Time Management

Styles of managing time very considerably. Some people, for example, choose to manage their time in a meticulously calculated fashion. People who employ this style are often compulsive, there is an intense deliberateness to their hourly activities, and they tend to be enormously productive. A second group might be conscious about their time, but their style of time management is far less rigid and precise. A third style is characterized by people who choose to routinely overwhelm themselves with time commitments and who report frequently that there just isn't enough time in the day to do all that they would like to do.

For the first two groups, time management is usually not a problem. People who employ either of these two styles often experience a sense of being in control, and they feel that there is some continuity and stability to their lives. The third style, however, tends to feel more unsettling and problematic. People who employ this style often find themselves worrying excessively, procrastinating, and becoming proficient excuse makers. Fortunately for this latter group, there are several ways to cope with the feelings associated with being overwhelmed by seemingly excessive time demands. The following non-exhaustive list of suggestions when used collectively could help to relieve the pressures one often feels when the management of one's time becomes problematic.

1. Recognize that it is not possible to "run out of time", have time "slip away", or acquire "just one more hour". All people have 24 hours per day. We differ only in the way we choose to divide the 24 hours that we have.

2. It is important to establish priorities. Tasks vary in importance depending on when they need to be completed. Thus, focus on one task at a time, beginning with the one that needs to be accomplished first. Continue by completing the tasks next in importance. Keep in mind that priorities need to be flexible. New and unpredictable situations may arise which could force you to re-order the priorities you previously established.

3. Break down the tasks to be accomplished into small, measurable and doable steps. When a step is perceived as small and manageable, the probability that you will approach it is high, as is the likelihood that you will complete it. Increasing "approach" behaviors that lead to opportunities to "complete" tasks helps a person to believe that progress is as possible as success in bringing closure to a project.

4. Set aside manageable blocks of time during which tasks can be performed. It is not advisable, for example, to sit for eight straight hours studying a text. It is to one's advantage to set aside a two-hour block of time and use five or so minutes after the two hour period for a break. Also, schedule the manageable blocks of time when they would be used most profitably. You are setting yourself up to not complete a task when, for example, you schedule a two hour block of study time in the evening, knowing that you function best in the early morning.

5. Just get started. Entirely too much time is spent allegedly preparing to undertake a particular task. A certain amount of preparation is desirable, but preparation in and of itself never got a task completed. It is important to get rid of other than essential prerequisite activity and implement DOING behavior.

6. Acknowledge regularly that which you have accomplished and reward yourself for achieving your goals. People focus on those parts of the task that remain to be completed rather than focusing on what has already been done. Such a focus fosters discouragement and giving up. Shift your focus so that you emphasize even the small tasks that are now behind you. Realizing small successes contributes importantly to feeling empowered and able to bring a project to fruition.

7. Resist the urge to stray from the task at hand. Accomplishing even the smallest task requires a person to concentrate, and it is impossible to focus and concentrate on the task at hand and attend meaningfully to another stimuli simultaneously. Choose to follow through with established goals. More often than not, competing goals can be attended to at a latter time.

8. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, relieve yourself of the responsibility of having to complete a task perfectly. Imposing perfectionist demands on oneself only serves to foster avoidance behaviors.

Putting aside perfectionist demands is accomplished most easily when you can keep your need for approval from others from becoming too strong. All of us want and need approval from others, and this approval need is quite natural, adaptive, and fundamental to our self-definition. Be careful, however, of falling into the trap of believing that you will be judged by others solely in terms of your productivity and accomplishments. Rarely are we judged on such limited criteria. There is a richness and complexity to all of us, and it is this richness and complexity that attracts others to us, and helps to sustain the interpersonal relationships that subsequently develop.

Admittedly, implementing the above suggestions may be easier said than done. For those of you who want to develop more effective time management strategies, The Counseling Center may be a good place to turn to for assistance. CAPS is a free, confidential resource for students and time management issues are dealt with frequently.