If you could go back in time and give yourself any time management tips, what would they be?
I have not done a great job managing my time, but I am working to get better at it as I finish up high school career. I know that I will have a lot more free time in college, and I do not want to spend it all binge watching Netflix. #thankyousomuch
33 answers
Natasha’s Answer
For me, the biggest thing is keeping a log of how you spend your time. You'd be shocked at how long you can spend idly scrolling your twitter feed etc. There are some great apps that can help you do this. I've also had deals with friends and teachers that I check in with them every few hours.
The other thing which has been mentioned is a to-do list. At my college we call them "Done is Good" lists and attach little rewards for each thing. It makes the World of a difference!
Through the different applications there are those who accompany you and help you improve your level and find a job that matches your profile
MACC MIND
Sudha’s Answer
I would invest in my mornings. Be a morning person. Start your day by waking up roughly at the same time, with a good bedtime. Wake up, do some stretches, meditate and at first journal your brain dump of ideas and a to-do list of what you want for the day. Update your calendar with appointments - make everything an appointment, including going to the gym. Trust me, it happens better if its an appointment.
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Desiree’s Answer
Hi Tara,
If I could coach my younger self, I would make better use of calendars! It took me a long time to appreciate how deadlines pile up around midterm and finals. If I had reviewed and compared the syllabus (or schedule) for all of my classes and added important deadlines to a calendar, I would have had a better idea of the total time needed to meet these competing deadlines. It also helped create a visual representation of all my assignments.
I should mention we're all bad at estimating the time to complete a task. There's a term for this called the "planning fallacy". I manage software development schedules as part of my job, and I see the effects of this every day. This article provides a good overview with tips for combatting planning mistakes. If you're looking for a deeper dive into time management, I'd recommend Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman. You should be able to find it at a public library. He gave a talk at Google about his book, which is available on YouTube.
I agree with other respondents about to-do lists. I still use them daily in my work.
Another recommendation for making the best use of the time you've set aside for school work is to discover the conditions where you're most productive. For me, I enjoyed studying at the library or other quiet places with few distractions. I struggled to concentrate at home because there were too many distractions between roommates, TV, and snacks. Experiment with listening to music, or background noise, like Coffitivity.
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Nick’s Answer
You don't have to go crazy planning every hour, second, and minute of your day at first (though growing to separate your days by the hour can become a great skill to increase your income and get the most of your social life). You can simply start by mapping out your goals for college. Ask yourself what is it that you want to get out of your time there. Don't stop with your academic goals, make social goals, skill goals, specific accomplishments, etc. Do some research and see how you can get involved in non-academic activities and clubs at your university. This is a great way to force yourself to learn time management and prioritize, while making connections, building leadership skills, and growing socially.
To sum up, I agree with the approach of closely logging and recording your time. But make sure you give yourself time to consider what is most important to you, and what you want to accomplish while in school.
I hope this helps and best of luck!
Good advice.
Elizabeth Wassenaar
Liliane’s Answer
Waseem’s Answer
This is useful in many ways. Firstly you will have your time occupied in something you enjoy, and will therefore not need to find excuses to avoid it.
Secondly, you will also invest in yourself by learning new skills. Many employers look for individuals who are multi-faceted and well rounded. Short courses in other fields show that you are competent in more than one area. It also garners within you the desire and focus to achieve more, thereby motivating you to use your time effectively. In my experience, this is because the feeling of accomplishment when I finished my online course gave me the desire to achieve more.
I wish you the best of luck!
Waseem Moosa
Well done!
Elizabeth Wassenaar
Sedanur’s Answer
If I could go back in time, I would organize everything. Creating to-do lists are really helpful to manage your time. Also, I would create a list about the things I am spending too much time, in other words, I would observe myself. Lastly, I think I would use Pomodoro technique which is quite useful for both managing the time and studying effectively.
