I definitely promote all of these methods of time management with my students. I often find myself making lists, be it daily to-do-lists or more mid and long term lists.
Prioritization is never a problem, although I tend to sacrifice my personal time, even though I know it is important to make time for myself.
While I feel that I promote these elements and understand the importance, I find it hard to overcome immediacy issues which then manifests into procrastination . . . funny, I know that seems like a paradox.
I am one who has learned to prioritize. I still have to restrain myself from attempting to do everything as soon as I get it. Even though some things might take very little time to get them done and out of the way, I have learned to put them in order of priority as they take time away from a project that is more important to complete first.
Great point Mau. In our ‘to do’ list planning, we should always allow for high priority tasks that may pop up unexpectedly.
HAVE A TO DO LIST, AND ALWAYS EXPECT SOMETHING UNEXPECTED HAPPENING FOR MY DAY IN A POSITIVE WAY
I have always had difficulties in writing a list. I keep most things in my head, and jot down items of urgency. This has been effective through out my life. I know that list making helps when I have multiple projects and deadlines.
I do tend to put off things that take up more time and do the easy tasks 1st. I think now what I will do is make a list of items that take more time and prioratize them in the order of urgency.
Old habits do die hard. But creating some new good ones, and sticking to them, can take you far.
I am a procastator and I have problems getting thng done, a to-do list mignt be the answer. I am making up one now witch I will try to follow, braking old habits is hard to do but the To-Do list sounds like it is the key I need.
To do lists are the only way i can get anything done or i just run around trying to do everything at once and acomplish nothing. and then i get frustrated and stressed out because i seem to be getting nowhere.
Procrastination can be a big challenge to time management. But getting tasks done early can actually you feel better than the way you feel when you delay task completion and are behind schedule.
It seems I tend to put tasks asside for another time. I plan to accomplish my tasks based on there priority in a timely matter to further avoid future complications.
Indeed, most tasks can be rescheduled. They key is to keep communication lines open and reset expectations when necessary.
I often find that getting everything done in the day can be a monumental task. I also realize that there is nothing so important that if needed, it can not be moved to tomorrow's "to-do" list.
Task management could be on of the hardest to keep up with. Professionally and having a family makes it hard becuse the tasks keep changing
Interesting point James. Your list might actually be quite valuable to other instructors who are new to teaching your course topics.
In most cases if I am teaching the same class for a while I dont have to make a list because it has become automatic.Now I think to propigate the process I will make a list in the begining and build on it as I progress.
My personal struggle is getting started. I put things off till tomorrow or later and when I finally get started on the project, it took less time and effort than I percived. I have learned to make a list, prioritize, start and complete the project if possible. Starting this course is a good example of my procrastination. I first logged in months ago. This course will help with my own time management issues and hopefully help me help others.
It's not about being ambitious, Eva. I, too, am good at making the list & prioritization, but too many chores , private & professional, sometimes stand in the way of achieving the things you want to achieve. You don't create those situations; they're created for you. In such circumstances, I just go down the list doing what I can & keep moving the priorities as I go. Otherwise, I feel I run into frustrations. Do what you can, and move on - but do it right initially, so that you don't have to repeat the tasks.
As I had already mentioned earlier, the most important step for me, over the years, been priortizing the tasks. In order to priortize, of course, I have to first list the tasks. It also gives me an opportunity to review my "to do list" so as to check if my priorities have changed during the past week or so.
Great question Thomas. One of the easiest ways to address this problem is to calculate the percent of time you typically go over on estimated projects. Then add that percent to project estimations in the future. So for example, if you always seem to be going 10% over on project timelines, go ahead and pad your project time estimations by 10% in the future.
I have the same issues at times. What I found works is to simply add on 20% more time than thought for unforseen isssues.
