Time Strategies

Time management is something that I tend to be in a constant battle with, but I think it is a battle I am beginning to win. I have gotten a little better about not procrastinating things until the last minute as much, but I'm guilt free of it. I still wait to do certain assignments, especially smaller ones, like this... I'm hoping that I'll be able to use this class, and several of my others this semester, to get myself into better habits for getting assignments and projects done in a more timely manner. The two articles I read for this assignment were enlightening and have given me some very helpful ideas on how to finally break my procrastinating habits.

Time Management, xkcd comic by Randall Monroe (Source: xkcd.com)

4 Questions to Help You Overcome Procrastination

The first article I read, written by Peter Banerjea, put forward 4 ways to help combat procrastination that I believe can seriously help me and improve my work this semester. The questions it suggests I ask myself are; "What one thing can I do to get started?", "What are my three biggest priorities today?", "How can I make this easier?", and "What will go wrong if I don't do this now?". The first question forces me to pick a single piece of the larger, preferably a small and easy one, to tackle first. Once this first piece has been completed, I'll realize that the assignment or project isn't nearly as hard as I thought, and I can get into the zone completing the rest of it. I have experienced this before, but never really thought to do it on purpose as a real strategy before, but I will be from now on. The second question concerns setting priorities for what I need to do each day, which deals with planning out all my assignments and projects. This is an area I need to work on very hard, but I believe the scheduling in this course will do just that. The third question goes into how I can make the goal I am striving towards easier by simplifying it or getting bits of it done at one time. While this could be helpful in some aspects of work and school, it's not one I would want to follow too closely. I'd rather try to get the whole thing done while I'm working on it than break it up and do bits of it here and there.

The last question is a double edged sword, it tells me to ask myself what the stakes are for the completion of the assignment or project or whatever is due. On one hand, the danger of having no time left to complete something can fuel me to complete whatever it is at an astonishing rate, it leaves me open to a particular weakness of mine; anxiety. Often times, this is the root of my procrastination, as I get anxious about needing to do something, so I simply don't think about it to avoid the anxiety. This final question has really brought up another one I need to ask myself instead, "How can I avoid being anxious without avoiding what is causing the anxiety?" Once I answer this question, I think my work ethic will improve dramatically.

The Important Habit of Just Starting

The second article I read, written by Jory Mackay, followed a similar topic to one of the questions raised by the first reading I did, how important a step the first step really is. Once the ball gets rolling on a project or a large assignment, I can get into a zone of focus that lets me get a significant amount of work done in a relatively short amount of time. However, getting that first little amount of work done can be no small task, but the article makes some points about how to do just that. It suggests using commitment devices like being locked in a hotel room until I get my work done like Douglas Adams (going to pass on that one, sorry article), as well as breaking up the larger problem into smaller, more manageable problems, just like the first article. This is exactly what I plan to start focusing on to combat procrastination and to succeed in both this course and the rest of my courses this semester, as well as projects I will be working on in my future career.