Less is More: Tips to Stay Afloat at WashU by Grace Tyau

by Academic Skills Peer Coach Grace Tyau

College is hard. WashU is hard. Throughout my first two years, I often found myself drowning. Now, as a junior, I consider myself a work-life balance activist, pushing whenever I can for people to define themselves outside of their major and job prospects. When it’s not possible to break entirely from academics—in the trenches of midterms, for example—we still have to remember to take care of ourselves. The WashU environment certainly does not lend itself to a healthy balance between school and everything else, so it’s up to us to find it for ourselves.

Here I’ve compiled a list of hopefully helpful tips, sourced from my experience as an Academic Skills Peer Coach for the Learning Center as well as good ole trial and error. Below you will find some general WashU advice, along with a specific action item themed around the idea that less is more. Because at this school, I feel like everyone is always telling us to do more!

Remember That Busy Does Not Always = Productive

Just by nature of going to WashU, you are bound to hear about how busy everyone else is. While this environment might make it feel like you too must stay at Olin until close, get 4 hours of sleep, or have a calendar with no white space, remember that Busy ≠ Productive. In fact, you will be more productive if you actually let yourself have a life complete with sleep, hobbies, exercise, social time, and fun.

Short, spaced blocks of work will be better for both your mood and your work quality than an hours-long homework marathon. Always. Thus, your systems should allow you to break up big assignments into small parts that fit somewhere in your schedule (See Plot Your Schedule from the Learning Center—one of my favorite resources!)

Action Item: Don’t go on Canvas just because you are bored. Or Outlook, or Google Calendar. If it’s time to do homework, set a goal and a timer. Get in and out of there, and go do something else to recharge. You already pay tuition, don’t let WashU take all of your mental energy too! And please don’t aimlessly click around during class. Your brain is tired.

Sometimes a fear of failure might make you feel like you have to work crazy hours. But trust me, cutting back on computer time is not giving up.

Be a Productivity Scientist

College is scary because we have no one telling us what to do. But it can also be awesome, because we have no one telling us what to do!

College is THE time for experimentation. You have a lot of control over how you spend your time because you don’t have any set “working hours.”

You can experiment with changing your routines, waking up at different times, doing new workouts—try everything! Not only productivity-related things: Find out what foods you like, or what calms you down from a stressful day. While you still have all this time, take advantage of it and learn more about yourself in the process. When you get to working life, you will have a big toolbox to pull from.

Action Item: Take your experiments day by day, and don’t feel married to your routine. Just have fun with it! You’ll never know what sticks.

Don’t Let Go of Your Goals

As a student, I know that it’s easy to get caught up in the shuffle of student life. Papers, exams, club meetings, spontaneous hangouts, making dinner–it seems like there is always something to do!

But my advice is to stop waiting for that perfect day where you’ll finally have the time to sit down and work on your life goals. That day will literally never come.

Instead, find time in your busy schedule for intentional reflection on your goals and progress. I recommend that once you write down your goals, you display them somewhere where you’ll regularly see them, like your closet door or desktop wallpaper.

Action Item: People overestimate what they can do in a day, but underestimate what they can do in a year. With this in mind, break your overarching goals into simple, daily tasks that you can definitely finish.

Here is an example:

• If your long-term Health goal is to run a marathon, today’s Health goal is a 30-minute run after lab.
  If your long-term Work goal is grad school, today’s Work goal is spending 1 hour on your personal statement.
  If your long-term Relationships goal is to prioritize family, today’s Relationships goal is FaceTiming your sister.

Another way to divide it that is more college-centered: 

• If your semester Class goal is to raise your GPA, today’s Class goal is attending office hours.
  If your semester Clubs goal is to build your club’s impact, today’s Clubs goal is emailing a guest speaker.
  If your semester Personal goal is to crochet a quilt, today’s Personal goal is finishing a row.

While three simple tasks a day may seem like a futile effort towards your life goals, it’s still getting you in the right direction. And logically, you’ll be much closer to your goals than if you never made any intentional effort at all!

(Disclaimer here that it is not wrong to expend effort, time, and energy on non-academic things. You should not be so drained or busy that you cannot tend to your health and relationships! If you feel like you are, come see us at the Learning Center!)

Identify Your Growing Conditions

Just like you cannot expect a plant to grow without the proper conditions, you cannot expect yourself to be getting straight As if you aren’t taking care of your basic needs. What are your sun, soil, and water?

Here are some universal ones: social interaction, a nutritious diet, exercise, sunshine, adequate water, sleep, downtime. If you are neglecting any of these needs– just like if you took sun, soil, or water away from a plant—you can’t expect to function at your best!

Action Item: Allow yourself the simple luxuries. Remember that your growing conditions are yours, and they don’t have to match anyone else’s.

Maybe parties give you life, maybe they completely drain you. Maybe you hate the gym but love running. Maybe you like walking to class, or listening to music on the shuttle. Perhaps you need a fun drink to make it through your worst class, and want to call your mom every day. Whatever it is, remember that to perform at your best, you must allow yourself to have the right conditions. Find the little rituals that allow you to thrive and feel good. Only then can you put your best foot forward and be an academic weapon.

Finally: Shift your Mindset

Release the guilt and shame. This is hard work, and you are worthy of being taken care of!