Trimming the Fat
October 6th, 2009 | Categories: Life, Online, School, Work | 7 CommentsEver since summer ended and the school year began, I’ve been insanely busy. I have a full course load, a part-time job, a web editor position, and a new job I start in roughly two weeks. This is just everything I have going on in my academic and work life – not that I have a lot going on in my personal and social life save for one major development, but it’s still a lot to handle!
I’ve decided that now is as good a time as any to start cutting down on my responsibilities in life and to begin prioritizing, both online and offline. I’ve always been fairly good at prioritizing, and now I have to look at everything I am currently involved in and try and put them in some sort of priority-oriented list so I can figure out what can stay and what has to go. I want to try and “trim the fat,” so to speak, because if I don’t I’ll be stretched too thin and that’ll only lead to disaster. I like being busy, but I dislike being overly stressed. I already don’t have the time to write1 or read books of my own choosing, I really only see my friends during mealtimes2, and I am barely finding the right amount of time to focus on the aforementioned major development in my personal life!
I’ve made a few decisions as to what to do offline already, such as only remain active in the organizations/clubs that I truly feel passionate about rather than am merely interested in as well as not commit to anything more than I can handle in the future. In terms of my offline life, I’m looking at cutting down what time I spend on message boards. I’m also leaning towards quitting the q*bee as it’s just one more commitment that I know I can’t keep up with.
All of these ideas as to what fat to trim are still mainly ideas at the moment. I’m still working on sorting what is important, what is extra, and what is necessary in my life. There have been a lot of changes in a short amount of time, some of them unexpected, and now I have to adjust my life accordingly. It’s not going to be easy, but I know it must be done.
- I have not touched my work-in-progress novel since I left for school in mid-August. [↩]
- My friends and I are all super busy; we only really have the time to sit down and talk during meals because otherwise we’re too busy doing work. [↩]
Tags: college
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Hi, I'm Manda. I'm a college student studying communications and languages. I like to read, shop, bake, and travel. I have a tendency to listen to my favorite songs on repeat for hours on end. Sometimes I catch myself thinking in a language other than English. 
You are quite a busy person it seems.. I think it’s smart that you’re wanting to ‘trim some fat’ before everything starts to get too overwhelming. I’m like you, I like to keep busy but not to the point where I become stressed & overworked.
I hope you figure out what to do in order to help & give you a little free time for other things. I’m sure you know what’s important and what things can go. Good luck!
Yikes, it really seem like you have a lot on your plate o_O Cutting back on some stuff sounds like a good idea. I’m a master at signing up for more than I can handle, and it’s not worth it if it’s only going to make you stressed out. And you can always start some projects again once your life gets less busy :)
The thing about forums for me is that it’s a place to go when I’m procrastinating from being busy!
Aw, I feel your pain! It sounds like a good busy, though. You’re busy with things that are really great for you and while it’s a trade off for your social life, it will pay off in the end. :)
I sort of signed out of my social life last year and haven’t had the chance to go back to it since!
Good luck with everything, though, and best wishes with trimming the fat as you say!
-M.
Wow, that is a LOT of things to juggle – we sound like we’re in a similar boat with needing to prioritise! Although I’ve always been shocking at it…
I hope you manage it trim it down to a manageable load for yourself so you still have time to relax! :)
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