Saturday, July 15, 2006
Supergirl?
Dear Guidance Guy,
At school, I'm pretty smart. I get straight A's on my report card, and I seem to be good at a lot of stuff. The only problem is people always expect be to be perfect. I come home and I work, I do house work, chores, a regular job, homework and on top of that, I'm supposed to balance a social life? I can't do it all at once. I'm just a 15 year old girl, not Supergirl. How can I balance out my llife more, hopefully so that I actually have time for me and the things I want to do?
Signed,
Supergirl Wannabe
*** *** ***
Dear Supergirl,
Who is it that's expecting you to be perfect? You didn't mention anyone in particular, so I'm guessing the one who wants you to be perfect is you.
If you want time for the things you want to do, first thing is to figure out exactly what they are. It's hard to answer your question specifically because I don't know all the details. Most of the kids I work with personally are spending time on things that aren't important to them. This usually includes TV, video games, IM-ing, etc. For some people, this IS their social life.
Take a good look at what your typical day is like. Figure out what you do during each half hour period while you're awake. Each thing will fit into one of the following categories: things that are important to you and must get done right away, things that are important but don't have to get done right away, things that aren't important to you but take your attention anyway, and things that aren't important and don't need to be done at all.
Your goal is to spend as much as possible in the second category: things that are important to you but need to be done urgently. That might mean you give up some of the other things you've been doing, or trade them off with someone else for something you'd rather be doing. It might even mean leaving your job if it's not that important at this stage in your life. And it might just mean you get better at things you're already doing.
This is a struggle that lots of intelligent, high achieving kids go through. In a way it's good you're going through it now, because if you go to college it will be that much easier for you to handle an intense workload. Other people will still be figuring out how to balance things. You'll be a pro!
Hope That Helps,
The Guidance Guy
At school, I'm pretty smart. I get straight A's on my report card, and I seem to be good at a lot of stuff. The only problem is people always expect be to be perfect. I come home and I work, I do house work, chores, a regular job, homework and on top of that, I'm supposed to balance a social life? I can't do it all at once. I'm just a 15 year old girl, not Supergirl. How can I balance out my llife more, hopefully so that I actually have time for me and the things I want to do?
Signed,
Supergirl Wannabe
*** *** ***
Dear Supergirl,
Who is it that's expecting you to be perfect? You didn't mention anyone in particular, so I'm guessing the one who wants you to be perfect is you.
If you want time for the things you want to do, first thing is to figure out exactly what they are. It's hard to answer your question specifically because I don't know all the details. Most of the kids I work with personally are spending time on things that aren't important to them. This usually includes TV, video games, IM-ing, etc. For some people, this IS their social life.
Take a good look at what your typical day is like. Figure out what you do during each half hour period while you're awake. Each thing will fit into one of the following categories: things that are important to you and must get done right away, things that are important but don't have to get done right away, things that aren't important to you but take your attention anyway, and things that aren't important and don't need to be done at all.
Your goal is to spend as much as possible in the second category: things that are important to you but need to be done urgently. That might mean you give up some of the other things you've been doing, or trade them off with someone else for something you'd rather be doing. It might even mean leaving your job if it's not that important at this stage in your life. And it might just mean you get better at things you're already doing.
This is a struggle that lots of intelligent, high achieving kids go through. In a way it's good you're going through it now, because if you go to college it will be that much easier for you to handle an intense workload. Other people will still be figuring out how to balance things. You'll be a pro!
Hope That Helps,
The Guidance Guy
