Confessions of a workaholic
POV of a college student with commitment issues
Samantha Anciano / Copy Editor / The USD Vista
Hi, my name is Sam and I am a workaholic. Let me take you through a typical day in my life.
5:50 a.m.: Slept through my first alarm.
6 a.m.: I turn off my second (kind of feels like the first) alarm.
6:10 a.m.: I finally get up and start my morning routine.
6:40 a.m.: I have my hair, make up, and outfit in check. Then I make my coffee and I am out the door by 6:47 a.m..
6:50 a.m.: My roommate races through the streets (safely of course) to get me to work at the Copley Library from 7-9 a.m. After my wonderful adventures at the library, I head over to my 9 a.m. class.
11:55 a.m.: Introduction to Photography class is done – I killed it (sometimes, not all times am I right?).
12:10 p.m.: I successfully make it home. I aggressively take off my shoes and prepare my lunch (first meal of the day). I peacefully enjoy my food while watching some feel-good movies.
1 p.m.: I get ready for my second job as a Sales Associate/Stylist at the Fashion Valley mall. I am out the door by 1:20 p.m. to walk across the street and make it to work with some minutes to spare. I start my shift at 1:30 p.m. and close up by 9 p.m.
9:05 p.m.: I drag my sore feet back across the street to my apartment.
9:10 p.m.: I get back to my place and prepare dinner. As I raise my feet on to the coffee table, I feel all the blood rush through my legs. As the night continues to unfold, I finish my day off by doing school work, attending to emails, and calling my dad back home. It’s safe to say I call it a night by 12:00 a.m. just to do it all over again.
People reading this are probably like “Ugh, I didn’t even ask,” and I know that, but the truth is, I am not the only one with a 12 to 15 hour day filled with school, activities, and work. The majority, if not all the people I ask are busy with not a lot of time to spare.
Photo courtesy of Jaden Hauptman, The USD Vista
If you are in more or less the same situation as me, you can say you’re kind of a workaholic too. Biting off more than you can chew? Finding yourself burned out and it’s just the fifth week of school? Committing to everything you could possibly commit to? Feeling stressed and anxious? Yep, that’s how I feel too, high-five. The funny thing is, no one is asking us to do all of this. The reality of it all is that we are constantly putting pressure on ourselves to be “busy.” Do I like it though? Yeah, sometimes. I admit that I like feeling busy because it makes me feel like I am doing something productive with my life. But, when priorities start piling up and deadlines are cutting close, I ask myself (and I am sure I am not the only one) “why am I doing all of this?”
Now, what do you do when you get to that point? The answer is clear and simple: deal with it. Allow yourself to be vulnerable and tell yourself, “It’s okay, to not be okay.” Charge forward and make a change: 1) List out your priorities and detach yourself from activities that you feel you aren’t benefiting from; 2) Choose how you want to spend your day and don’t let your commitments take control; and 3) remember it’s okay to say no. Trust me, you are going to feel much better after you added an extra few hours of nap-time or self-care and relaxation.
The point I am trying to make here is enjoy your life. Take it from me, I am a senior in college and I’ve lived this “workaholic” lifestyle since freshman year of highschool. We all want to be involved and start our success stories so early on in our lives, but we need to realize that we have a whole life ahead of us.
Even though it doesn’t seem like it, we have time. We don’t need to have it all figured out right here, right now. So enjoy your life and live it. Make time to go to the beach, go to concerts, try new restaurants, go out with friends and/or significant others.
Live your life like a college student because one day you are going to wake up and that “next chapter” of your life will already begin and lord knows, we can’t go back in time.