Oops. You forgot that outline was due, and now you only have 20 minutes to complete it. Can you get it done?

What if you only had 20 minutes to begin with. Could you have done it then?

Most of us schedule more time for tasks than we actually need. You thought you needed 90 minutes for that outline. The result? You’re confused about what to write, you overthink the topic, and you try to make every detail perfect. Suddenly, a simple outline, or model or essay or whatever, takes WAY longer than it should for no good reason.

Here’s a different approach: Decide in advance how long you will spend on a task, and then that’s it.

Think you need 90 minutes? Nope, you only get 45. Think you can do it?

Of course, don’t turn in sloppy work. But when you race the clock to get work done, instead of spending your time overthinking it and tweaking the font sizes, you spend your time on output, not puttering.

Give it a try. You might be surprised how much you can do! 

  August 17th - Decide how long things take

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Do you schedule time for projects and it never seems to be long enough?

Are you trying so hard to get on task with your time management but as soon as something takes longer than you expect, or an event runs late, the day just gets thrown farther and farther off?

Human beings are, on average, terrible at estimating how long things take. We often misjudge how long common tasks will take, even if we’ve done them many times. This can easily throw of your entire schedule, despite your best efforts.

Lucky for you, there’s an easy solution.

Before you start a chore, assignment, commute, or study session, start a stopwatch or write down the time. When you’re done, mark the time again and record how long it took. Keep track of this for future reference.

It won’t always take the same amount of time for a project. Even a simple chore can vary in the time it takes. But after a while, you’ll get a better idea of how much time to schedule and you’ll run long less often.  

Take control of your time this term:

  August 16th - Time how long things take

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Are you spending a lot of time managing your STUFF?

A lot of time management ends up being about stuff management. Stuff takes time to manage. Clothes need to be washed, folded, and put away. Electronics need to be charged, and cords get tangled. Hobby supplies somehow expand in the night and start taking over your space.

If this sounds like a thing you’re dealing with, consider how dealing with less - even temporarily - will help you do more.

By downsizing the physical aspects of your life, you can increase your focus, decrease visual clutter, and reduce stress.

How can you make that happen in a dorm room? 

  August 15th - Downsize your life to expand your focus

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Have you tried time management tips but you feel like they’re not working?

When you’re learning to manage your time, it’s easy to get discouraged if you don’t see immediate results. “What do you MEAN I’m not magically an overachieving badass by now?”

But the real key to success is practicing your plan with integrity, which means sticking to it, no matter what.

Think of it like yoga or weightlifting. You can cheat and stretch farther or lift more right away, but you aren’t learning the foundational skills. That can lead to injury, or in the case of time management, a false belief that your system doesn’t work, when in reality, you’re the one not doing the work.

*gulp*

Of course, you’re learning about time management to get more done. But by allowing your results to be a bit messy now and practicing on your form, you’re mastering the skills that will allow you to create any results in the future. 

Take control of your time this term:

  August 14th - Practice form first, over results

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