The Reality of doing it all before graduation

Many kids hear from their parents that they should try to live life to the fullest and do as much as they can before it’s too late. None of them is wrong in that regard, but putting it into practice is a little harder than it sounds.

I’m a student-athlete and entrepreneur all at the same time, and managing everything is very difficult. School is arguably the worst out of the three. It’s the most challenging to deal with, especially when procrastination is a factor. I’m currently a sophomore in high school, which is a little more challenging compared to the cakewalk that was freshman year. Missing assignments, exams, and mixed relationships with teachers can lead to a lot of stress and anxiety. This is only school by itself, mind you, I haven’t even covered the other two yet.

Being a student-athlete has its share of challenges, but it’s easy to handle. Throwing a business into the mix makes things a lot trickier. For context, I’m a competitive jiu-jitsu practitioner, and for those of you reading this who do the same, it isn’t exactly easy. You have to study your opponents, build strength, and train consistently. Running a small business along with school and training adds more stress to an already taxing schedule. You basically never have much time to rest because you're always doing something. If you aren’t studying for an exam or finishing late assignments, you’re getting ready for an upcoming tournament. If you aren’t doing that, you’re looking for ways to grow your business. While I do think it’s good to stay busy and be active a lot, this can be a little overwhelming at times.

Running a small business is already hard on its own, as you’re essentially starting from nothing and have to learn a lot as you go along your journey. I’m currently running a small recycling business. I collect bottles, cans, and glass bottles and cash them in for money. For anyone who doesn’t know why this is considered challenging, it’s because a stable income requires tens of thousands of bottles coming in each month. I can barely accumulate 300 by the end of the month. This is stressful by itself. Then, adding on being a student and an athlete, there’s little time to focus on the business. It’s always going to feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day to do what you want to do. However, even though I said it was difficult to manage, I didn’t say there was no way to get the most out of each day.

Allow me to set the scene for you. This is an example of my average day, doing almost everything written in this article so far.

School: 8–2:30

Assignment catch-up: 2:30–3:00

Study for exams: 3:00–3:30

Study opponents: 3:30–4:00

Business research: 4:00–4:30

Free time: 4:30–6:30

Jiu-Jitsu: 6:30–8:00

It only takes me about two hours to get everything I need finished for the day. After that, I have another two hours to do whatever I want before going to jiu jitsu. Hang out with friends, read, play video games, it doesn’t matter. All because I did everything little by little and managed my time properly.

If you want to “do it all” in high school or college, the most important skill you need to learn is time management. You need to stop procrastinating, stop feeling like there aren’t enough hours in the day, and start making the most of the time you have. And you don’t need to be working, training, or studying nonstop. Learn to take everything in small chunks, and you will achieve more than you realize. Some days will be hard, maybe you had a rough day at school, or you had a bad performance at a meet or tournament. Maybe you didn’t get to work on what you wanted to at practice or in your business. No matter the variant, there are going to be those days when you just feel like giving up. But setting reminders, working a little at a time, and resting when needed builds consistency and productivity. If you’re trying to do it all, make sure you’re doing it right, with hard work, purpose, and balance.