“Never leave for tomorrow what can’t be done today,” is a phrase I think everyone can agree on, but few actually put into action. One positive thing this dreaded quarantine seems to have given us in abundance is time on our hands.

My normal day consists of clocking into work, clocking out of work and making time for both college classes and assignments; I have plenty of time to do all three without running back to campus and attending classes in person, something I would have done last year (half of anyways).

But now I realize that I have so much time, connecting to people with the push of a button or a link for meetings that I have limited myself. How have I limited myself? By saying, “No, I’m not going to get this assignment done today on Monday because the deadline is up on Thursday.” Had the quarantine not still been in effect, I would be frantic to get said assignment done as soon as possible.

Laziness is classified as a state of willful inactivity, a perverse coping mechanism. It is also a burden, because by giving into laziness, “leaving for tomorrow what could be done today” is wasting time by not getting involved in important activities simply because you “don’t feel like doing it.” However, our busy schedules seem to imply that we may not be so lazy despite ourselves perhaps wanting to remain so.

There are ways to avoid laziness. But chances are it would have to deal with altering your schedule. When it comes to balancing work and school, you would have to determine which is more important to focus upon.

If you are a college student and you are reading this, I will give you my begrudging opinion that yes, school and education at this stage are more important than the current job you are working. Why? Because though your college semester may seem draining at times it requires only a couple months of your time and attention to help put you on the path which you want to have as a career; the job you have in the long run will help you in the workplace, but unless it’s an internship it will help you graduate.

There are also changes you will have to make to your schedule to get your school activities finished first. It may include when to go to bed, when to wake up, the amount of leisure time you spend a day (if you have it, chances are you have some amount), but all of this is purely based on you. You know where you may be spending time doing less important things, and it’s solely up to you whether you should include school more in your daily life. 

I was told by my instructor that three hours per credit is the ideal amount of time you should spend studying outside of class. After spending barely an hour into studying and passing with relatively high grades, I feel rather defeated and would rather spend more time on my classes. I know where I can amend my time to be more productive, do you?

At the end of the day, time is money; you can spend it focusing on the short-term (whichever job outside class you have) or on the long term (your current college classes). How you manage your time is up to you. As for me, I will continue trying to be smart and start managing my time and in so doing will manage the energy it takes to accomplish what I need to in the long term.