Students at all levels of education know that juggling school amongst other things can be overwhelming. But how do you know when enough is enough? Usually students try to cram in as much as they can into their schedules, and college is no exception.

Whether you’re looking to figure out how many credit hours you can handle, if you can participate in extracurricular activities or if you can take on that latest research project there’s several questions you need to ask yourself.

• Do I have enough time? Ever heard the saying “there isn’t enough time in the day”? I’m pretty sure it came from college students who often pull all-nighters to study for a big test. Make sure you have enough time before you take on another task which often times can take up more of your time than initially expected.
• What if something goes wrong? This is again where time comes into consideration. If you have a medical emergency, last minute criminal justice paper you forgot about or just overslept, make sure you’re able to handle the situation. In certain cases you may even have to correct the situation such as getting an extension on a paper, or just getting a better alarm clock.
• What if something goes right? Let’s face it, when you do a good job people notice. Maybe you nailed that guest teaching spot in your psychology class and your professor wants you to be a teacher’s assistant, can you say no? If you don’t think you can handle extra work learn to say no.
• What kind of support do I have? If you decide to take on an extra class or enroll in a club think about what kind of support system you have. It is important that those around you know and understand that you’ll be a busy bee this semester so their help and support would be very helpful.
• What will you gain and what could you potentially lose? If you really want to take on some more work you need to figure out what you stand to gain from it. If you’re considering taking on more classes then maybe you’ll graduate earlier, but will your GPA suffer? If you’re considering writing for the student paper then you’ll build up a good portfolio, but will it take away from your time in the library? Figure out if the additional work is worth the advantages and disadvantages.