Today more than ever people are immersed in multi-tasking. We wake up, check our email on our phones while preparing breakfast, update our Twitter feed as we put on our socks, and try to finish our assignments an hour before they’re due, all while making sure we stay up to date on what’s happening according to Facebook, NPR or wherever else we can find an engaging web link. Amid all of this multi-faceted chaos, something has been lost—our focus. We are so driven to succeed in so many different things that we’re being pulled in a million different directions without having any time to get our heads on straight enough to do one thing right.

I’ve seen many fellow students fall victim to the tantalizing tentacles of doing too much. Yes, there is such a thing as too much, people. Being a student today is a whirlwind of activity. We become overwhelmed because of the many technological advantages that previous generations may not have had. In addition, we also have more leisure time. We’re hesitant to even do one thing well since our attention is being used up by a million different things at once.

I am in no way suggesting that I am above this influence. As I write this, I have the TV on behind me and Aphex Twin on in my headphones. My suggestion to those of us (myself included) stretching our intellectual and social abilities too thin is to compartmentalize. Take chunks of time to focus on just one thing.

Scary, isn’t it? It may be difficult to steer clear of checking your phone or email while you’re in the middle of some tedious reading, but here’s another piece of advice that ties in to my previous morsel of wisdom: Sharpen your focus. Where are you trying to go in life? If you’re aiming to transfer out of the foggy graveyard moor that is Skyline, think of the sprawling, sunny quads at UCLA or UC San Diego. If you’re training to be a nurse, picture the faces of the people you’ll be helping. My point is that we’re all here for a reason. Channel the reason you started here in the first place, and use it to amplify your drive in the direction you wish to go.

As a student, I know it can be immensely difficult to even think straight, but using time management and focusing on our goals can help us today as students and tomorrow as capable and responsible citizens. Because trust me, with the state of the world today, we have to let go of our Facebook addictions sooner or later.