Managing Your Commitments

First of all, this is my second time posting this week, which is what I want!

Teenagers are some of the busiest people out there. We're often trying to balance school, work, our social life, our spiritual life, and other commitments. It can often become overwhelming and we feel like we're going to crash and break into a gazillion pieces. In addition, the quality of everything that we're juggling decreases because so many other things have our attention. It can be very tempting to add more to our plate by saying yes to things people ask of us, but we have to learn how to manage our time and commitments effectively.

The first step is to prioritize. There are some commitments in life you simply can't ignore or let go. Spiritually, it's your quiet time with God, going to church on Sunday, and probably also youth group. The last one isn't like a must, but in my opinion, it should come before most other things. I personally struggle with prioritizing my quiet time (although I love going to church), but it is probably the most important thing in any Christian's life. Secondly, it's your commitment to your family. However you may feel about your family, being a part of one means you have to contribute to it, ie. by doing chores and such. My mom, although considering me her right hand, is pretty good about letting me have time for other things.

Next comes school and work. Obviously, you need to get your schoolwork done when it's due and you have to work when your boss schedules you to. (side note: don't just take off work suddenly because you got invited to a party. I know it sucks not to be able to go, but it sucks even more for the people who have to pick up your slack, speaking from personal experience.That's another part of prioritizing I guess) And actually, if you learn to manage your time and work steadily without distraction -which is so hard for an online student like me - you'll find that you have more time for other things than you thought.

Then there's the case of doing things you promised you would do. This year, I made the unfortunate mistake of not turning down my role in drama when I had a chance and subsequently, spending a lot of time doing something I don't particularly enjoy (being in drama, not acting. I love acting.) However, I made a commitment to do it, and I have to honor that commitment, even though most of the time I don't want to. That's been a great thing to learn for me.

After all that, you have the commitments that you want to do, like hanging out with your friends or writing part of your novel or singing in choir or whatever. This is the hard part. You enjoy all of those things and you want to cram a bunch of that in because you like it. That's not healthy. You could go home early from the party on Saturday so you won't be falling asleep in church the next morning. You could politely tell the graduation coordinator that you can't do the banquet slideshow because you already have a lot to do being senior leadership secretary. And sometimes, you shouldn't have to feel bad turning someone down or saying you can't do something because you need time to recharge and do something that makes you happy.

Managing your commitments is a combination of prioritizing, honoring your word, being smart, and taking time to make sure you are healthy and happy. Focusing on a few things is better than being all over the place with many.

~Clarissa