Time Management as a Learned Skill

There is a six-step program for improving time management. Determine your life goals, whether they are short term or long term. Ask yourself questions and probe yourself deeper into how you plan to achieve these goals, and where you’ll set up check points to make sure that you’re on track. Then proceed to what are my plans, this means setting your intermediate range goals. What you plan to do in the meanwhile while you are on your course to accomplishing your goals. This leads to what are my actions. What are the steps you will take to achieve these goals? What is my master timetable? In this step you set your schedule for the semester or quarter or one of your checkpoints. What is my weekly timetable? This is the schedule that you will follow from week to week, this is how you will plan your time weekly to show major issues that you need to set aside time to accomplish. Step 6 is what is on the to do list today. This is simply a list of errands, the exact same as a sticky note or notepad. The same items that people use everyday in order to ensure that they will accomplish tasks that they have set aside before hand. Being that these items were set aside before hand only stresses the importance of doing them; no one would write down something in order to remember it if they didn’t feel the slightest bit of obligation to getting it done.

Those people within the transition of life goals be it careers, schooling, etc. may feel that the do not have to go through steps 1 through 3 right now, although eventually these people will have to; because what they’re in process of doing has everything to do with these steps. They will eventually find themselves in the process of doing them anyway, and one quality of being an effective time manager is using your free time to go over your immediate daily or other urgent priorities before relaxing and what you want to do.

Think of obstacles, possible problems that you may need to overcome money, family, or job responsibilities. Uncertainty of whether or not you’re suited for this path. Lack of motivation can be a killer, as well as lack of confidence in yourself or your skills.

Think of reinforcements, things that you have going for you that will help you accomplish these goals. It helps to have positive reinforcement over the long haul.

Determine extracurricular activities to pursue. Get advice about your tentative plans and then revise them. Take your plans including your list of obstacles to your academic advisor and discuss them. Being that all advice is free it would probably be in your best interests to take advantage of it. You will end up with a reality-based plan that may help save you some semesters of misdirection.

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