For many college students in today’s online world, the curation of your Google Calendar is an art form. It has never been easier to aesthetically organize your life by balancing the recurring events, sending calendar invites, and color coding everything. Personally, my favorite part is searching friends’ schedules to see when they are available for a study date, a trip to Dunkin, or lunch at the Commons. Nothing tells me someone cares like them requesting a GCal event with me.
As a senior, the daily pressures and priorities have shifted: in addition to the usual busyness of classes and everyday life, there are job applications and the looming reality of this being my last year here. It feels more important than ever to balance my schedule and make time for the people, places, and events that matter. Whether it is weekly pasta night with my friends or my Friday morning walk, I rely more than ever on Google Calendar to block out time for the little things. Holding myself accountable to weekly commitments helps me slow down and appreciate all the little moments that make the Bucknell experience so special.
At the same time, there is an element of toxic overcommitment that can creep up on you when your life is all scheduled out. As of late, I have been trying to resist the temptations of hustle culture by using my Google Calendar not just as a way to plan out my day, but as a way to set limits for myself. I am learning to appreciate the empty white spaces in my day, letting that time be restful or spontaneous, rather than just more time spent in Bertrand getting ahead on work.
Perhaps it is the self reflective senior in me, but I have come to recognize how short our time at this wonderful university is. Planning my life, and setting my limits, on Google Calendar has become an act of self love so that I may make time for the people, events, and things that matter while ensuring that I set limits for myself and appreciate the little white spaces on my calendar.