Time Management for the Rest of Us: December 2010

~~ or 'Living in Denial'

There are people in this world who are organized. They always leave for work on time, never forget to buy cat food, and always say "Happy Birthday!" because they remembered that it is in fact your birthday. These are people with perpetually clean underwear, small electronic gizmos that store their appointment times, and extra bundt cake pans to loan out to neighbors. They have clean cars, clean houses, clean shoes, and clean refrigerators. And they always look well-rested.

I am not one of these people.

With this blog I am hoping to explore some ways of improving time management for normal, disorganized individuals (like me!), and especially for harried college students. With all the technology, research, psychology and social support around us, this shouldn't be impossible.

...Right?

But then again...there is another side to time management; the delectible art of wasting time. And I would be completely remiss if I didn't explore that just a little bit, wouldn't I?

Monday, December 6, 2010

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year...

Unfortunately, I'm not talking about Christmas. No, I am most sarcastically speaking of FINALS and all the stress they can bring. Forget the Holiday Blues or the Freshman Fifteen or anything else...finals tops them all. (Pounds, stress, you name it.)

This said, though, there are some helps. If you search around the web there are lots of places to get advice, and I have found one such great website that talks about how to deal with finals. It's kind of wordy, but it's chock full of good stuff. Most of the sites I visited touted early prep and time management (uh, duh) but this one goes even farther. It's from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Undergrad Department, and my favorite part is: B. Be sure you have full and accurate information about the final. Even beyond all the prep stuff I normally do, this is one thing I had not thought about. But it makes a big difference. Such as:

Be very clear about how the final is to be constructed; preparation for essay tests differs from that for short answer or blank-fillers.
How is the exam graded; e.g. does one get partial credit? Do only right answers count (in which case a guess cannot hurt), or do wrong answers bring penalties?

These little things can make a HUGE difference in how you plan out your time.

But for all you time management buffs out there looking strictly for time management tips, my advice is CALENDAR, CALENDAR, CALENDAR. Stick stuff on it, and follow it (study time, study topics, study groups, etc, etc.)

Oh, and breathe. (This is important. Trust me.)

GOOD LUCK!