by Mohammad Askarian
It is already November and most of us are overwhelmed with midterms, assignments, term papers and projects. Let’s add doing extra-curricular activities and a part-time job as well to make a better (or worse!) mix. Some of us will run short of time to handle all these activities. We might think there are not enough hours in a day…Well, sometimes there are not. In this situation, many look for ways to manage their time. Here I am providing you with some ways to better manage your time.
First of all we need to know despite whatever we have to do there are three items that we need to really pay attention to. Sleeping, Eating well and having fun.
Sleeping well and sleeping enough hours is totally necessary for a more efficient life organization. If you don’t sleep well and enough, soon you will be tired and you will have to take naps during the day. Even if you don’t take naps, your efficiency will reduce significantly.
Eating healthy is another important aspect of a healthy life that you have to pay attention to. By eating healthy you will get the nutrition necessary for your body to operate properly.
Finally you always need to find time to have fun ,to hang out with friends and to enjoy life because after all these are the best years of your life.
OK, after you decided about those three important factors and fit them into your life, you get to the pile of work you have to do.
Here are some useful hints that will help you manage your time better.
1. Have a calendar or agenda and write down all the important dates, at any moment you need to at least know what you need to do up to the next week and you also need a general overview of the coming month.
2. Alongside with the agenda, you also need a piece of paper to write down the activities for the day (or you can also do this digitally) ,I personally prefer paper because you can check off the items and it will give you a sense of accomplishments.
3. After you wrote down what you need to do for the day. You need to prioritize the activities/places you have to go, people you have to meet. What are the most necessary urgent tasks you need to do?
Some tasks will give you 80 % of the benefit for the day and they are usually the 20% of the more difficult tasks of the day. Start doing them .Just decide and start. Stay committed to finish one task completely. If you switch tasks you will lose your concentration and it will take more time to focus on the tasks you are doing. Focus on one task at a time.
4. When working, remove everything from your desk except for the necessary stuff for the task at hand.
5. Have everything ready at your desk for the task at hand; all the resources you need, emails and notes. You shouldn’t be stopping your work to look for material needed to finish the task. Spend some time before you begin to collect whatever is necessary to finish the project you are working on. This will save you a lot of time.
6.If the project you are working is a difficult long one (research or term paper),be clear and realistic about what you want to accomplish on each working day.
7. Once you start working, your brain warms up and you can finish the task easier. It is just sometimes starting projects is really difficult, but once you start and accomplish you will find it easier to continue.
8. Stay away from Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc AND “YOUR CELLPHONE”.I know there are really attractive ,but reality is if we get rid of our cellphones we can do a lot more work ,as we won’t be distracted.
9. If you find doing these difficult, make it as a game for you. See if you can resist not checking your cellphone for an hour, and two and … Challenge yourself and see how you will do.
10. Reward yourself after you finish one task completely. Rewards depend on what you like .It can be hanging out with friends, calling your partners , or watching a movie or making a trip on the weekend. Whatever you think you deserve , do it and enjoy it. After all you have accomplished something great.
