The summer went by in a blink of an eye. I spent so much time in course development and preparation for online classes in the semester. Now the semester has started for three weeks, and time is once again becoming the scarcest resource.
Almost all universities have started their Fall semesters. Some schools choose to do full online, while others choose to do a combination of in-person and online classes. But no matter what format of classes, students are likely to be struggling between balancing their personal life and school works during the pandemic.
Today, I would like to share three quick tips on how to improve your time management skills.
You may be already doing some of those, and that would be wonderful.
First tips. Time is really the most valuable asset you have, and fortunately, you have the same amount of time asset as Bill Gates and Elon Musk. This is an important mindset. Try to think about the amount of time you have minus time spends on sleeping and eating. Get an idea of how much time you can use to do work, either schoolwork or part-time jobs, and that is your most valuable asset. Of course, you can have fun time and social time, and everybody needs it. But they shouldn’t come up as a big expense from your productive time.
Second tips. You have to identify your most important task. Ask your self, what is your top priority? What are your meaningful short term and long term goals? What specific short term goals you must accomplish first? Setting achievable steps in the short term can help you reach the long term goals.
The third is to have a calendar. Here I don’t mean just a to-do-list. A to-do-list is excellent to mark up small things that you tend to forget of a given day. But it is not useful for the complicated task, because people most of the time, can’t finish a complex job in a given day. It also muddles what the most important tasks are. On the other hand, a calendar focuses on the grand schedule, where you set deadlines for important tasks and dedicated time for relaxation.
I hope you are already practicing some of the tips I have just share.
If not, I hope it will be helpful for you to start making a new habit.
