Schedule some chill time

Upon graduating from Amity, Emily Chadbourne wrote in my yearbook:

I guess all that I have left to say are my words of wisdom to you. Don’t forget to have fun your senior year. It only happens once and you should enjoy it. Yes, I agree that school is important, but so is keeping your sanity. So, make sure you schedule some “chill time.”

Emily was a second-semester senior already accepted to multiple colleges, and I was at the end of my junior year, visiting schools and keeping my grades up as much as I could. While Emily was fussing over her dresses for our senior and junior proms, I was hard at work studying for four AP tests. It’s hard for me to think of a bigger contrast in CalAmity High School than a second-semester junior and a second-semester senior. But, for better or for worse, that contrast illuminated parts of my life that I wouldn’t have seen otherwise.
I wouldn’t say that the attitude of a second-semester senior is one that I’m looking to adopt right now. As Emily suggested, there should be some concept of moderation in life, balancing fun and school. The fun-loving senior’s attitude and the work-addicted junior’s attitude are the two components that represent what my friend Ceili Brennan calls the method of “compartmentalization.” Ceili’s life-diet allows for both fun and work in one’s life, but mixing them together isn’t kosher.

When I compartmentalize my schedule into time to work and time to relax, I find myself being more productive. I sometimes find that I can get more work done if I go over a friend’s house one night and work the rest of the weekend than if I try to work the whole weekend straight. The human mind is more functional after it has been temporarily de-stressed. Gradually, one’s increased productivity will reduce the constant amount of stress on the mind.

The strategy of compartmentalization requires one to separate his or her time into work time and play time. Most overly stressed people have no problem slating their work time, yet many seem as though they feel guilty taking time to relax, and don’t consider the personal benefits that one reaps from the occasional Saturday-night movie, or from just plopping down in front of the TV after a long week. So, as you plan out your work schedule for the next few days, make sure you remember to schedule some chill time.