Time Strategies

    Several helpful tips about time management have been shared with me over the past couple of years. In college, you do most of the work by yourself. Nobody is sitting behind you telling you what to do and when; therefore, it is essential to have good time management skills while you're on your own. For this class in particular, I have decided that working ahead is my ideal plan to stay on top of work and minimize stress. For my backup plan, I have decided that following my set schedule that my professor helped me make each week is what needs to occur. If I do not stick to my plan of staying ahead in this course, at least I will not fall behind because of my weekly schedule. A very effective time management skill that I have learned from my college experience in general is to keep a calendar and clear specific calendar times to do course work. When it is written down that you have to do work at a specific time, you are more likely to do it (especially if you allocate those times to school work only and do not make other plans during those times). 

Animated Image of a Woman planning out her schedule and managing her time.

Image from 11 Time Management Tips That Work.

    In addition to the time management skills I already know, I read about some additional skills that can help people be more successful with time management in the future. In an article titled, "3 Steps to Recapture Time", I learned that the first fifteen minutes of your day is critical for defining that day's tasks. By doing this, you are outlining what needs to be accomplished and when; therefore, you are more likely to follow through on a defined goal with a set time that. In another article titled, "Four Questions to Help You Overcome Procrastination", I learned that it is easier to ask yourself what your main priorities are in order to begin the tasks you need to complete. By asking yourself certain questions, you can kick-start your brain into thinking you need to complete the task soon. I think this specific question will really stick with me because I have always procrastinated my schoolwork. When I know I have a lot of work due or the assignment seems too big to complete, I push it off until later and make excuses to do other things first. Procrastination has been my biggest weakness in past semesters; therefore, with the time management skills I am utilizing now, I hope to avoid procrastinating and start to stay on top of all of my assignments by working ahead or sticking to a set schedule each day!