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Our lives are filled with commitments. Whether you're working, studying or doing something else there's always plenty of things to do and remember and time limits to work with.
So how do you make sure you stay organised and on top of it all? Time management!
We all have strategies that work best for us. Some like to-do lists, others schedules, other people use a calendar or diary and some like to just use their memory. These activities are intended to help us stay focused, know what we need to do and work out when we can fit in what we'd like to do. An important outcome of being organised is that we can also schedule in some time-out when we need it to relax and reorganised our minds.
But why is it important to stay organised? What benefits are there to time management?
I know from experience that being unorganised can lead to extra stress and really impact on mood and how well I do at uni and my other commitments such as volunteering.
This Monday 27th of May at 8pm AEST come join us to discuss time management and what works for you and what doesn't! We'll also be looking at what you can do when you're feeling stressed or just unorganised.
If you want to do some reading before the session there's a few fact sheets about time management and 'me time':
http://au.reachout.com/Managing-Your-Time
http://au.reachout.com/Me-time
Hey everyone! 🙂
Welcome to tonight’s getting real session on Time Management. Facilitating tonight’s session will be Magga, Rosie and I.
We’ll be discussing all about Time Management, why some find it easy whilst others struggle and how it can impact our lives.
As always if anything in tonight’s session upsets you in any way there’s an emergency help tab in the top right hand corner which we urge you to use. Also keep in mind that we want to keep this discussion safe for everyone so try to stick to the community guidelines.
So to start us off here's the first question: What is time management? Why is it important?
hey guys! sorry I'm not participating but I caught the flu over camp 😞
have a great night!
N1ghtW1ng
I hope you feel better soon N1ghtW1ng!
What problems might someone have with organising their time? Motivation, distractions...
Motivation and distractions are major issues for me that lead to procrastination. I also have a lot of trouble organising time when I'm anxious and stressed and have trouble focusing on the tasks I need to get done, so I end up needing more time than I had allotted.
EDIT - @LUTW: I've used those freddo packs for rewards in the past too! They're awesome 🙂
Freddo packs, that's an awesome idea! Definitely trying that out.
dd, I'm the same. Stress makes things so much worse, and for me I start procrastinating so much that I get to a point where I basically say 'ugh, you're not going to get it done in time anyway, what's the point?' which is extremely unhelpful! Finding betters ways to manage my time is definitely something I should work on.
@Magga wrote:Freddo packs, that's an awesome idea! Definitely trying that out.
dd, I'm the same. Stress makes things so much worse, and for me I start procrastinating so much that I get to a point where I basically say 'ugh, you're not going to get it done in time anyway, what's the point?' which is extremely unhelpful!
Yep, me too!
Time management can be pretty useful, but sometimes it's gets a bit stressful – what kinds of things can you do to take some time out from your schedule?
I like to do something that I enjoy or find relaxing/ rejuvenating that will give me a good break so I can focus again when I go back to doing the things I need to get done. Listening to music, going for a walk, reading a mag, watching TV and have a chat with friends or family are favourites of mine.
Time management can be pretty useful, but sometimes it's gets a bit stressful – what kinds of things can you do to take some time out from your schedule?
Catch up with friends, read, watch TV or a DVD, go for a walk...
Sounds good dd! I love reading too. I also relax by playing drums, or just browsing on the internet (oh man, so easy to waste time doing that). Unfortunately that doesn't really help with assignments, so I think it's best to do something away from the computer for a while 🙂
Do some of those unscructred creative things we talked about before, or try and go a day without looking at the clock, or thinking about time.
So we've discussed the whys and hows of time management – but what do you personally have in your schedule? What kinds of things take up the most time, and which things are easy?
What do you personally have in your schedule? What kinds of things take up the most time, and which things are easy?
I have part-time study, job searching (I'm a job seeker), volunteer youth ambassador and youth moderator, appointments, church, staying connected with family and friends, housework (ugh!). Things like studying and looking for jobs probably take up the most, whilst catching up with family and friends is much more fun and enjoyable. It's also easier to turn up to a lecture than a tutorial and easier to do both of those than an assignment. I'm also bad at avoiding housework until I feel motivated. I guess it's not so much about what's easiest for me though some much as how fun it is or what I get out of it.