Adam’s Answer
G. Mark’s Answer
I would tell myself, "Most Important Now." It's a familiar refrain that I've heard many times, but I have always had a tough time following it. My own problem is that I get fanatical about solving some problems because I enjoy the work. I work very hard on things. But other things unfortunately fall by the wayside, often until the "last minute", as it were. I force myself to do some things and with limited time, I excuse myself for doing a less-than-stellar job. I believe I would have had many successes that have slipped through my fingers because I did what I really wanted to do. I can imagine that if I didn't have a lot of interests, I could have been rather lazy. But prioritization is a good train to foster.
Randal’s Answer
Zachary’s Answer
In addition to keeping a to do list, I rank my to do list in order of importance and urgency. For example, my essay may be due tomorrow, and my final project is due next week. The final project ranks higher in terms of importance, however, the urgency of the essay places it at a higher priority.
Zachary recommends the following next steps:
Good advice.
Elizabeth Wassenaar
Fernando’s Answer
Magali’s Answer
Karen’s Answer
Diane’s Answer
Diane recommends the following next steps:
Eliza’s Answer
Kiran’s Answer
If I could go back I want organize more science outreach programs to students teach them why and how to study science and importance of education.
Mary’s Answer
Allison’s Answer
That staying up late to do more work will only make you less efficient the following day. Better to get sleep!
Chrè M.’s Answer
If I could go back, I would have sought out help through my university's counseling center much sooner. If you start feeling demotivated or apathetic about your college work, it could be a warning sign for depression, anxiety, or something similar. No shame in getting help and learning how to manage and overcome that, and the sooner the better. When we know and understand the root of these behaviors and feelings, better time management follows.
Schuyler’s Answer
Cassandra’s Answer
It is great that you recognize that time management is imperative to be successful, that's the first step!
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Elizabeth’s Answer
We all have a tendency to be passive. That is why it is much easier to sit and watch films, sport events, play games, be on social media, etc. The problems with these activities are multifold: we spend much more time on these activities than what we had intended, we are actually bored and keep on searching for more stimulants, we train ourselves to only scan and browse rather than to mindfully engage with what we experience. In the meantime our brains are over-stimulated by the constanct assault of stimuli, truly making us tired. Since we do not get the dopamine from physical activity (which can also be found in studying actively), we develop a feeling of lethargy and fatigue - and it is very real! On top of that, we never have a sense of achievement, so we start to crave 'likes' and entertainment - but that can never suffice. We go to bed tired, depressed, but unable to sleep well and the next day the cycle repeats itself.
Asking friends, parents, councillors, etc. for help is great, but if you yourself do not break these habits, they will continue to control you. The few minutes that you had intended for such passive activities become hours, the hours become days, the days weeks, months and years, and eventually a lifetime. It is scary, but the absolute truth. It will take tremendous willpower, but you can do it. And it is not necessary to pity yourself (but I state this with the greatest empathy), since you are not making a sacrifice. You are taking back your life, you are taking ownership of a life that had been sacrificed to cater for these activities which bring you nowhere. You have to decide to stop that and start to be productive. You simply have to. Of course you will be tempted to fall back into the old habits of passivity, but where does that lead you to? More addiction, a body that will in time become ill, a sense of futility. Nobody else can make this decision on your behalf. Even if somebody else tries to keep you to your commitments, you will only get frustrated. That is another form of passivity, not to make the required decisions yourself and stick to it. But when you start to overcome these habits, you will find that you start to experience a sense of well-being, of achievement, of self-worth. These are strong driving and motivational factors. Once you start to complete worthwhile jobs, you will find that there is a reward in a job well done. When you start to achieve, the fulfillment will help you to start to achieve more. But the first step is to say no to yourself whenever you are tempted to waste time with senseless activities.
The seond step is planning. Write a list of all the essential things that need to be done. Yes, this is your first job, so just get started. Then number the things you have to do in the order of importance. You may find that there are quite a few things that are very urgent, but also be aware of other things that are not urgent now, but still need to be done.
Get yourself a diary. Write in what you intend to do every hour of the day. You will need time to eat, to care for yourself, time with your family, etc. Plan for those times - and do not use them for anything else. Then decide how much time you will spend on the tasks that you need to do according to your to do list. Be realistic. You cannot do everything in one day, but you need to set apart enough time to get your jobs done.
