PERSPECTIVE: Sleep and good grades: The perks of time management

Time is underrated. How motivated do you feel right now to read this perspective? The next line? The next word? If you're like the majority of students in Boston University, you're probably skimming the stories in this newspaper three minutes before class starts or as you rush across Commonwealth Avenue to get on the next T, hoping not to get hit by the bicyclist coming toward you as you hold on tightly to your tall latte from Starbucks. You're upset because you didn't get enough sleep after pulling an all-nighter, and the thought of attending an 8 a.m. lecture seems cruel to you. "I don't have time for anything!" you angrily remind yourself. There's never enough time. Or is there?

How much do we truly value time? Since the moment I started classes at BU, I've felt like the days pass by at the speed of light, and yet, I've tried my hardest to hold on to making every hour worthwhile. But, it wasn't always this way.

I became a pro at time-management the moment I started taking advanced placement classes in high school while balancing my many extra-curricular activities. To top it off, I also held an after-school job at Washington Mutual Bank. My life became a constant routine of things-to-do by the hour, always aiming to avoid all-nighters and sleep deprivation. Every morning, I would go to school, then to work and, after a very fast, unbalanced / unhealthy meal and a quick shower, I would start homework at around 7 p.m. Talking on the phone with friends would get the best of me and constant commenting on MySpace made me a traitor to my own ideology on time management. But, what was I supposed to do? We are all slaves to today's unstoppable technological revolution and prisoners of our own procrastinations. Yet, regardless of all of the distractions and various activities, I always managed to do it all while getting my beauty sleep, above all.

Then, college started. I became powerless to late-night mania. Meeting up for lunch, playing ping-pong at BU Central, talking for hours with friends after dinner at Warren, uploading pictures online 24/7, wall-to-wall comments, messaging, tagging, updating information on Facebook, catching up with friends on MySpace while also adding pictures and commenting, watching TV and just plain old hanging out with friends made my days exciting and fun. But, when it came down to doing homework, all of my energy had abandoned me. I was out of control and started going to sleep late without a justification.

What happened? The freedom factor just got to me. Too quick, too fast. I was overwhelmed by how much free time I had, and rather than using it wisely, I took it for granted to satisfy higher needs of amusement. Or, in simpler words: To have college fun. Fighting back sleep in my morning lectures became my biggest challenge, but as soon as class was over, power-naps in BU Central (with amazingly comfortable sofas, in case you didn't know) or in my bed at West Campus, overtook my will to stay awake and get work done. Then, it was time to wake up again, attend another class and then not take advantage of all my free time to do homework by instead hanging out with friends. I honestly hated to go to sleep so late and underestimated how much I could get done by making use of my long-forgotten time-management skills.

So, I called it quits (to the late-nights, that is). I was tired, sleep-deprived, annoyed and overwhelmed all of the time. What bothered me the most was realizing how I brought all of this upon myself. In a moment of enlightenment (not like Siddhartha's, but close), it became clear to me that I could have my cake and eat it too. Solution: Study hard on weekdays, have fun on weekends.

I reorganized my schedule by cutting down on the Facebook and MySpace obsession, not picking up my phone while doing homework and not going to the dining hall for unnecessary reasons (On the bright side: I've lost five pounds). Homework, once again, became my priority, and I found out that I could get most of it done in between classes by going to the library or near-by study lounges where others had already discovered the magic of time-management and were taking advantage of it. I felt motivated again.

Time management helps me feel in control of my choices and puts me at peace with myself so I can finish tasks and achieve much more. Not only do I finish homework earlier but I can also go out into the city to shop or eat on weekdays, knowing that I'm not guilty of procrastinating. I have also been able to use the free time to become involved in extracurricular activities - busy bee that I am -, and learn more about the different resources in BU. What more can I ask for?

There is time (a lot of it, actually). The hours pass by slower than one would think, and life is all about choices. You can choose to make the wrong decisions and waste time or make use of your time by managing it well. There's always enough time to have fun, too, and I recommend weekends as the best time to do so.

When it comes to time, it's all about your priorities.

Cindy Cordova is a freshman in the College of Communication.