How important priorities are in your studies and how they help you learn

We all know that: There are so many great opportunities and people at university that it can be hard to know what to say “yes” to. Conversely, there are so many great opportunities and people in university life that it can be hard to know what to say “no” to.

The following are three steps to address this dilemma.

Step 1: Know your priorities

To identify your priorities, you must be aware of your long-term goals and the values that guide and motivate you. Here's a quick exercise to help you identify your goals and values:

Select three areas of your life that you would like to focus on this semester and write them down. Next to each area, write one to three specific, actionable points. Post your priorities and action points where you see them every day. At the beginning of each semester (or at the beginning of summer), it reviews and revises. What could these priorities and action points look like?

Academy: Deepen my understanding of my major by attending office hours in my major courses.

Health: Improve my mental and physical health by getting 7 to 8 hours of sleep every night.

relationships: Host a game night with my friends every week.

Step 2: Take your priorities seriously.

Once you've set your priorities, follow them intentionally. The reason to identify your priorities is to save time and resources for the things that matter to you. The next step is to make conscious decisions so that you can achieve your goals — both short-term and long-term goals.

When an opportunity presents itself, show interest, whether it comes from a desire to please the questioner or from the opportunity itself. Take time to think about it. Try to give important decisions at least one night's sleep. Before you say yes, make sure you have the time and resources to fulfill your promise. If “yes” isn't a good choice, accept that it's okay to say “no.”

As a student, you may feel obligated to do whatever is asked of you and may be afraid of missing out on unique opportunities that are presented to you. However, if you try to do everything, it will be difficult to do your best work. In addition, taking on other responsibilities and taking other obligations seriously says good things about your character.

Step 3: It's okay to say “no.”

Once you know your priorities and make conscious decisions, you need to feel comfortable saying “no.” If you want to keep the door open for additional opportunities and connections, consider using language phrases like this:

No, I can't today, but I'd love to do that if my schedule is freer; No, but I'm grateful to be given the opportunity; No, but I'm honored to be given responsibility; No, but I wish I could say yes; No, I already have another commitment (it's usually okay not to explain further); No, but I hope I'll “yes” another time Can say; I'm interested but I need time to think about it; I can't feel up for everything now commit but I could do X; I can probably do it when the deadline is Y or later; I don't think I'm the right person for the job.