DR. WALLACE: I feel stressed all the time because I never seem to be able to keep up with my school homework, my job and my social life!

I'm a freshman in college and just turned 19 years old, and I'm finding that the college homework is far more in depth than it was back in my good old high school days.

What can I do? I'd clone myself if I could! Then I'd have one mind to dedicate to schoolwork and the other to hold down a job, plus enjoy a full social life!

Do you have any suggestions that might help me out? — Need More Time, via email

NEED MORE TIME: You're learning that there are only 24 hours in a day and that you must prioritize your time if you want to keep your grades up.

I suggest that you take out a blank sheet of paper and try to write down every single block of time that you use up during the day. Study that page carefully and see if any answers jump off the page for you.

If not, I suggest that you cut back on the lower-value portions of your social life. By this I mean spend less time reading and posting items on social media, and keep your telephone calls short and to the point. This will then allow you to have quality social time to spend on face-to-face meetings with the most important people in your life.

Do this and you will quickly gain back big chunks of time each day that you can apply to your study time — if you're willing to set your priorities and stick to them.

MY DAD PRE-JUDGES THEM BY THEIR VEHICLES!

DR. WALLACE: I'm a girl who is 17 and my father won't let me date any guy who owns a very large truck or a van! He tells me that this indicates the guy is either a big risk taker or is trying to corner me for a tryst of passion.

I tell my father that his perspective is outrageous and outdated as today's guys have such varied personalities that almost none of them match up to preconceived notions of the particular vehicles they drive. Do you agree with me or with my father? I'd like to show him your reply but will admit that I'll only do so if you agree with my perspective. — Unhappy Daughter, via email

UNHAPPY DAUGHTER: You will be able to show your letter and my reply to your father as I concur with your take on this matter. I feel your father is acting a bit lazy and is generalizing his opinions of your male friends simply by looking at the type of vehicle they drive.

I feel he should take the time to meet each boy you have interest in and engage each of them in a few minutes of meaningful, one-on-one conversation. This would be a much better way to judge character than to simply fall back on a weak and outdated method such as profiling vehicles.

Dr. Robert Wallace welcomes questions from readers. Although he is unable to reply to all of them individually, he will answer as many as possible in this column. Email him at rwallace@thegreatestgift.com. To find out more about Dr. Robert Wallace and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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