Time Strategies

Clock. "Clocks for Den" by robstephaustralia. Web source: Creative Commons.

So far, I have been very comfortable with the classwork schedule that I initially set up for myself. It concentrates all of my work on the days that I do not have class on campus, and leaves my weekends open to complete extra credit or get ahead on the next week's assignments. I know that as the semester moves forward, things are only going to become busier, and time management is going to be critical to my academic success.

There are many tips and resources that can help instruct and inspire me to better utilize my time, and many of them were covered in the articles for this assignment. The Important Habit of Just Starting highlighted one of my biggest struggles: procrastination. While it's easy to put things off until the last minute, this article discussed why it is so beneficial to just start something and the motivation to finish will follow. When I feel like putting things off this semester, I am going to remember the advice in this article and push myself to get started.

The article 11 Ways Unsuccessful People Mismanage Their Time had a few too many things on its list that I can relate to. The two ways that stuck out to me the most were getting distracted easily and not planning time for fun. During my work time, I often drag things out by getting distracted by my phone, television, or other people. If I buckled down and concentrated on the one task at hand, I could accomplish things more efficiently. Planning time for fun is something that I rarely do, so there is often no separation of my work and play. I think that this leads to me becoming more distracted while working, so I am going to try to set aside purposeful time where I can relax and enjoy myself without having to worry about work.

I think with hard work and implementation of these time management strategies, I will set myself up for a more successful and less stressful semester.