I’m a really busy guy. But by this time every semester, who isn’t? In any give week, we spend hours upon hours upon hours in class, doing homework, working, eating, and yes, even sleeping.

Out of curiosity, I sat down before I began writing this column to do some calculations. Crazy, I know, since I try to avoid math like the plague. But in each week there are 168 hours. I spend roughly 18 hours in classes each week. Another 20-25 hours each week are eaten up by my part-time job in West Des Moines. Add another five to seven hours in driving time each week to my schedule. Then, just for kicks, let’s add 40 hours per week for sleeping, another 14 eating, and about four hours each week for meetings.

Add in some time for homework, extra meeting times and lab times, and there were about 30 hours that I couldn’t account for. I wracked my brain for a while and decided it was probably extra sleep time, extra homework time or just plain procrastination – an art I think I’ve sort of mastered during my four years at Simpson.

And over the past couple of years, I’ve spent countless hours doing a lot of soul-searching to figure out who I am and what kind of things I want to do with my life. It’s involved many hours of frustration, being cooped up in my room, listening to some interesting music and even more hours in my adviser’s office talking through things.

Every time I have a “crisis,” she tells me the same thing. Things will eventually work out, and I’ll realize what I need and want to do. She tells me to take advantage of fun times and enjoy the small things. Sometimes it’s difficult advice to take, but I’ve figured out she really does have a point.

So many of us spend so much of our time worrying about the big picture: What classes do I need to take to get my degree? What degree do I need to have to get the job I really want that pays well? Where do I see myself in five years? In 10 years?

But how often do we think about the day-to-day stuff? The fun things in life: hanging out with friends, spending time with family, and just plain having fun. No one seems to worry about those things. And I think we need to. It’s something I’m trying to do each day.

This week my best friend reminded me just how important those day-to-day things are. We both have really busy schedules, and for the first time in a while we both had the chance to just sit down and talk. We talked about classes, work and just plain life in general. It was a great time, and I’m willing to go so far as to say it made my day.

Ultimately, what I’m trying to say is don’t forget to take some time from the big picture to enjoy the here and now. It only happens once, so take advantage. It’ll make your day a whole lot better.