We live in a world where it rarely is enough to just be a student. Students participate in extracurricular activities both for the love of the activity and for the resume booster. Some sort of income is nearly a necessity to cover life's expenses; this includes things like tuition, books, gas and maybe a little spending money to name a few. None of this even includes obligations to friends, family or actual school work.

All of this can leave a student spread pretty thin. Therefore, especially with the school year getting nearer and nearer by the second, it is a good time to be reminded of the importance of prioritizing.

It is undeniable that, of all of the obligations we are faced with, some things are more important than others. We cannot possibly check every item off of our to do lists at one time, so we decide which things are most important to accomplish first. This is exactly what prioritizing entails.

Our long list of commitments will seem much less daunting when it is understood what our priorities are.

Here's the kicker: everyone's priorities are different and no one can set your priorities for you. Now, we must give a nod to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and acknowledge the fact that basically every person shares things like basic survival needs and physiological health as top priorities.

However, after this it is anyone's guess and anyone's decision about how to set our priorities. For many people, being a student and getting an education is the number one priority. For many people it may be a job or career to provide for a family or for one's self.

As alluded to earlier and by the fact that priorities denotes the plural form of a singular priority, we are all faced with more than just the thing that is considered our top priority. All of these other things must all fall into their perspective places on our list of priorities. This is no easy task, but when everything is prioritized it is far less daunting than looking at everything in our lives as a whole.

Although, there is one thing that is often overlooked when we set our priorities. This thing is mental health. When we get busy and are faced with a long list of things in need of prioritizing, it is all too easy to let mental health slip through the cracks. So, I cannot stress enough how important it is to keep mental health near the top of your priorities. This may be as simple as taking a few minutes every day to evaluate if you are happy and mentally healthy.

So, as a busy school year approaches, take a few minutes to make sure your priorities are straight to stave off being spread too thin.