Campus Life Problem: Managing Stress

Meet Ken. He is a senior in Business Administration, and in addition to his full load of classes he is busy interviewing with prestigious accounting firms. Ken has always been a leader so it is not surprising to see he is president of Sigma Alpha Pi fraternity, vice president of Beta Alpha Psi business fraternity, assistant manager at McDonald's, as well as being very involved in his church group. All of these commitments, Ken feels, are very important to being successful in the business world.

Yesterday was a typical day for Ken. He woke up at 5:46 A.M. to open McDonald's. Since it was broken into two months ago Ken carries the only set of keys because he no longer trusts anyone else with the responsibility. Although he had planned to study after opening, Ken ended up mopping for Ralph, a new employee who was not mopping properly.

Ken ran to his class at 8:00 A.M. but his mind was not on his studies. Instead he was thinking of the plumber he had to call for his fraternity house, which caterer to contract for Dad's Day, and how to motivate the pledges that clean the house after a weekend party. After class Ken ran to Kinko's to pick up notices for the Beta Alpha Psi meeting and posted them in the business school. In the process he checked to see if Tiffany, a fellow Beta Alpha Psi member, had reserved a coping room for a guest speaker.

On his way home he stopped for a Big Mac at McDonald's and ended up rechecking all the files and finishing up next week's schedule for Christy, a new shift supervisor. Ken finally got home, where he called a plumber and met with Mark, who is in charge of the house blood drive. Ken was in charge of the blood drive last year and won several awards. He wants to continue the recognition he established for the house last year.

Ken then hurried to the church where he met with the minister. Reverend White wanted to help pick the songs the group would be singing at the weekend service, but Ken insisted on doing it himself. After a couple of hours of studying, Ken returned home to hear his voicemails:

"This is Tiffany. The speaker for Thursday night canceled, so we need to schedule a new speaker and change all the fliers."

"This is Mr. Smith. The time cards weren't turned in again this week. Please contact me." "This is Reverend White. Tom broke his finger and won be able to play guitar for the weekend services. We'll need to make new arrangements."

"Ken, this is Mark. I can't deal with blood drive deal all by myself. How about some help?"

"Hello, remember me? I thought I was your girlfriend. Am I ever going to see you again?"

Ken sits on his bed and ponders everything that needs to be done, saying to himself, "I could ask others to help me but if you want something done right you've got to do it yourself. I want to relax and spend time with my girlfriend but I can't give up my involvements, especially if I want a good job when I graduate. There just never seems to be enough hours in a day."

Questions:

How would you rate Ken's time-management practices?

How could he better manage his stress?

What do you think about his basic motivation?