Time Strategies: Offense, Not Defense

Clock watching is one of my least favorite habits, yet I find myself guilty more often than I care to admit. A compulsive need to verify that I still have time, even when there are no deadlines, assignments, or critical events occurring. In fact, there are occasions when the number of times I've checked the clock has probably reduced the amount of time I have available by a significant amount (at least 5%). 

The article "Why Time Management is Ruining Our Lives" speaks at length regarding the decrease in life quality when efficiency and production are maximized, and I am forced to agree with the author in multiple areas. Managing time is important, and that fact is not disputed. But the inundation of emails, alerts, notifications, and advertisements which are experienced daily can result in a drowning feeling of insufficiency, and this I strive to avoid. This was a great article which helped me realize which things I ought not to do when planning out this semester, and there was quite a bit of fascinating trivia and history presented. 

On the positive side, "Time Management Tips Just for Creatives" offered several nuggets which I plan to incorporate. One of these suggested that instead of viewing deadlines by weeks or months, count in days. This didn't seem that impressive until I realized that there are only 105 days left before this class is over! That number is much more real to me than "about three months." The other tidbit was to end your day, rather than starting it, with a to-do list. This makes more sense yet I've never really thought about it before. I tend to work hard and strong on a few things, then piddle away on numerous others without finishing, and saving the to-do list for the end of the work / school day seems like a much better way to remember exactly where I was on a project. Finally, prioritizing your time based on the value of the assignment. This is such good advice. I tend to spend far too much time on "low-value" assignments and way too little time on big giant projects. 

Here is what I normally do to keep up with school, and this has worked reasonably well in semesters past. 

• Week-At-A-Glance. Each week, usually after a late shift on Saturday, I review each class's assignments due and write down the date and TIME if the assignment is on Canvas. I have oopsied before and assumed a due date was midnight, when instead it was 8 AM. This has prevented me from forgetting about multiple assignments, and I generally keep the schedule in a notepad on my desk, where I can see it whenever I need to check on something. 
• Review assignments at least a week prior to completing them. Many times I have waited until the last moment only to realize there was much more work involved than I assumed. By checking early and often I know about how much time I need to devote to a project, quiz, or piece of homework.
• Keep moving. If I get stuck on a question, and five minutes later I am still struggling, I skip it for the time being and make a note to come back to it later. Sometimes just switching which class I am working on makes a difference, and a fresh look in an hour can answer what I was blanking on before.
• Reserve time for fun. If I don't have something happy or comfortable or relaxing planned for later in the day, my work suffers dramatically. It's much easier for me to power through 3 chapters of biochemistry if I know I have something good waiting for me at the end of it. I work full-time and take about 15 hours in a regular semester, but I cannot perform as well if I don't save a little time for me too. Sometimes it's just having a drink with co-workers after closing down the restaurant, but other times it's an episode of Star Trek. The important thing is to allow yourself time to relax and truly disengage for a moment. 

A Series of Life Stages

Image Source: Miosuperhealth