It’s been a long day. You’ve been running from class to office hours to another class to two back-to-back club meetings with barely any time to stop by the dining hall and grab something to eat. Your workout consisted of you sprinting from one class at one end of campus to another with your 30-pound backpack adding that extra level of difficulty. Your interactions with people have been limited to brusque nods in the lecture hall and brief conversations about “What in the world is going on?” in section. Your brain has been acutely alert all day and constantly reminding you of the midterms and papers you have piling up next week.
Now it’s getting late. You stop for a moment and consider the possibilities: go to the library and study, or go back to your dorm room, catch up on your reading, and…study. Wait. Either way, you’d have to be studying.
No. Actually, you don’t have to be studying. You don’t have to be tied to your obligations at all. Why don’t you take some time for yourself?
When was the last time you did something just for yourself? The last time you went for a nice, long run; the last time you curled up with a book and read simply for pleasure; the last time you tried to bake brownies from scratch?
You can’t remember. Since you’ve adjusted to college life, you’ve been living from problem set to problem set, midterm to midterm, meeting to meeting.
Why?
When did “me time” become frowned upon, a sign of weakness? People nowadays are perpetually busy. Even trying to schedule time to eat and really enjoy your food is a struggle (Somehow, having class for four hours in a row is not conducive to good eating habits.) College seems like an endless wave of work and extracurriculars and forced socialization.
We need to realize that there are times when the best way to recharge is by relaxing and not doing anything all. We could all use 10 minutes a day – or more – to reflect, reinvigorate. Do something you enjoy. Do something that calms you. That problem set can wait for just 10 minutes.
So please do it. Take some time for yourself. Take some time to breathe.
