Overcoming Procrastination: Time management
By: Kiersten Garbutt
The art of procrastination is something I’m sure we have all mastered. But since mid-terms are quickly coming, it is for the best that we all use our time productively. The key to managing your time is to get a calendar or agenda of some sort. Keeping track of important due dates will let you work ahead, and you will have a general idea of your busier weeks, so you can prepare accordingly. Many of us have to work during the school semester, which can be really hard to manage. Like previously stated, writing your schedule down weekly will help you plan ahead. Making a to do list for everyday weekly will help you remember important assignments; this is important because stressing about when you have time to complete an assignment can raise your stress levels even more. This way you know when you will be devoting your time to each of your assignments. The trick to time management is to get assignments done a few days before they are due, when you are working ahead you have more time to study for big tests or mid-terms and to carefully edit essays. Additionally, working ahead allows more flexibility in your life, if you wanted to pick up another shift or hang out with a friend you can and probably would experience less guilt when doing so.
Studying can be a really hard task when we have distractions like our phone right beside us, I recommend putting your phone on do not disturb and throwing it to the side when you are studying. While studying it is important to limit your distractions, even listening to music can alter how much you are retaining. Studying with limited distractions will cause you to get your work done faster, which in the end makes you more productive. Also, while studying it is very important to take breaks. I recommend a method where you are productive for thirty minutes and then take a five-minute break. This gives your brain a mental break and will allow you to retain information so much easier. While taking your break it is important to leave the ‘productive’ spot. Separating your productive area and your relaxing area is very important, it will trick your brain into thinking that once in the productive spot you should be doing something productive. To conclude a huge part of having good time management skills is using your time wisely and to your best advantage.
