Good to hear you have a better sense of yourself and your time management capabilities Sherri. I find that having a case of immediacy is typically better than being a procrastinator. That said, immediacy can also be stressful. Go ahead and try to hold back on non urgent tasks if you can. Try to fully experience the time off you have. Taking a break every now and then might help you be more focused when you are completing tasks.
For me, Task need to be completed right away. I find myself sometimes making a "To Do list" and starring at the list and then I become overwhelmed.
I will definitely change the way i accomplish important and urgent tasks.
Vanessa
I tend to put task off based on personal issues. My goal is to learn to deal with personal issues when they need to be dealt with and keep my mind focused on work issues or concerns.
I did learn that I have a mild case immediacy. I have gotten better--and it reaffirmed what I learned--than when you prioritize and do not procrastinate--you will find that time to do something that you like--other than work.
I think I will try to prioritize by due date and urgency. I also think that it might be a good idea to prioitize my access to others to accomplish these tasks. I have found that it is difficult to prioritize and accomplish my tasks with many interruptions.
I think what I will change is the value that I may put on "important" and "urgent". I may be placing the urgent part in front of the important a bit too much. I consider the important tasks to be done in a more careful time consuming manner than the urgent tasks. And what I forget is the urgent tasks get done in a big hurry with usually procrastination caused time pressures. I will put some of the more important tasks ahead of the urgent more.
When looking over my "to-do" list, I identify those tasks that fall into the "immediate need" category. Then I further categorize them by how much time they're going to take: short, medium, or long. At least that way I can plan for setting aside enough time to get them all done effectively - but not necessarily all at once. If possible, I'll try to "distribute" them over chunks of time spread over a day or two (or even three, if necessary).
Of course, one has to observe deadlines, but, on the other hand, one has to be careful of trying to do too many things at once.
But I definitely need a to-do list!
This module has been very helpful for me. I normally make to do lists for my personal life but think it will be best for all aspects of my life. I will be giving it a try this week to see how it works for me.
Sounds like you've got some things going right and some opportunities Thomas. It's true that when we push off low priority tasks, they can come back to bite us in the end. Getting ahead on lower priority tasks where it is possible can help.
Excellent! So glad to hear Jennifer. Crossing off items on your to do list can give you a wonderful sense of accomplishment.
Great thoughts Laura! I agree that sometimes we need to take a step back and take a look at the big picture. We really are getting a lot done every day, even when it feels like we are underwater.
Sounds like a good plan Tom! If you have a system that works well for you, keep it up! If you can enhance your prioritization skills, that will make life even easier.
I usually feel very rushed to get student papers back or I feel guilty if I do not get them back immediately. However, grading can be a grind, especially if I have 30 students who write 4 papers a term. To keep up, I have to grade constantly; this is wearing. The pressure of lesson plans does take precedence for me, but I feel lacking when I do not get the papers back very soon. Actually this module lets me know that I am doing what needs to be done. I do get it all done. The students always get their papers back before the next is due so that they can learn and apply new ideas. When I put so much time into grading, it is discouraging when they just look at the grade and not at what they did. This requires conferences which are difficult to fit in with syllabus requirements and class sizes. Yikes! Yes, I need this topic.
Yes, based on the content of this course, I will seek to prioritize my tasks first. Just because a task is urgent, does not mean that it will add value to the long term important projects. By prioritizing tasks, those "URGENT" tasks might not be that urgent after all. Also, by prioritizing tasks, I may find four or five tasks of equal importance, but may be able to cluster similar tasks in sequence to avoid switching costs.
I often put tasks off for another time. I don't think I'll change the order of these tasks because I'm usually pretty good at prioritizing them. What tends to overwhelm me is when sudden student emergencies come up, which is often enough, further delaying that which is most urgent on the list. Therefore, it's important for me to pay attention to getting the most important tasks done as soon as possible.
I often put tasks off for another time. I don't think I'll change the order of these tasks because I'm usually pretty good at prioritizing them. What tends to overwhelm me is when sudden student emergencies come up, which is often enough, further delaying that which is most urgent on the list. Therefore, it's important for me to pay attention to getting the most important tasks done as soon as possible.
While I am easily able to prioritize and accomplish urgent tasks, the constant revisiting of a to do list will help me stay on top of the less urgent tasks before they actually become urgent.
In dealing with students and retention I am very reactive but in e-mail I need to become more organized as I tend to read and not deal with immediately--need to put into folders and get more organized.
Need to work better with outlook as we have so many webinars and meetings that sometimes get off track.
I like to plan and follow deadlines so my day to day is great but need to be more efficient with
e-mail.
Excellent to hear Donald. I hope the small changes you made are helpful. If they aren't, go ahead and stick with your routine. Do what works for you!
I beleive I have already changed the way I do things after taking ED110. I use the TO DO LIST more, I try to get right on top of things when they come up, instead of waiting until later. Thanks for bring it to my attention.
