How (Not) to Deal With the Lack of Time

Greetings readers, thanks for picking up the second last issue of the term!
This one was completed with much more sleep and much less frustration that the last. Got the paper done in record time (save for waiting on a couple of articles). Did it 8:30 Sunday night, and that’s even with having arrived at the office later than expected.
The website went down sometime in the wee hours of Sunday morning, but it didn’t affect productivity too much. Copy editing was simply done outside of WordPress instead, before things came back up around 4:30 p.m.
All in all, things have been okay, which is a really good thing. More people than usual showed up, which was good for morale. It definitely made sitting in this windowless room for hours much less monotonous. Along with getting keys and a website editor, perhaps I should look into getting windows too. It would certainly help the ever-persistent newspaper smell of the room, and natural light would be a beneficial thing to have.
As always, thanks to Alex Lee and Nancy Hui for always showing up to production weekends and copy editing and churning out articles. Thanks also to Jessica Keung for doing Iron Inquisition and Nachiket Sherlekar for learning layout. I now have layout helpers! I’m super grateful to Leah Kristufek for your help and support, especially in writing that Saturday night article! You’re a much better incoming EIC than I was (sorry Spenser).
Without sounding like an Oscar speech, I want to take a moment to thank my classmates with whom I have group labs for being patient and understanding when I send things at strange hours of the early morning. In this case I’m talking about the ENVE 330 lab due Monday (yes I’m writing this Sunday night). Reenste, Gunjan, and Carlos, you rock.
In this issue we have coverage of the recent World Pride Parade in Toronto, in which a UW Engineering contingent marched. Other topics tackled are the protests in Hong Kong, the turmoil in Egypt, an LRT update, and a sum-up of BP’s 2013 World Energy Review, to name a few.
Our Point vs. Counterpoint debates the European Union’s “Right to be Forgotten,” an issue that can affect the ability of one’s past to be found on the internet. While it aims to protect an individual’s right to privacy, sometimes the security of others may be affected by the unavailable information.
The usual columns are back as usual, so check ‘em out, they always make for an interesting read!
I had a long inner debate about what to write this editorial on. I thought about continuing the “famous trees” thread with similar lists, such as interesting fish, or crazy natural disasters. I thought about writing about any recent environmental happenings in honour of my old column “Leafy Thoughts”. The more I debated, the more time I wasted. My main problem with the above topics was that they all required research and actual thought. However, I ain’t got the time for that, and the mush that is my brain refuses to perform anything resembling insightful thinking. So I’m going to write about time, and how to get more stuff done with a limited amount of it. It’s probably what I (and many others) struggle with the most. Warning though: this may read as more of a rant and you may glean little insight from reading this. This is me abusing my privilege of writing whatever I want in this section, and today I’m gonna vent.
A common phrase propagated throughout the world, heard from people of all walks of life, is that there is “never enough time”. There’s never enough time to enjoy ourselves, there’s never enough time to sleep, there’s never enough time to eat, there’s never enough time to do our work, there’s never enough time for anything, and there’s never enough time for nothing. As a student, this holds especially true. There is always so much to do, and oftentimes there is literally (as opposed to figuratively) not enough time to properly complete it all.
That has described my term thus far to a tee. I am always working. There are reports and assignments due every day. Every single day of this term has been spent working on the things that are due the day after. Ideally, weekends should be spent recuperating, catching up, and potentially even getting ahead in school work. That would be logical. However, with production weekend every other week, that is simply not a possibility. I get very little sleep some nights. My sanity has been suffering from it. Apologies to those that have witnessed my angry outbursts over the past few weeks. I swear they are not usually part of my usual modus operandi.
If your life sounds any at all like this (which for many of you it probably does), don’t give up hope! There ARE solutions! Somehow, despite all the responsibilities I have, I’ve managed to get nearly everything done and on time, which is remarkable if I do say so myself. If you’re struggling to do the same, then then you should totally 100% for sure use the following advice. (Disclaimer for people who might not understand sarcasm: don’t do this. Also I am a hypocrite.)
Too much to do, not enough time? Cut out all unnecessary time-wasting activities out of your life, or turn them into work time! Nearly all my waking hours are spent trying to be productive. Why focus on enjoying your meal when you can eat AND work at the same time? I work during meals, and have nearly completely stopped cooking my own food because that would take time, sweet precious time. Time gained from doing so is estimated to be 3 hours DAILY. In fact, why eat regularly at all? Instead, binge eat wildly calorific foods late at night and store the energy to be used throughout the day.
Cut out random internet use almost completely, unless they have some value to the work at hand. Allot yourself only a small, set amount of time to go on Facebook, Tumblr, the Twitter or whatever you kids do these days. Granted, I do allow myself some Redditing time 30 min. after getting into bed, whilst on the shitter, and (unfortunately) during class (I think I have an addiction and there is no other time I can do it). Don’t do that. Pay attention in class.
Think you need a break to go clear your head? Maybe you want to take a walk, or work out. After all, brain productivity supposedly increases with physical activity. Well DON’T. You’re losing valuable time. Who’s to say the increased efficiency from having breathed fresh air actually makes up for the time you wasted doing it in the first place? Essential tasks like going to the bathroom serves as a wonderful quick walk if you really need it. Or, if you’re really ambitious, cut that out too! Pee in a bottle (for people without penises: they’ve invented these weird funnel things that allow you to do it too, don’t worry); poop in a bucket. They do that in prison after all, and it seems to work out. I personally don’t do that stuff, because it’s nasty and I don’t like freaking out the people working in the same computer lab as me. If you decide to do it I applaud your dedication, you’re more hard-core than I am.
Perhaps the most time-wasting task of all is sleep. It takes HOURS. That’s so much of the work day. Do so sparingly. Think you might collapse from exhaustion? Grab a couple of hours. Notice a significant decrease in your sanity and cognitive ability? Grab a few more hours. Other than that, you’re fine. Maybe you got back from making a newspaper (or similar) at 2 a.m. Monday morning, and you still have an exam to study for at 8:30 a.m. Not sleeping means not studying, and that’s bad. So why not study? You have 6 hours! Use them. If anything your bloodshot eyes, dark circles, and harrowed expression will scare your professor into passing you for fear that you attempt to drink his blood out of spite.
There are so many more tips and tricks I could give you, but I’m nearing my word count now, so I’ll leave you with those most important ones! Enjoy being productive! I claim no responsibility for any emotional or physical damage caused by my suggestions. See you next issue!