Balancing time is stressful, especially for teenagers, and at times the stress can get overwhelming. Whether it’s trying to balance just school and friends or balancing school, work, sports, every teenager knows what’s it’s like to be pulled in several directions at once, and too many times the stress could be avoided, or at least lessened.

School is, without a doubt, a never ending dilemma for us and one of the hardest things to deal with; however, it’s definitely predictable and can be taken care of easier than we think.  Responsibilities like homework or an after school tutorial are easy to handle, as long as we avoid procrastinating.  I still procrastinate, but I do it less and less, knowing that it reduces my stress.

Oyuqui Rios, a senior at Alisal talked to me about always feeling stressed and confused with what she wants to do. She has no time for friends and when she does she’s exhausted from work. She doesn’t even have time to spend with her family, who she says have grown apart. I’m sure many of us feel or have felt this way but how many of us did something about it and how many let it go? Perhaps not many tried to find a solution.  I think that it’s a part of us growing up and I hate it just as much as many of us.

For me, one of the top priorities is my family. My family and friends provide the stress relief I need. Weekdays are for me and my friends and weekends are spent with my family, at least that’s how I manage my time and it’s worked fairly well for me. Knowing how to manage your time and making it worthwhile is really the key to relieving all this pressure.

While school is an issue for most of us, people who have a job on top of school have it tougher.  Handling a part time job is a drag (I’ve seen and been told), I mean even doing a couple of community hours is stressing, working 20 plus hours on top of going to school is even worse.

Some people know how to manage their job and school, but a lot of other teens do not.  If the job isn’t necessary and it’s providing a lot of tension (which you don’t need) then you might want to re-evaluate why you’re working or cut back on your hours. I know that in some cases having the employment is necessary to help out the family, but the job shouldn’t become more important than school.

One of the best parts about school is being with your friends. Friends are really really important to us, but they shouldn’t be our only priority. Wanting to be with your friends is ABSOLUTELY normal, but spending too much time with friends is a form of procrastination because as long as you’re with them, you’re not doing something else, like homework or chores.

Getting things sorted out may seem like mission impossible, but it is definitely workable. By establishing a healthy relationship between your responsibilities and your recreation, you’ll be able to keep your balance and dominate your stress.