Time Strategies; be responsible, be wise

Time Management is something that everyone either struggles with or manages to fly by. Whether we like it or not; time doesn't stop, it just keeps going, and we all need to be accustomed and a step ahead in terms of managing our time. 

Managing our time to accomplish things, can be difficult, however, there are various that we can utilise to aid us in this endeavour. 

Meme of encouragement

Before delving into these proposed strategies, firstly, we need to have a look at the course schedule for this year, to better understand and to help formulate a plan for ourselves. 

On a Monday, Tuesday and Friday we have classes from 9am to 11am, and then another from 2pm to 4pm. Monday is all about Multimedia Development, Tuesday belongs to Website Design and Friday is owned by Digital Video techniques. 

Wednesday is the day of pain, for we have classes at 9am to1pm and then it begins again at 2pm to 6pm. This sole day belongs totally to Group Projects, and it is on this day that we have our work cut out for ourselves. 

Thursday out of all the days is the most forgiving and friendliest of the days - Classes begin at 9am and run till 1pm and that's it. 

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday are the weekdays that time can be successfully be utilised for assignments. The periods between the classes on Monday, Tuesday and Friday can be used for doing assignments. After 1pm on Thursday, the free period after can be used for assignments as well. Wednesday however would prove more difficult to allocate time to do other assignments due to a near all-day group project work. 

Some time management meme I found

With the free times identified and allocated, we can begin discussing time management strategies that'll aid us. There are some basic ones that we can use to help us.

Firstly, is utilising Semester Calendar to our advantage. This is the main page in keeping an eye on assignments and what is to be done in class. By using the Calendar, we can adjust and arrange our own schedule in alignment with the weekly work. By knowing so, we can better prepare ourselves for the weekly tasks. 

Another strategy is working ahead of the allocated time. This is better than working on the work given for the week. This method saves you a lot of time and mental stress from yourself. This, honestly, is a better alternative than doing the weekly tasks by each week, as this saves you from being caught out from more stressing issues; i.e more assignments. 

For other, more elaborate yet effective time strategies, there are two that stood out for me. 

Be Mozart, just don't procrastinate.

The first one is a bit of a simple one; beating procrastination. It is any working student, teacher, artist, editor and many others' worst nightmare. We have the time to do what we need to do; whether that may be homework, project or anything else, yet somehow we endless avoid it. We defer ourselves from the task at hand, steadily making it worst for ourselves.

The main problem of procrastination is that our brains are designed to procrastinate. We grapple with tasks that promise future uplifts only to end up doing them in a long, consecutive amount of time instead of fully completing it. 

So, how can we overcome such a problematic issue that makes no sense for us?

According to Caroline Webb in an article, one way of beating back procrastination is through committing. Showing people that we're gonna get the work done, can play a powerful effect on us. Saying that we're gonna upload a new video tonight, or get a design done by tomorrow, for example, can persuade us to actually get it done. That is due to our brains being highly responsive to social standing, that it really matters if we're complimented by people -  even from strangers.

Busy as usual I see...

Another issue that we face is the myth of being busy. Busy is something that has been twisted. We say to people that we're busy when in reality we're not, we just misuse the word to make it seem that we're working. 

Instead of saying that we're busy, let us just say the truth. There's nothing wrong with saying what you're really doing. In the words of Tim Grahl in an article; 

“I haven’t prioritized my time well"

One way of tackling this issue is to reevaluate our schedules and ask ourselves; "How are we prioritizing our time? And how to best prioritize it?" This one change will see drastic results for yourself and your schedule. It's like thinking ahead of your work schedule, now you're thinking of what to do that'll drastically improve yourself. 

Example; would be instead of going to bed at 11pm, try going to bed at 9pm. See what happens. Instead of waking up late, try waking up early, like around 5am?

This kind of method means that you're going to sacrifice the things that'll waste your time. This is different for each person; whether it's gaming too much, watching too many movies or T.v shows, social media, and many more. 

To even take it a step further; take out the things that are really a waste of time. You have to be the one in control of your schedule, you have to dictate it. Time is precious, don't waste it, you can't get it back. Be responsible, be wise.