Remember that you need breaks. I suggest that you work for 50 minutes, eat/drink something (be careful though - you cannot snack all the time) or take a quick breather outside. Then punctually start on the hour again as planned.
I strongly suggest that you take up some physical activity that you will enjoy. Join a club or team for some sport, go to the gym, swim, start dance classes, whatever you may enjoy. I suggest that you do not try to do this on your own. Usually colleges offer various activities to students for free or at a minimal rate. Commit to your activity. You will enjoy being active and to engage with others in person, rather than only via media. This will greatly enhance your life and make you feel so good. There will be days when you do not feel like attending, but just keep your commitments - you will always feel good afterwards.
If you still can fit in a little more time, why do you not try to learn a hobby. Have you ever thought of learning to play a musical instrument (a lot of hard work is required here, but this will really develop your brain), hiking, birding, starwatching, art, chess, etc.? You do not neessarily have to do this daily, but you can plan for it - once weekly,monthly, etc. You will find that such activities also give you a sense of fulfillment that no Netflix or social media can match.
It may seem like an overload, but often people are fatigued due to boredom. If you plan carefully, you will find time for other activities apart from your studies, which will help to keep you motivated. Nobody can only sit and study all day, but do keep a healthy balance so that your studies remin your top priority.
You have one life. Time lost can never be regained. Ignore the feelings of laziness and lethargy and take control of your life. If you absolutely want to watch a movie, plan for it (maybe three hours on a Saturday evening?), but keep on considering the costs involved. Do you want to get a degree, a secure a good job, a steady income? How much will watching movies contribute towards that? Do you want to develop yourself, your character, have a full life? Which activities will help you to achieve that? Do you want to have purposeful relationships with real people? Try to switch off the screens, throw out a blanket on the grass and have a little picnic (which can even be a glass of water and a shared snack) outside with your family or people close to you. That is life. Live it.
Isel’s Answer
Nancy’s Answer
I also know that my old self would have been stuck when the poor time management (aka procrastinating) was because of other reasons such as fear of failing, anxiety related to wanting to do something perfectly, or feeling overwhelmed because I wasn’t sure of what to do. These feelings are super uncomfortable for most and can negatively affect your mental health. I would tell my old self, new self and anyone now that if they feel this way and are struggling, to seek help and guidance. The other posters for this question are spot on with this advice too. No need to suffer when you have these feelings as there is help.
Amanda’s Answer
Great question!
If I could go back and give myself tips:
1) Sunday night I would create a weekly plan of goals/tasks I want to complete throughout the week (Google Keep)
2) I would create a daily agenda breaking down what tasks I would like to complete each day and a specified time in the day to complete the task (Google Calendar)
Great tools I recommend are Google Calendar and Google Keep (To-Do list/Post-It Notes Digital Tracker).
The most important thing is recognizing your goals and creating a plan to achieve those goals.
Good luck!
Joanne Clemente
Joanne’s Answer
Time management is important. Set yearly, monthly, weekly goals. Time flies and you want to add to your accomplishments and feel good about them. Enjoy your friends, respect your elders. They do understand what it is to be young. Mostly their advice is based on something they've learned so don't throw that wisdom away. Make choices you will be proud of.
Winson’s Answer
Thank you for asking this question so early in your life because that is something i wish i asked myself at your age. The #1 thing for me is definitely setting up a Google Calendar and listing out all my activities I need to get done throughout the day. That has definitely increased my efficiency so much. It's the same for work too where i use the calendar at work to track all of my meetings and tasks.
Good luck !
Cindy’s Answer
If I could go back in time, I would have started college earlier. I waited I had kids. Take advantage of all of the opportunities such as work study, internships and study abroad.
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Cassandra’s Answer
On a daily basis write down everything you hope to accomplish then figure out top 3 you must get done and start on that list. If you get those done great you can tackle more of the list. If you only got to 3 things great, you got done everything you had to do for the day
Stephanie’s Answer
One of the problems I had was I would wait until the last minute to finish essays or projects. Make it easy on yourself and break up the essay and project and do a little bit each day. Keep a list of things you need to have completed by the end of the day, and give yourself little breaks in between each task.
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