Learning how to properly manage my time has been a difficult, life-long process. I’m the kind of person who loves taking on new projects and diving into my work, but I also love my free time. I have a habit of taking on projects that I have no feasible way of finishing and that I’m truly not that passionate about simply because I want something new to work on. Too often, I’ve found myself far past my breaking point, shutting down and avoiding work all together. It’s taken me a while to learn how to manage myself and my time more effectively, but I am so grateful that I have.
Time management is an important life skill, but it is also one that is nearly impossible to teach. Throughout elementary and middle school, we are given methods and tools to effectively manage our time, but not every method works for everyone. Time management, in my experience, is all about trial and error. Not everyone will be able to pick up an agenda and map out their week minute by minute and not everyone will be able to fly freely through their week without planning.
The key to effective time management comes down to prioritization; work is more manageable when you tackle it bit by bit.
When I get ready to start my tasks for the week, I try to write them down in what I feel is the most important and pressing, to the smaller tasks. This allows me to understand what I have to finish first and devote the most time to. Prioritization can be hard, and I sometimes fall habit to beginning the tasks I most enjoy most first and saving my more difficult projects until last, so I have to rush to finish them. It’s important to just be honest with yourself and understand that while one task may be more enjoyable, it may not be the most urgent.
When organizing my tasks like this I like to color coordinate them, picking my favorite colors to symbolize the tasks I might find more difficult. By associating less enjoyable work with a color I find calming (I always use purple) I begin to view that work as more positive. When I get creative with my time management, it becomes more of a hobby than a chore. Treating myself to a cute new agenda and filling it up has become one of my favorite things to do.
I have always been the type of person who needs to write things out in order to visualize them, but a lot of people find that technology allows them to better organize and plan. The app Remember the Milk allows the user to manage all of their tasks across various devices, the app reminds you of approaching deadlines and is collaborative so it’s perfect when working in groups.
Time management has all a learning curve and it might take you a while to find methods of organization that work best for you. But when you do, it will all be worth it. Don’t be too hard on yourself if something doesn’t work for you—the process is all about failing and learning from there.
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Photos: Her Campus Media