Thursday, September 16, 2010
SSS Time Management Challenges
I actually have two big time management challenges that are difficult for me to overcome. They are oversleeping and getting tied up with little details. Often, I stay up late at night trying to focus on reading a required book or doing some type of homework and end up dozing off. I try very hard to stay focused and not let my attention wander, but my mind starts to roam, and my eyes begin to close in sheer weariness. I lose my train of original thought and end up having to read the same sentence three or four times before I finally grasp its meaning. I eventually decide to give it up and go to sleep. If I do not get it, I am very unfocused, uncomprehending, prone to fall into a trance, and forget things very easily. It is a very troublesome and disturbing problem. Then there are the nitty-gritty details that I get caught up in and feel obliged to complete. All these little tasks and personal matters that I feel I must do right away. I consider that all these small things will hold me up from doing bigger, more important tasks if I do not attend to them immediately. Unfortunately, all these combined tasks end up making me lose quite a bit of time and feel loaded down with work.
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A couple of ideas for your couple of problems:
ReplyDelete1. Set a rock-solid bedtime hour at which you must go to bed, no matter what. If you're still not done with your work by that time, set your alarm clock earlier. Once your mind decides it's bedtime it's not going to be learning much anyway.
2. Schedule a few hour-long slots in your week to do "Stuff." Keep a list throughout the day of the things you need to do during "Stuff" hour. Everything won't fit there, but you might be surprised at how much can.
I have a very similar problem, Mary Clare. I would try to get work done during the day and would have a hard time concentrating and would eventually fall asleep. Luckily, with the help of caffeine I've been able to break this habit. I suggest you don't drink or eat caffeine at night though, because it may be difficult to fall asleep when you want to. Maybe you should try to complete your larger assignments first and gage how much time you will have for your smaller assignments. If your larger assignments are taking too long to complete, take a break from it and finish the smaller ones. I hope this helps!
ReplyDeleteI have a suggestion for the sleep issue. First of all, try doing assignments that involve reading, etc. at an earlier time in the day. If you can't seem to find time to do it earlier, then try sitting in your desk chair to read. This might keep you awake longer, as Emma suggested in her blog on time management. I hope this helps. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI understand where you're coming from. I do that often myself. One of the many things that help me is playing with play dough while reading or fidgeting with something. Another thing is finding a place, like the library, where I can't sleep, or sitting on the floor where it is impossible for me to get comfortable enough to sleep. I hope that those help you like they help me!
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