Time Constraint

I am presented with an ever increasing need to manage my time effectively. Between graduation, one internship, one job, 15 credits, and three extracurricular activities, time is of the essence in my life.  Not to mention the fact that during all of this I also have my future career to worry about. Effective time management is something I will be working on throughout this semester.

Before I started working on any major task or project with my internship, I sat down with my boss to go over goals. Goals concerning what I wanted and goals she wanted to see me achieve.  One of these goals was the elusive time effective time management.  So I will definitely be working on this to not only boost my ability, but to also show my boss that I care about my job and pushing myself to achieve for better than better.

Here are some tips that I will definitely be following to achieve this goal:

1. Organize, Organize, Organize

I cannot stress how important it is to remain organized or start bettering your current organization skills. Mess and chaos will not only throw you off, but it will also take away time of productivity. An easy solution is to use a planner. They are useful when having to plan for multiple things at once and give a visual representation of what things surround you. I will definitely be utilizing my planner more this semester to stay on track with my assignments and projects.

2. Maintain Body Health

Sleeping, eating healthy, and exercising are important ways to keep your body maintenance at a good level. This will end up helping with lowering stress and keeping a good balance of attitude. Feelings that contribute to being overwhelmed will get in the way of staying on track. A healthy lifestyle can improve your focus and concentration, which will help improve your efficiency so that you can complete your work in less time.

3. Breaks are Encouraged

Now it may seem odd to think that better time management comes from incorporating breaks into a hectic schedule, but it is beneficial to have breaks. Too much stress can derail your attempts at getting organized. When you need a break, take one. Take a walk. Do some quick stretches at your workstation. Take a day of vacation to rest and re-energize. I have set time goals of how long I can work until I can reward myself with a break. This helps me focus on the needed item for that time limit, then allows for the release of stress and provides a clean slate for the next project to be worked on.

4. Learn to Say No

Sometimes when it comes down to the nitty gritty, patience and understanding is what is necessary. Block out time on your calendar for big projects. During that time, close your door and turn off your phone, pager and email. Friends and events may seem like good breaks, but in the end it pays off to focus on the task at hand. Learning to say no to friends will help keep you on task and on schedule.