The perfect Balancing Act!!!

This past weekend was lovely. I had a friend come into town and enjoyed a weekend full of fun. However, I neglected my readings, my papers and my other responsibilities. It was fun to take some time and entertain a friend while she was in town, but trying to play catch up is a lot harder than it looks. With spring break nearing it seems all the papers are due and the pressure is on to get it all done. There seems to be a never-ending amount of reading to be done and as many professors will tell you, sometimes all you can do is triage the readings. I understand that having a perfect balance is almost impossible but it seems having a healthy balance is almost required. I have heard many of peers say that they too feel obligated to entertain their friends when in town and feel guilty it they put their education before their peers, however does it have to be this black and white? Can you not have the best of both worlds? It seems to me that after a weekend full of fun and no work it is something that I too need to work on. Grad school is demanding, the amount of work is a lot more than undergrad and sometimes I feel as if all I do is work, work, and more work, but when I play...I play hard. I suppose there needs to be a balance between play time and work time.
Often times I talk to my clients about balance, yet I forget to practice it myself. Sometimes following your own advice is the best feedback ever. This week is filled with reading, papers and fieldwork, which means that it is time to get down to business and work towards a better tomorrow. A lesson has been learned today, that if I play hard all weekend the following week is going to be filled with anxiety, headaches and plain old exhaustion. The next time a friend comes into town, I think it best to enjoy some quality time together but plan a head the week before and make sure that my goals are attainable for the following week. Playtime is great fun but make up time is simply NOT!!!