It is not uncommon for students to leave Activities Night adorned with free notebooks, water bottles, and hard candy – ready to take on the world with their newly-packed extracurricular schedules.

One week later, dozens of email lists about orientation meetings and trainings saturate your inbox. “Why did I sign up for that?” you ask yourself. Before you have even finalized your class schedule, you find yourself attending multiple events, sessions, and workshops each day, rendering yourself exhausted and barely motivated to focus on your primary obligation: homework. “This is too much,” you grumble after the third week of school. Already, the wear and tear of college life has aged you.

Is this situation preventable? Of course! You may be tempted to think that it is not. As Notre Dame students, many of us are accustomed to having several, varied passions, and we somehow managed to tackle them all throughout high school. However, college is a different sort of ball game. Your wellbeing foremost depends on your sense of self-awareness and restraint, since every task you have is more demanding than ever before. One way to achieve greater awareness of your personal limits is to listen to your mind and body when they tell you that they have had enough. Use this article as a guide to this form of communication. In addition to prompting a more healthful lifestyle, admitting that you are overextending yourself – and responding accordingly – is a great lesson in prioritization, a lesson you will need countless times throughout college.