing this piece is worthwhile. You need to take time each day to clear your head. Not once a month, once a week, or even once every few days. Each day. I try to do this in the morning. Over the summer I practiced getting up early to go to the ARC Gym. I don’t send emails at the gym, I don’t make calls at the gym, and it’s certainly hard to think about accounting homework when I’m sweating and need all my energy to finish the workout. All of the things that I don’t work on during that time will be waiting for me when I get back, and that’s a good thing. But they won’t bother me there. It doesn’t have to be the gym for you, either. It could be reading a book, cooking, or taking a walk around our beautiful campus. Trust me, you have 24 hours in the day, and you can make 23 of them better by focusing on yourself for one. Steven Class of 2019 I’m from New Canaan, Connecticut. I'm studying Management Entrepreneurship in the Gies College of Business and Political Science in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.