Some days, you just want to be more than one person.
In a non-sci-fi kind of way, you just wish you had another brain to help you finish writing the paper that’s due at midnight, or an extra pair of eyes that aren’t heavy from last night’s marathon of studying. I’m talking about the kind of day when each time you cross something off your to-do list, you find yourself adding three things.
Your endurance fades. You don’t remember the last full meal you ate. Your room is just a heaping pile of things that are (hopefully) your possessions. You have to wake up an hour earlier than you normally would just to run a couple of errands — a decision that only leads to sleepless regret because the Post Office and the bank aren’t even open yet. And for some reason you just sent an email to a professor who you don’t even have this semester.
Alas, there is a small, powerful way to help yourself out of such situations when you need it most. It’s something that doesn’t get quite enough airtime and begins with a short word, composed of a mere two letters. It doesn’t take much breath to say, and just as little time to write.
(Are you strategically shifting your overflowing armful of to-do-list-related items to pick up what I’m laying down?)
The magical, potent and potentially life-saving word is: “No.”
Getting it out is the hardest part — the explanatory component usually flows easily from this initial word.
Realize that I’m not telling you to refuse participating in your life.
Understandably, there are some things that you’re not going to be able to say “no” to. What I am referring to are the extra, nonessential tasks that are frequently related to the extra, nonessential activities.
Although it’s good to be involved and to try new things, it’s just as bad to be too involved. In the words of everyone’s favorite — OK, my favorite — Canadian pop artist, Lights: “However much you’ve got on your plate, you’re as good as you reciprocate.”
Chances are — if you’re anything like me — you’re not at your best when you’re overwhelmed. You’re tired. You’re forgetful. You’re (extra) clumsy. It happens. But it doesn’t always have to.
Sometimes I think we forget that we get to decide most of what we do in life.
Can you take that difficult class in a later semester when your course load isn’t so heavy? Can you skip that extracurricular meeting tonight? Can you be OK with your plain-Jane name instead of Super Man or Wonder Woman?
Weigh your options. Cut what you can. And most importantly, take care of yourself.
You don’t have to wish for another brain to pick up the slack. You just have to know how much the brain you have can take.
April Jaynes is a senior studying journalism and anthropology. Have you ever had to turn down work that you couldn’t handle? Tell her about it at aj188310@ohiou.edu.
