Time Management 101

One of the toughest things about the adjustment to college life is learning how to budget your time. With schoolwork, extracurriculars, and social life, you have your hands full. And then remember, you still have to fit sleep into your schedule!

Actually, I found I solved this problem by first addressing another problem. You see, I had this anxiety about my roommates seeing me naked. I mean, usually, in the high school gym locker room, I had been able to keep my underwear on all the time--the only time that I couldn't was when we did the unit on swimming. But then I had been quite adept at wrapping the towel around my waist while I changed so that no one could see my penis while I was taking off my underpants and putting on my bathing suit or vice versa.

Now, in college, I worried about my roommates seeing me nude while I was changing in the bedroom or taking a shower. Well, to make a long story short, one day in November all of my fears were realized when my roommate opened the shower curtains while I was drying myself off. It was an honest mistake--he had no way of knowing that I was there, since the shower was off. Yet, surprisingly, I was not as embarrassed as I thought I'd be, and my roommate was very mature about the whole thing--he didn't make a big deal out of it.

Soon I began to see how ridiculous my fear had been. I sensed that my roommates liked me rather well by this point in the year and I knew they wouldn't be so superficial as to be upset at the sight of me in my birthday suit (I wish they would have given me birthday presents every time they saw me in that suit. I like getting gifts.) Anyway, in the big picture, who cared if, after taking a shower, while I walked back through the common room, I used my towel to dry my hair off instead of wrapping it around my waist? It's important to dry your hair off so you don't catch cold. And if there was a good episode of Letterman on, why should I miss part of it because I had to change into my pajamas in my bedroom? I could change in the common room while watching the show. I know you'll say that I could've waited to change during commercials, but grow up a little bit. We're not in grade school.

Sure it did get a little awkward when my roommates had friends over, but at least it was an ice-breaker. One time, a group of them had ordered some Pizza Ring--it had no toppings, just like me! I ate three slices of it, while wearing only the napkin that I had fastened to my neck with some safety pins. That was fun. And a different time, I ate some Buffalo Wings au naturel. That wasn't such a good experience. I don't want to get into the details, so we'll just leave it at that.

Anyway, I'm sure you're sitting there thinking, "Damn it, this is all well and good, but how does it relate to managing your time?" Well it just so happens that by changing my clothes at my convenience instead of getting all wrapped up in the prevailing social norms--or getting all wrapped up in a towel!--I was able to save a few minutes here and there. Over the course of a semester, it all adds up. Maybe my roommate was already asleep in the bedroom. Instead of changing in the dark, I could change into my pajamas in the common room, where the lights were on. And since I could see better, I could change more quickly. Once I started changing at my convenience, my grades shot up and I had some time for extracurriculars.

So as you walk through the hallowed halls of Harvard, as you walk past all of the historic buildings, as you past the tourists who are visiting from across the country, even from across the world, remember that you've got to be yourself, follow your own rules. For me, that meant changing my clothes when I felt like it. For you, who knows, that might mean rearranging the files on your roommate's computer, if you don't like the way things were set-up before. He'll deal with it, and if he gets upset, ask him why he didn't think to install a password on his computer, to stop you from using it.