It is 11 PM right now and I am about to close my laptop and call it the day. Right when I was about to fall asleep, a thought came to my mind. I was wondering where did my time go today? Every day, we start our day by brushing our teeth or washing our faces and then getting ready for going to work or school. For some, they might not even have time to do that if they have to rush out of the house to catch the bus. Life is busy and for some reason, all of us are so busy that we don't even know where our time goes. As a student, time management is a critical element in making your success. Based on my experience in school for the past years, I want to share with you some steps that help me keep track of my time.
1. Set priority You want to feel in control of your time, right? Set a priority list. The list is meant to guide you on how you want your day to go. Now, setting a priority list can be overwhelming sometimes if you have such a long list of 100 things you need to get done which is why I want to show you my second point.
2. Know your limitation You need to know where your limit is and not feel stressed that you won't be able to finish your to-do list today. Let say you have 10 things on your list today, but you can only finish 4 out of 10. That's okay! As I mentioned earlier, these are your guide for you, they are not a must-do list. However, if you want to get everything on the list done, you can try something different.
3. Break the list into smaller tasks Yes, let say you have an assignment due in one week, it's great that you are getting a head start. However, it can be intimidating if you can not complete it within one day. This is where a list of smaller tasks for an assignment would be super helpful. By breaking down the assignment into smaller tasks, the activities are easier to achieve and you will feel more control of your work.
4. Enjoy the progress When you are so eager to get to that final line of the race, you might feel rushed to get everything done and never feel like you can relax and enjoy the journey. We all feel this way at some point, especially when all we can see is an unstoppable day of work or endless time of studying. However, if you can enjoy every task you have achieved every day, and you give yourself the rights to take your journey at your own pace. You will be amazed at how much excitement you find in your work.
The starting point is always the hardest part because you need to pull yourself together to get the engine going. However, once you can start getting these steps going, you will be amazed by how much control you have in your time. Now, there are other aspects such as distractions, and feeling stuck which might come into this. We will save that topic for another time. For now, let's get things started and have faith in yourself.