Looks like everyone's pretty busy at the moment - good luck with it all!
Final question for the night:
what one tip would you give to someone starting at school or uni to help them manage their time?
what one tip would you give to someone starting at school or uni to help them manage their time?
Prioritise! But don't be too strict about it, sometimes you may have to reschedule things or they may take longer than planned.
I would say start things early and break tasks down into smaller chunks and do a little bit regularly to avoid becoming overwhelmed.
I'm off to bed now (need to get some sleep for my exam tomorrow!). Good night! Thanks Rosie, Magga and LUTW for facilitating the discussion tonight. I definitely picked up some good tips to put into use next semester at uni and placement!
Thanks for joining us tonight DD and anyone else who read along! 🙂
When it comes to time management there was several important things we all agreed on: prioritise your tasks, make sure you don't over pack your days (there's only so many things you can do if you're going to do them well) and keep a balance between necessary commitments and leisure time.
Lots of commitments tends to make time management a necessity to help us stay on top of things and can especially be useful when we have lots of errands to run, uni classes and assignments and/or work. Sometimes time management might not be possible/useful though. Such as when plans change or new things occur unexpectedly, creativity, spontaneity, recovery, when we become stressed or those instances where you leave things to the last minute.
What strategies we use tends to vary from person to person but these days may of us use a combination of lists and a calendar or reminders on our phones. Some also use diaries. One big issue most of use had was sticking to the schedules and plans we'd created. One solution Magga suggested for this was to use reward systems.
Stress and anxiety can impact on our moods, our focus and our to-do lists. Procrastination was something most of us resorted to as a result- even to the point of doing housework! It was mentioned by most that we need to fix our study/work habits.
When time management or life in general causes you to feel stressed some things can you do to take some time out from your schedule include: listening to music, watching TV/DVD, go for a walk, chat to family/friends, be creative and do crafty stuff or draw/paint/sing, etc, try not to clock-watch, play an instrument or game, read a magazine.
Everyone's schedule is different but some things we fill our time with are studying, working, looking after ourselves, housework, appointments, helping friends, family commitments, socialising, relax time, volunteering, etc.
The things we found took up the most time were study and work/looking for work. Whilst seeing friends/family and having time alone are some of the easier things we do.
Some time management tips we shared were to prioritise, don't be afraid to try and fail then learn from it, break things into chunks.
Goodnight DD, thanks for joining us! Good luck for your exam! 🙂
I think for me there's a big thing in not being afraid of getting started. i mentioned earlier the difficulty that comes with managing a big task. JUST START! Plan to start, and then do it.
I think a lot of people worry that they won't be good at something, so they don't start it. Just start. Even if you fail, you'll just have worked out one way that doesn't work 🙂
@Rosie-RO wrote:
I think for me there's a big thing in not being afraid of getting started. i mentioned earlier the difficulty that comes with managing a big task. JUST START! Plan to start, and then do it.
I think a lot of people worry that they won't be good at something, so they don't start it. Just start. Even if you fail, you'll just have worked out one way that doesn't work 🙂
Great suggestion Rosie! I know I've gotten stuck with worry about doing badly and almost avoided it altogether...
But not starting is definitely worse because you can always learn from it, try again, etc.
my tip would be to keep things simple - give yourself two or three things per day, rather than writing a list of ten things and expecting yourself to get them all done at once. Take the time, you'll be a lot less stressed for it 🙂
For me, lots of work and study! I've been trying to fit in other things as well, but lately...eh. I need to take some time to sort out a shcedule!
what do you personally have in your schedule? What kinds of things take up the most time, and which things are easy?
At the moment my schedule includes uni, work, family commitments, chores at home, me time and socialising (when I can fit it in!). Uni takes up the most time for sure! Work is pretty flexible which is good. I actually find family commitments and me time the easiest because I enjoy them and they aren't hard to do. On the flip side they can be a bit too easy though, so I can fall into using these to procrastinate...
Work! And study. And life admin. Also keeping healthy, cooking, and planning/organising stuff for friends.
Rewards! Yes~!
Also making tasks more managable. If something is HUGE and hard, I'll just avoid it. Breaking it down and making it smaller seems to work for me.
