First off, organize your same day events. Try making list of errands geographically. This way you know where to start and end and spend least amount of time driving around to figure out where you need to go. An example is if you need to go grocery shopping make your list before you go so you don’t waste your time thinking what need to shop for once you are at the store. Here are some more examples from Sgro‘s article: As many of us feel that we don’t get enough time and equipment to do any exercise at home, we also feel that we don’t have that kind of money to buy membership at a health club. As most of us live in homes with yards, a solution would be to try saving money and time and still be able to get some exercise. We can mow our own lawn and be satisfied with the job we’ve done, exercise we’ve gotten, and money we’ve saved by not hiring someone else to do this job. Also we feel that we don’t get time for ourselves. Some of us like to read for pleasure. We can try taking public transportation to and from work and reading on the way.
As for a student, life can be a big challenge. Finding the time to attend classes, study, work at a job, participate in sports or other extra-curricular activities, visit friends and family, or just have some time for you is very hard. It would be nice if you could increase the number of hours in a day but as we know, we cannot do this. Making the best use of these hours can make things a lot easier and with better results.
This is when Time Management comes in handy and what it is all about. Making the best use of your time so you can learn more, get better grades, have more free time, or just accomplish anything else that’s important to you. First thing that you need to know is to find out what is important to you. Without goals and priorities, it’s easy to lose focus and later on find out that your life is not turning out the way you had hoped or planned. Having clear goals and priorities with the help of Time Management will help you a lot to be a successful student.
In order to have an effective Time Management, a student needs to do is to stop procrastinating. There always seems to be a tremendous amount of assignment and homework, a lot of readings and examination and quizzes to prepare for. Putting off these tasks at the last minute will just make things much harder to finish, which end up in low grades or work not being finished at all. There are times that this may lead to frustrations that could end up to dropping out of school. As for everyone, probably the most common Time Management problem is procrastination. We need to overcome our procrastination, especially as a student so we don’t get behind on our assignments and homework all the time.
A student must set a plan and start to manage time at the beginning of the semester. Good ways to do this is by reviewing your module and organize the semester by getting a large calendar to write the schedule. On the calendar you could mark when the assignments are due, midterm exams, and other important dates. Always plan enough time for study. Studying also means including your homework, assignments, paper dues, group meetings, etc. Having enough time to study will make your task easier as a student. This is a proper and realistic guideline because if we don’t do this, we surely know that we are going to fail our classes. We should make it a habit to start on our studies as soon as possible and to schedule these studies at certain hours of the day.
Once you have organized your plan and schedule, try to organize your notes and assignments. This extra little effort would save you a tremendous amount of time-extra time that can be use for your studies.
Now help yourself to be away from distractions. As we know, our friends and/or family members are the biggest part of these. It may seem too easy to say this but we should try to avoid them most especially during study times. A goal has been set, a plan is in placed, schedule of activities for study hours had been listed, study tools had been organized, now we can plan for some recreational activity if we choose to. But, we should remember that this is planned last and only, if we have extra time. The job of being a student, most especially a working student is extremely tough. But with time management, it would be much easier for a student to achieve their goals and be successful with their studies.
Managing time in the workplace is about setting your priorities and flagging them with the appropriate importance level. It is about determining what is more urgent and most important out of the tasks and projects in your workload. You can do this by outlining your key work objectives and those of your work unit. And by identifying obstacles that prevent you from effectively using your time. There are additional tools and techniques for overcoming time wasters. Many software resources that are available for the working individual are: Microsoft Project and also Primavera. These software clients allow the office worker to manage their time more effectively and also have the reminder prompts that pop up while working on the PC.
When dealing with common time challenges, an individual must learn how to say “no” when they feel like they are on overload. Do not say yes to too many things. “Saying yes can lead to unexpected treasures, but the mistake we often make is to say yes to too many things. This causes us to live to the priorities of others rather then to our own. Every time you agree to do something else, another thing will not get done. Learn how to say no” (Donald R. Clark). Another tip is to negotiate work priorities and commitments. Team delegation also gets the job done. When you voice out to another co-worker that you need help, you can get things done through others. It is called helping others to be effective in their use of time. Follow up is a major key in having others help you in your project.
Other helpful ways in saving time are to concentrate doing only one task at a time. Complex tasks can be broken into smaller components. In turn, resources can be applied to complete these separate components in their allotted times. “Careful time management, allocation of resources and development of professional and personal goals are inherent concepts which, when properly utilized as everyday tools, may help to accomplish tasks which had once seemed impossible” (Sandy Powell).
Depending upon the person’s situation, Time Management can be beneficial in one area more than the other. However, Time Management can ideally be effective across all areas of your life. As we know that managing time is an art or act of controlling, we can put this quality in our life and make better use of our time. We all can be more organized and productive if we learn to control the expectations of the world. Time Management is personal. It’s not about assimilating another person’s methods of managing time. And it’s not about trying to please everyone by giving him or her your time. It’s about knowing how to you work and what you value so that you can make meaningful and strategical changes that return some balance and piece of mind to your day.
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