Finding Balance

There are so many things you “must” do as a pre-med student to be a strong candidate to medical school. Maintain a good GPA, get clinical experience, serve in your community, join student groups and hold leadership positions, participate in research, etc. If you add in other real life things such as working, relationships, family, etc…you have a lot going on!

Balancing all of those without losing your mind in the process is important. People do it all the time, so it’s certainly possible, but as you start this week I want you to really evaluate what you have going on as a pre-med student. Is your plate too full? Is everything necessary or are you doing a lot of meaningless things? Are you super stressed out by your load? Are there changes you can make?

Prioritize

If you’ve read through more than three of my posts, you know that making lists and writing things out are basically my love language. That hasn’t changed today. When you have a little free time, jot down a list of things that you dedicate time to. Include everything you can think of: talking to your grandma on the phone every Sunday, studying for the MCAT, baking cookies, volunteering at the Red Cross, spending time with your boo, looking for a boo, running step practice, sitting in the hair salon for 4 hours every week, hanging out on the quad on Wednesday afternoons for an hour… Whatever you have going on, include it all. Then start making a list of where those things rank in importance. (P.S. talking to your grandma needs to be very high on that list). If someone else looked at your ranked list, would it be reasonable to them? Meaning…is your list reasonable? Or are there things taking up precious time that you could be either resting or devoting to something else?

It’s Okay to Say NO

It is really hard for me to say no to people. It’s a life problem. Even if my plate is full, I have a bad habit of saying “yes” to things that will only make it overflow. And then who is the one ready to pull her hair out and not sleeping because she has too many things going on??? Me! Don’t be like me! Just say no!

What I’m trying to make myself do when asked to add something else to my plate is to ask myself a few questions:

1. Does this line up with my career or life goals?
2. Is doing this going to make me happy?
3. Will I regret it forever if I say no?

If the answer to ALL of those questions is “no” then my answer is no!

Remember, there are only 24 hours in a day and you need to sleep for some of those hours. You can only physically, mentally, and realistically do so many things. When you add stuff on top of already being full, you’re reducing the amount of time you’re able to devote to something else. Sometimes we have to say no to things that sound great in the moment but aren’t really what we’re meant to be doing…and that’s okay. Somebody else will do it, don’t worry.

So, your other task for this week is to figure out what your “no” questions are—they may be different from mine but one of them should certainly be, “Is doing this going to get me closer to being a physician?”

You can put those questions into effect for things you’ll consider in the future or for things that you’re doing right now. If you are currently involved in something that is not benefitting you, not making you a better person, not making you happy, or not getting you closer to a white coat and a medical degree, it’s okay to walk away from it. Re-read that last sentence again.

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For the rest of your life, you’re going to have to prioritize things based on their importance and you’re going to have to determine which things you should and shouldn’t pass up. Up until now, you may not have had to make these decisions too often, but ohhhh times are changing. The work you have to put in to get that white coat may require you to say no to some things you want in the moment (not everything!) and only you can decide if it’s worth it.

If you have questions or comments or aren’t sure where to begin with prioritizing or if you struggle, like me, with saying no…or if you’ve mastered these and have tips for us—feel free to leave a comment below or send me a private message!