The Arena #05 - Your 168 Hours
The Arena is a newsletter for college students, helping you build a better, happier, more successful life. We’re Martin Anquetil and Nat Redfern. You might be subscribed from LinkedIn or have seen Martin’s College Product Manager Guide.
Last week, we took a little break - we graduated! Back to our regularly scheduled programming.
Cool Stuff from Across The Web
Miscellaneous unsolicited (and possibly biased) career advice - Erik Bern, CTO of Better.com
Inventing on Principle - Bret Victor, former human interface inventor at Apple
Priorities
People prioritize different things - some things that are incredibly important to you might be an afterthought to others, and vice versa.
You might have seen a variation of this chart - with caption “Pick 2”:
Despite it being untrue in this specific case (you can sleep and hangout with friends and do good work), this chart points out an unfortunate truth of college and life - you have to pick your priorities. I often think of this quote by Kobe Bryant about a sacrifice he made in his career:
I have friends. But being a "great friend" is something I will never be. I can be a "good" friend. But not a "great" friend. A great friend will call you every day and remember your birthday. I'll get so wrapped up in my shit, I'll never remember that stuff. And the people who are my friends understand this, and they're usually the same way. (...) And it's not some smug thing. It's a weakness. (...) It's not like I'm saying "I don't need friends because I'm so strong." It's a weakness. [link]
Granted, it's okay to not want to be like Kobe - we can seek great success without trying to be the greatest ever! But the point still holds. In life and in college, you will need to pick what is most important to you and that will involve some sacrifices.
But like all things in life, priorities will never be as clear as the “pick 2 out of 3” example. A more realistic scenario would be deciding how to spread 100% of your effort between friends, work, and leisure - 33/33/33 or 40/ 40/20 or 80/10/10, etc.
If you try to put 100% into every category, however, you will fall short, which won’t bring you joy. Similarly, putting your focus in the wrong things will also make you unhappy (i.e if you prioritize like Kobe, but know you need deep connections). But if you can synchronize how you spend your time and energy with your preferences and goals, you will be much happier in life.
Priorities in College
How does this play out in college? It’s important to think about your overall goals for your college experience. Here are some examples:
Being social & going out a lot
Working hard in classes & getting a great GPA
Going only to fun classes, not going to boring ones
Building a startup and dropping out
Meeting successful people and getting a great job
It’s likely that you have some interest in all of these, but think about how this list would look for you. You should try to understand which parts of life are the most important to you, which things might be non-negotiable.
Here’s an example. For me, sleep is more important than my social life most of the time. I know that I need 8 hours of sleep. Therefore freshman year I had to miss out on some late nights hangouts because I had to get enough sleep before my 8am. That's a bummer! But if I had participated in them, my sleep and happiness would have suffered. On the other hand, if a night feels like a once in a lifetime conversation or party, I’m happy to go to bed at 5am. It’s never black and white!
Try this exercise. Below we’ve listed a lot of the things that you can do in college. Try to pick your top five!
Learning a lot
Getting a good GPA
Going to a lot of parties
Making a few close friends
Meeting lots of interesting people
Getting a high paying job for graduation
Getting work experience during school
Making money during school
Starting your own projects to learn
Being healthy physically
Being healthy mentally
Another helpful exercise for priorities and time management is the “168 hours” exercise. When I feel overwhelmed or confused about how to allocate my time, I draw out my entire week’s schedule, all 168 hours (7 * 24 = 168). I put in everything that I have to do - class, meetings, etc. From there, I draw in tentative sleep schedules, as well as my morning routine.
When you write out all your engagements, you can see all the free unscheduled time you have! You can choose how to fill it, how many hours you want to dedicate to studying, social time, etc. Oftentimes, you’ll realize you have more time than you thought to explore interests — and that you spend more time than you think on TikTok.
Finally, not all parts of life are “all or nothing”: you can still socialize without going to every party, you can get good grades without going to every class, you can get a good job without going to every networking event. This process is all about exploring the balance and finding what works for you.
Do what feels right. Explore yourself and experiment with your lifestyle!