Dear Gabby,
Hi! I am a transfer student finishing up my first year here. (I only have six classes left for next year!) Even though I have plenty of years’ worth of experience in school, I still have a problem.
Time management is not really a quality I possess a lot of. I love to make lists though, so I always end up making lists of all things I need to get done. I have lists for school assignments, household work and various other things. Even so, I still manage to either get too stressed to do anything or just end up procrastinating and do the “important” items.
I just don’t understand why I can manage to gather all the things I need to do, but I still end up looking at the list and putting it off. A lot of it is the overwhelming nature of the lists, but some of it is being a procrastinator. What advice do you have for being better with time management/not procrastinating?
Sincerely,
Not a Time Lord
Dear Not a Time Lord,
Ah, the infamous procrastination characteristic strikes again. Trust me, you are not alone. I’ve talked to so many professors and students about this and there’s one thing they agree on: being smart with the usage of your time. Professors always tell me it’s about how we—the ones between 18 and 25—have so much on our plate that it’s easy to lose track of our priorities.
In my opinion, managing time is the most important thing. Learning this will help you not only in school, but also in life. Nowadays, we have so many distractions—social media, relationships, parties, etc. It’s obvious why managing time seems to get harder each year.
Time is valuable. Time is something you’ll never get back. As horrifying as that sounds, that really motivates me to always push myself to complete multiple tasks throughout the day because my biggest fear is losing time. I don’t think people realize how significant time is until they look back two minutes from now or 20 years from now and realize they lost time.
With that always in the back of my mind, I start to consciously be aware of my time and take notes about what seems to be taking up my time the most. It’s not an easy task to master, that’s for sure. In the time I took to write this letter, I texted a few friends, surfed Instagram and checked my email, so I am not a professional at time management at all, but I notice that it starts with being aware.
Once I stop for a second and really think, am I being smart with my time? it helps bring me back to reality and I can then get in “the zone.” Organization is number one. I think having a to do list and prioritizing tasks help me to stay on track. I’m pretty old fashioned and keep my schedule in a planner instead of the calendar in my phone. This gives me a clear visual of my entire schedule for the week and day, along with little notes that help remind me what I need to complete.
Take one thing at a time! I tend to get overwhelmed when I look at the wholeness of a list. I can assume you have a lot going on, just as a lot of people do, so don’t waste your time getting stressed out because of the length of your list. Complete your tasks one at a time and then move onto the next thing, I promise this will make a huge difference.
Also, sometimes sacrificing something in order to complete an assignment or task might have to take place. If you can’t get on social media or hang out with friends because you haven’t completed your list for the day or week, then don’t reward yourself until you’re done. Once you realize how precious your time is, you’ll start finding more time to accomplish your goals for the day.
Good luck,
Gabby