In my life before Collegewise, I worked with several people who would constantly reference how many hours they’d been working. “I was here until 10 last night.” “I put in 60 hours last week.” “I was here before the building was open today.” What they never seemed to talk about was what they had actually gotten done in all those hours. If they’d become the top salesperson, or solved a thorny problem no one had been able to, or launched a new initiative the whole company was excited about, they’d had been a lot more valuable to the company (and a lot more interesting to listen to) no matter how many or how few hours they were working. But all those hours weren’t seeming to amount to much more than conversation by the water cooler.
I see high school students make this mistake too, focusing on the sheer number of hours they can do things instead of trying to get more done. They talk about how many hours of community service they’ve completed. They’re constantly adding more activities to fill up their day and their resume. They’d never consider leaving blank any spaces for optional information on a college application. More, more, more.
The impact you make is a lot more important than how many hours it takes to make it. Sure, there’s frequently a strong connection between the two (you’re not going to become the first chair cello player without practicing for many hours). But the applicant who became the first high school student his local hospital ever promoted to train other volunteers has application oomph no matter how many hours he spent doing it.
Focus more on making an impact than on clocking the hours.