|
|
Timeline for Success - Success in Life as well as the Classroom
"Don't let anyone steal your time. It is priceless and should be guarded with care." (Stanley 10(3)). T.L. Stanley also states that time is a valuable commodity that can never be refunded (Stanley 10(3)). Guarding time can be a difficult task with today's hectic schedule. Adding a college education on top of a normal everyday routine can be very stressful upon an individual's schedule. Being a college student requires a tremendous amount of time and energy absorbing and reviewing material.
Therefore, it is imperative that college students, especially those with work schedules; effectively manage their time in order to ensure success.
The first step in improving time management is to analyze tasks and deadlines. "You need to make the best use of your time. To do this, you need to think about what is important and what is not."(Manage). From this analysis a plan needs to be constructed to ensure effective time management.
Each task must be analyzed to figure out the approximate time it will take to complete and in which order they must be completed. This allows for an individual to schedule where and when each task will be accomplished. The plan should look much like a timeline, outlining 24 hours a day 7 days a week. All activities should be included within this plan, even the routine items such as eating, sleeping, and bathing.
Although including such items or creating the time management plan itself may seem like a waste of time, it will save you vital time later (Your 19). However, you must also find the happy medium that is the efficient use of time when creating your time management plan as, "What can feel like useful preparation (reordering your task list, again) could be glorified procrastination."(Your 19).
It may be constructive to make use of current technologies such as Microsoft Excel or Outlook to facilitate the construction of a time management plan. Microsoft Outlook can be extremely beneficial in creating this timeline as it already has the functionality of a calendar and the ability to schedule appointments and tasks. In addition to the calendar, Microsoft Outlook provides a manner of reminders to ensure that the timeline is followed. Reminders are often sent in either email or popup form depending on how you configure the software.
Also, if you own a mobile device, Outlook can synchronize your calendar via the internet and send the notifications to your mobile phone. These types of reminders can ensure that the time management plan is not only constructed but followed.
After creating the time management plan the next step is to implement it. The plan serves no purpose if an attempt is not made to follow it. "The third step to maintain perfect time schedule is: 'staying motivated'."(Motivation). Staying motivated and following the plan is crucial to effective time management.
However, in today's busy lifestyle it is not often realistic to assume that the time management plan will be followed exactly as it was constructed. Some tasks may require more time than originally projected and other tasks may arise or become reprioritized. Therefore, something needs to happen in order to identify conflicts with the time management plan.
You can identify conflicts in time management by noting the actual use of time. This can be done either within your time management plan or can be constructed separately as a journal. When tasks are completed and how long they took to complete needs to be recorded in order to review the process and identify the conflicts.
At the end of each week you should compare the actual use of time against the original time management plan. From there you can determine whether or not adjustments need to be made to either your time management plan or to your use of time.
You may need to adjust your time management plan if you find that you have been misjudging the amount of time that certain tasks will require. A great example of this is when you may set aside four hours a week, per class, for reading course material. However, you may notice that it has been taking you longer to complete the reading assignments.
Therefore, you must make an adjustment to how much time you allot for the reading. This can work in the adverse way as well. Although you may have not scheduled enough time for one task, you may have scheduled too much time for another. Comparing your actual use of time to your time management plan will ensure that the necessary changes are highlighted.
You may also need to adjust your use of time. By keeping a journal of the actual use of time you may become more aware of time that is wasted on activities that are not proactive to the efficient use of time. You may notice that you had difficulty completing tasks, but the amount of leisure time exceeded the amount originally expected. Without keeping track of your actual use of time you may not even realize that you had spent twelve hours a week watching television while struggling to complete work.
It is apparent that that effective time management plays a huge role in the success of college students. Therefore, this subject is often the topic of discussion amongst students and instructors as they pursue a more efficient way of managing their time. Although many students still struggle with managing their time, the ones that are aware of how they spend their time and how they can improve the effectiveness of their time spent will ultimately find improvements in the classroom.
Works Cited
"Manage your time." The Hindu (English) (Jan 13, 2009): NA. Academic OneFile. Gale. Library of Michigan. 6 June 2009.
"Motivation and time management." The Hindu (English) (March 2, 2009): NA. Academic OneFile. Gale. Library of Michigan. 6 June 2009.
Stanley, T.L. "Time bandits are at the door." Supervision 63.3 (March 2002): 10(3). Academic OneFile. Gale. Library of Michigan. 6 June 2009.
"Your route to the top: Cope with overload.(time management)." Management Today (May 1, 2009): 19. Academic OneFile. Gale. Library of Michigan. 9 June 2009.
About the Author Carl Helka is the owner of a new pilot shop called Pilot's HQ. A buyer in the industry for over 10 years, he is able to pass down the best discounts on all your pilot supplies. Price check and save money today
|
 |
Please Rate: |
|
Rating: |
 Processing ... |
(Average: Not rated) |
| Views: | 34 | |
|
| More Articles from Time Management | | |
| Top Articles in Time Management | | |
|
