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Teenage Survival Skills

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Teenage Survival Skills

Written by Jen Doyle

With the beginning of the school year upon us this is a good time to ponder, "how can we get it all done?" A typical day of a high-school student could include classes, a part-time job, and a few hours of athletic or band practice. Not to mention having time left over to eat and perhaps a bit of socializing. Oh yeah, and sleep! After spending an evening with a friend's 15-year-old son I was able to learn a few tricks that he uses for doing it all. These techniques are ones that can be used in all of our lives.

1. SCHEDULE YOUR LIFE: Marc is a typical fifteen-year-old student. He is a sophomore in high school with a part-time job and is hoping to have a spot on the wrestling team this year. With a girlfriend and plenty of friends I asked him how he is able to keep track of it all. "My Mom won't let me have a palm pilot so it's hard." Well, Marcs' Mom may not be ready to spring for another electronic device but she does type up his schedule each week and gives a copy to him and keeps a copy for herself. Because he can't drive yet she is responsible for most of his transportation. Schedules for the week are not only good for school kids. In writing your schedule be sure to include time for workouts and grocery shopping. Many activities that we may want to do every week don't get done simply because we don't plan for it. With a workout time in our planner there will be no excuse not to get to our gym. It will be another appointment that will have to be kept and not broken.

2. TURN OFF DISTRACTIONS: He admitted that in the first week of school he was keeping up his summer habits of text messaging and Play Station II. But he quickly found out that his schoolwork was not getting done by the time he was ready to go to bed at night. Marc admitted that he has started to turn off his cell phone while doing his homework. Text messaging seemed harmless enough because it took him a few seconds to do. But the interruption in his thinking was making the homework drag out all night. This is an important revelation for adults to realize never mind 15 year-olds! As I am writing this article I had to turn off my email and not answer my landline or my cell phone. Ignoring that little email symbol on the bottom of my computer is too difficult. The only way many of us can get work done is to shut everything down.

3. PRIORITIZE- The most important thought on getting it all done in our lives is simply realizing that we can't do it all. Sometimes we have to put some fun things aside to do some necessary tasks. If I had my way I would mountain bike four or five times a weeks. But I simply cannot do that with responsibilities in my work and home life. What I do instead is make mountain biking a priority twice a week. This means that I get my laundry done, run my errands, and do some cooking ahead so that on a day that when I ride I am relatively stress free knowing that I have most of my chores done and that I am not neglecting my business or home. This is not always easy to do but a key to enjoying life is knowing that sometimes we will have to leave things behind. But it makes the rewards in life that much more gratifying.