About priorities

Just one example why it is so important to fix some priorities and keep them in mind all the time.

Last year I decided to switch from fulltime working back to fulltime studying. First of all, my timetable changed totally. There was no longer regular early mornings and 8 hour days, but lessons there and there and lots of free time I had to use "efficiently" in studying. In other words, my life became much less organised from outside and I had to manage time by myself. At the same time, my revenues dropped from decent salary on the level of a student grant.

The new irregular life style turned out to be quite challenging to manage and before even noticing I had turned to a control freak: I started to have thoughts such as "I am irresponsible living like this just studying and spending, I must earn some money, I cannot go broke, that would be the end of the world". That time I didn't yet understand why the belgian students didn't study and work at the same time as we do in Finland.

So I started working as a conference assistant. Everytime I had some freetime, I booked a few hours of work. First I was quite happy I was actually doing something "useful", not just staying at home and studying.

Nevertheless, it became clear very soon that I had underestimated the workload in the university: the school stuff started to accumulate in my mind, not even talking about my personal life. I was doing so many things at the same time but nothing really well. I became moody, stressed and nervous as my freetime had shrinked tremendously. Finally it was my boyfriend's comment that brought me back to reality: I had neglegted studying in order to do a stupid student work! I was so worried about being broke and "irresponsible" that I actually forgot my first priority: finish the studies in order to get a real job. This way, I would never finish and get a real job.


I had started to think short term and forgot my long term priorities. Instead of being efficient I was multitasking things that would not bring me any closer to the most important thing.

So, I had to ask myself what was really important and trust on life a bit. I took a loan and decided not to worry about being broke. Be less hard for myself. Just do one thing at once. I actually never questioned my own thoughts, but were telling myself I MUST do this and I MUST do that. I must never take a student loan. Hello, what are those loans for?

Now I have learned to enjoy those lazy mornings, careless afternoons and manage my time as I know there is only one thing I have to concentrate on. So what if I was broke, health is so much more important and I have all the time to work after I graduate.


For many people, this kind of issue would not be a problem like it was for me. We all have our own challenges. Sometimes, it is just good to think about WHY we actually do things and what is really necessary.