Time Management
One of the major sources of stress is the sense that we have too much to do and not enough time to do it. Most of us do not feel this anxiety all the time, but it peaks in periods of high demand. This stress can be brought into balance if, through the practice of time management, we even out the distribution of work.
Each of us has our own structural needs (socializing, sleeping, eating) and our own best working times and conditions. So for each of us, time will be managed differently. Nevertheless, we all have the same number of hours per day and we can each get control of our own agenda by following common sense steps.
Long-term:
A monthly and weekly calendar is the essential first step. Each time you get a new significant task, enter it twice, once on the monthly calendar and once on the weekly calendar. This will permit you to keep track of your commitments and to see over the semester when the high stress times are. Then you can parcel out tasks, scheduling significant pieces of required tasks for disposal in slow times.
Weekly:
Look at both the monthly and the weekly calendars. Prioritize items in time so as to meet immediate deadlines and relieve the burdens of upcoming stress periods. Also mark items that must be dealt with at specific times.
Daily:
- Early in the morning (or, if you are a night person, last thing at night) look at your weekly calendar and make a list of things due this day and over the next several days. Include on this list the parts of larger tasks that you have assigned to this period.
- Then prioritize the items on your list, giving a * to things you have to do (doctor's appointment, e.g.,) and ** to things that are high on the "should list." You can mark *** on items that can be put on the bottom of the list for today or which can Be deferred. Remember that parts of large projects assigned to these few days must not be deferred too often if the System is to work. BE CLEAR ABOUT PRIORITIESspending too much time on an annoying little task to get it just right is foolish if it gets in the way of a major project for a 5-credit course. Not all jobs need be done equally well: a car's ashtray requires less engineering precision than does its transmission. Be clear about the value of each task.
- Then estimate the time needed for each task.
- Examine the fixed items on the day's schedule and around them fit in the priority items.
Start managing your time now. If you are just starting the semester, you can get adequate study and work time in place before you develop bad habits and before your work load is too densely accumulated to be manageable. A person who is ahead can ease up, but a person who is behind must compress their work. If it is mid-semester, now is the time to begin if you have not already done so. If it is the last third of the semester, begin now.
If you are feeling the crunch and do not know where adequate time can come from, keep a log of your activities, preferably with entries every 15 to 30 minutes for a week. Look at where the time is going and make serious assessments of what can be rescued, what activities can be doubled up. If there is no time available for reallocation, then you are over committed and in all honesty to yourself and others you must step back from some commitments. Share the load and delegate. BE ASSERTIVE ABOUT SAYING NO: IF YOU BURN OUT OR CRASH YOU HAVE DONE NO ONE ANY FAVORS. FAILURE TO COMPLETE A TASK IS STRESSFUL. IF YOU MUST FAIL TO COMPLETE A TASK, DO NOT COMPOUND THE STRESS BY FAILING TO NOTIFY THOSE WHO DEPEND ON YOUR WORK.
Be realistic about how long a job will take and do not schedule too many. Scheduling too many things in one time period just compacts the stress we are trying to reduce. Scheduling too few allows you to squeeze in a few more things which are relaxing.
If there show up periods of time too short for a priority task but long enough for a deferrable one, do the latter: it will free up a larger segment of time later.
Where possible double up: washing clothes takes a sizable chunk of time, but actually most of it is spent waiting. Find a time when the machines are free so you do not have to wait much; and use the time while the washer and dryer are doing their thing to get some reading or letter writing done. If you need a lot of people time, set up a course-related study group so you can socialize and do study work simultaneously. (For advice on how to choose folks for a study group see item F in section B of the page on Lectures.) Time with your significant other can be spent together doing essential tasks--laundry or studying. One way to identify significant others is that each person respects the other's need to do what they must and to do it well.
Put more burdensome tasks first, then reward yourself with more pleasant ones after.
Establish a daily routine; it orders your expectations and those of your associates. Plan for all your time: the loose two hours between two classes can be worthwhile study time. You can organize notes from the last class and anticipate the material for the next class. Such activities help put material in your long-term memory, enhance grades, and reduce study time in periods of peak demand.
Identify a flex time, say Saturday morning, when you can complete this week's priority items that seem to have slipped. Think of it as payback for procrastination. If you are up-to-date, reward yourself by sleeping in.
Utilize your high energy times for significant tasks, a paper worth 50% of your grade in some course rates higher than a journal page worth 2% in another course. Ask what level of precision does this task require? Am I raking most of the leaves or sealing a spacecraft? Proportion your effort to the worth of the task.
Stay focused on the current task. Do not plan on how you should have played last week's team when you are working on this week's game; do not mess up this week because you cannot avoid planning for next week's team. Skip worrying about what has already gone wrong, or what might yet; you control neither and the distraction makes you inefficient.
Build in relaxation time for socializing or TV if they matter to you. But put them in a place where they serve your needs for a break as well as for enjoyment. Use them as rewards for task completion.
Check off completed tasks; doing so keeps you in mind of the list, but it also relaxes you to see the list diminish.
Avoid long periods of study time, where possible. Take breaks. Or change the discipline or course for which you are studying: utilizing different parts of your brain is the next best thing to a break.
Before you call it quits at the end of a work period, look at your long-term list: is there one more task I can do now that will not be over-burdensome but which will give me some flex time later?
Set goals, stiff but realistic ones. Then keep faith with yourself about keeping them. If you are working with others, make commitments and keep them. The pressure from our friends or associates who have legitimate expectations of us can be a positive motivator.
Be assertive about your own agenda. Say no and mean it. You can explain to others about your commitments and most will accept it if you are clear and firm. Those who do not accept your priorities do not respect your needs; they are probably using you anyway and they need to be discouraged from doing so.
Time management is a difficult task: you do not want to be so inflexible that there is no room for the unexpected so you do not want to allocate every minute. At the same time, especially when you begin to take control of your time, you want to be assertive about protecting your agenda. Success in time management is an invaluable life skill. If success eludes you in this area, you might check with the Counseling Center (University Health Center, 472-7450) where you can get personalized advice.
-- Written and/or compiled by James A. McShane
