Time Strategies

 Typically I am a very organized person when it comes to managing my classes and work, leading to decently successful results in the classroom. This modicum of success I have achieved up until this point I attribute to extensive time allotment and planning in the week. Every Sunday afternoon I sit down with a blank sheet of copy paper and write out everything that I have to do each day. I then look over at a fully fleshed-out schedule I keep at my deck and assign a task to each gap of free time in my schedule from my to-do list. Often, I am left with gaps where I still have free time and these I fill with leisure activities like reading, biking, or spending with friends. My method is reminiscent of the checklist strategy used in the article How Checklists Train Your Brain to be More Productive and Goal-Oriented by Lauren Marchese. This article speaks of how the act of completing something as simple as small goal on a checklist help keep up your motivation while helping fuel future anticipation for the work. In my personal experience, it is easy to finish what you start but it is quite difficult to take that first step. I dread making that list each Sunday but it has always helped me keep on track and successful thus far. I was glad to read that my experience with the struggle of getting started was not just me, evidenced in the article The Importance of Just Starting by Jory Mackay. This article focuses on how overcoming the initial forces of procrastination is the hardest step in being successful in a project. I"m looking forward to consciously monitoring how well my time management strategies work this semester with all my classes being online!

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