Kevin Coriolan | News Editor

My favorite Microsoft program is Outlook. I know many faculty members, staff members, and other students who live and die by the email service. It allows one to send emails to others, but it also has the potential to block out one’s entire semester schedule. You can even schedule multiple events at the same time.

The question is: what do you do when that time comes? What appointment do you choose to attend?

Unfortunately, you cannot be in two places at once—reality does not work that way even though many of us wish it did. We must choose what to do at any given time.

Let’s look at Buena Vista University (BVU) for example. On March 12th, there were several happenings on campus. There were midnight movies, the Career Connect event, a president’s council meeting, an ACES event, perhaps athletic practice, a shift at work, a nap, and maybe some studying for upcoming midterms. That sounds like a lot, plus there are nearly 50 student organizations and some must have had at least an event or a meeting. Add meals, volunteering, being ill, attending church, and socializing; there are simply not enough hours in the day.

You may have heard of the growing discouragement of multitasking. It is simply not possible to do two actions at the exact same time. Our modest minds can only focus on so much and we are actually slowing down our productivity when we try to multitask.

So, what is the problem? The problem is that there is so much to do. Similar to information overload, this is called “opportunity overload.”

Thinking back to campus, BVU offers us so much. You can even read my take on the tuition increase and what it actually pays for. I love that we are offered so many events to attend and so many educational experiences. My dilemma is that I want to do them all.

The curse of living in our world of time and space is that we are limited by both. No matter our dreams, aspirations, or longings, we must acquiesce to the beast that is the calendar.

As a graduating senior, the moral of the story from my point of view is to learn time management. Scheduling through a medium like Outlook is extremely beneficial if stress is setting in. It allows for clarity, certainty, and confidence.

Another part of time management though is learning to say “no.” This has been my biggest flaw by far. All college students learn this and you will be saved a load of hurt. It is extremely important to be involved and getting the college experience, but not at the expense of your sanity.

Taking advantage of the surplus of opportunity on this campus is like drinking water, you need it but you can also drown in it.

Graphic courtesy of Kevin Coriolan