Trying to find a balance in life is harder than most make it out to be, especially for those in college. It feels as if there is so much to do, but so little time to do it, which is why it is important to prioritize. Deciding how much time you want to dedicate to school, work, friends, family, etc. is hard to split and even harder to manage. People want to give an ample amount of time to everything they care about in life, but sometimes one thing is more important than another. If you were to have been invited to a party tomorrow, but you also had a test you needed to study for, you’d logically need to stay home and prioritize your test, yet, we all know it is not that easy. Properly prioritizing is a skill you need to develop, not one you are born with, which is why it is okay to admit that sometimes we need help when lacking in such a category.
First, it is important to know what prioritizing is. As defined by the Oxford dictionary, prioritizing is “[to] designate or treat as more important than other things.” (Oxford, n.d.). For some, that party may be less important than their test, but for most, it isn’t. However, what if I told you that there is a way you can have both? Prioritizing time is one of the main things we as a society do. We try and make time for everything we enjoy, but for college students, their schoolwork can fall short. According to a study done by Piers Steel, he reports that “80% to 95% of students in college practice procrastination, specifically when it comes to their classwork.” (Novoteny, n.d.). This can cause students to fall behind because they find themselves prioritizing fun over education, and most in college find themselves doing so, but for those who have life challenges such as Asperger’s, ADHD, and learning differences, they can find it even more difficult to find what is important to prioritize. For them, social life may have been harder to come by, and now that they have it, they may find it more important than school and vice versa. Students with life challenges can discover that it is hard to understand that being social is important to mental health and that prioritizing themselves over other things is just as important, which is why The College Life Skills Program has developed a program to help teach students how to properly prioritize.
Prioritizing covers a wide variety of things from school to sleep, and the CollegeLSP can help with it all. Knowing how much time, if at all, to dedicate to things in your day is crucial to living a well-rounded life. College is all about decisions, and as a parent, you do not want to be concerned with what your child is spending their time doing. You want to trust that they prioritize school and a happy life over impressing their friends and doing things that may not be beneficial to their future, which is why if it is a concern at the moment, trust the CollegeLSP and their experts to help.
Dr. Eric J. Nach, Ph.D., M.Ed., A.S.D.C., is a Developmental and Behavioral Specialist who specializes in Autism, ADHD and related disorders. Dr. Nach is the founder of the College Life Skills Program where he and his team of professional’s help develop the Emotional Maturity, Executive Functioning, Life Skill and Social Abilities of college students and those high school students preparing for college. The CollegeLSP is a subsidiary program of the Support For Students Growth Center, located in Boca Raton, FL and providing services nationwide.
American Psychological Association. (n.d.). Procrastination or ‘intentional delay’? American Psychological Association. Retrieved March 16, 2022, from https://www.apa.org/gradpsych/2010/01/procrastination#:~:text=A%202007%20meta%2Danalysis%20by,coursework%20(Psychological%20Bulletin%2C%20Vol.
The oxford english dictionary: Oxford languages. The Oxford English Dictionary | Oxford Languages. (n.d.). Retrieved March 16, 2022, from https://languages.oup.com/research/oxford-english-dictionary/
