HOW TO MANAGE TIME EFFECTIVELY

HOW TO MANAGE TIME EFFECTIVELY

A Recommendation Report

INTRODUCTION

Managing time effectively is a challenge that most people have to deal with. With the right tools and techniques, it is not cumbersome to come up with effective methods on how one can manage their time (Buehler et al. 2002).

Background/Problem

Recently when I spoke with you, you made it clear to me that you have tried everything possible to ensure you submit assignments on time. Not only tasks are affected by poor management skills, but also other aspects of your everyday life.

You have explained how you never take any glasswork seriously until it is too late. Procrastination has been your friend in dealing with school projects. Time always runs out before you are done with any designated assignments. You have made it known to me that you want to apply time management techniques that will work best for you so that you can start attending lectures on time and submitting assignments on due dates.

Goal/Scope

My goal for this report is to not only help you come up with the best time management techniques but also to assist you to stick to the methods and ensure you apply them in your everyday life.

In this report, the following will be addressed:

• An outline of techniques required to manage time effectively
• A step-by-step guide on how to avoid procrastination
• Information on the benefits of time management

Sources

When you approached me about the challenges you were facing due to lack of proper time management, I was willing to help because I had had a similar problem before. Since time has evolved, and technology has changed many aspects of learning, I knew I had to undertake some research work. Students in different schools use different time management techniques to ensure that assignments are completed on time. I knew I had to expand my knowledge so that I could show you that the methods I would recommend have been used before and worked well.

To come up with definite problems you were facing with managing your time, I needed to interview you so that I could get more information on the issues you were facing. In this interview, we discussed what makes you late in handing over your assignments and why you always fail to complete school work on time. You extensively spoke about your concerns on how poor time management will affect your grades and how you might lose out on a scholarship should you continue to score poorly. With the information you shared, I was able to do some additional research to see whether successful students had faced similar challenges and overcome them. I made an outline of important topics we would address and all methods that I applied to my poor management skills before and those that have been used by other students elsewhere.

In addition to interviewing you, an interview was conducted with a successful businessman, Peter James. Mr. James has been in business for the past ten years and has extensive knowledge of how to manage time effectively so that all tasks are done on time. His experience in time management and running a successful business provides reliable information for you to serve as motivation.

Mr. James recommended many time management articles that I should go over so that I could mention them to you. He emphasized that the items helped help become organized while he was an undergrad. Mr. James instilled time management techniques in his everyday life because, like you, he always went to class late and submitted assignments too late. You will find most of the information that he shared related to what you are going through and find it helpful.

FACTS AND DISCUSSION

In this section, time management is discussed in detail.

An Outline of Techniques to Manage Time Effectively

Some of the essential techniques you can apply to manage your time effectively include planning, find your productivity zone, focusing on tasks, blocking distractions, and setting realistic goals.

Planning in advance

You must ensure that you prepare all the tasks that you need to accomplish well. Organization is the first step in ensuring you manage your time well.

Finding your productivity zone

You must have a time when you feel energized, whether it is morning, afternoon or even at night. Choose the time when you feel most alert and study then. Your mind is your biggest asset as a student because it stores information that you read.

Focusing on tasks

Concentrate on the reason why you want to have higher grades. Your mind will be inclined to think of all rights why you need to attend classes on time and submit assignments before they are due.

Blocking distractions

You, like most students across the world, are often drawn to the social media world. Notifications that keep popping from social media sites can be a distraction. It is okay to take a break from schoolwork, but when you have assignments that are due, you need to put your phone down.

Setting realistic goals

You must learn to prioritize your schoolwork if you want to get better grades. Set goals for when you want to be done with some projects.

A step-by-step guide on how to avoid procrastination

Now that you have seen some of the techniques you can use to manage your time effectively, we can begin discussing what you can do to avoid procrastination.

Organize your tasks

You need to have assignments that have nearer due dates given priority in your list of work to be done. Once you organize and set alarms on when to finish such tasks, it will be difficult to forget to do them.

Set goals that you can attain

You can choose to study specific topics in a single night instead of planning to read about a whole subject. If you decide to learn about an entire issue when the time comes, it will feel like a lot of work, and you will choose to forget about it (Moore, 2008).

Have a clear schedule

You have to come up with a timetable that sets how you will handle all your assignments. All assignments must have time slots, which show how long you need to complete the. Without a timeframe, you will find that you have overdone one task while forgetting about others.

Have a deadline

Setting specific times and dates on when you want a task to be completed ensures that you will not take on additional chores to affect your studies. The discipline that enables you to set your deadlines will help you complete tasks on time and even have extra time.

Have a completion timeline for all tasks

Have a timer that lets you know when to take a break so that you don’t burn out. To gain the quality of any subject you are studying, it is essential that you don’t take too much time on one issue as it could become redundant.

Information on the benefits of time management

I want to point out to you some of the benefits you will have if you plan your time effectively. There are so many benefits, but the following are sufficient for now:

• You have less stress when you have everything planned out
• No wasted time
• Minimal problems with class supervisors
• You will get more work done
• Better working relationship with your professors
• You will have better opportunities for that scholarship.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the process of ensuring that you effectively manage your time is not as complicated as some people like to see it. Time management will not only help you move through college quickly but will also guide you when you finish college and start working in busy organizations (DesJardins et al. 2010). The techniques I have shared with you will help you in a significant way because I used them to ensure that I used my time effectively. I still apply some, if not all, the techniques in my everyday life because I am an organized person.

Since you want to get a scholarship based on your scores, you will have no problem in following the techniques given and adhering to them at all costs. If you avoid procrastination and choose the time management techniques presented, your grades will improve as well as the relationship you have with your professors will improve.

Works Cited

James, Peter. Personal interview on March 12, 2020.

Buehler, R., Griffin, D., & Ross, M. (2002). Inside the Planning Fallacy: The Causes and Consequences of Optimistic Time Predictions. In T. Gilovich, D. Griffin, & D. Kahneman (Eds.), Heuristics and Biases: The Psychology of Intuitive Judgment (pp. 250-270). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511808098.016 https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/heuristics-and-biases/inside-the-planning-fallacy-the-causes-and-consequences-of-optimistic-time-predictions/CA157EF59A218C2B906A1795089E7650

DesJardins, S., McCall, B., Ott, M., & Kim, J. (2010). A Quasi-Experimental Investigation of How the Gates Millennium Scholars Program Is Related to College Students’ Time Use and Activities. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 32(4), 456-475. Retrieved February 28, 2020, from www.jstor.org/stable/40963173

Häfner, A., Stock, A., & Oberst, V. (2015). Decreasing students’ stress through time management training: An intervention study. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 30(1), 81-94. Retrieved February 28, 2020, from www.jstor.org/stable/43551172

Moore, R. (2008). Academic Procrastination and Course Performance among Developmental Education Students. Research and Teaching in Developmental Education, 24(2), 56-67. Retrieved February 28, 2020, from www.jstor.org/stable/42802310