July 26, 2019
"Time is of the essence.” A quote we’ve all heard, and all probably dreaded at one point or another. Until I was a freshman in high school, I didn’t need to be reminded of this phrase to get through life. I would just sleep for eight hours, eat on time, and finish the minimal work I had. Then I entered high school. A whole new world of opportunities. With over 120 clubs in my school, half of which I was interested in, and too good to resist offers like being part of student board and exploring hands-on with really cool tech for robotics club, my simple, no management required life suddenly got a lot more hectic. That’s when I realized, if I wanted to enjoy high school, while still getting sleep, and not walk around like a ticking time bomb of stress, I had to start managing my time. Here are three ways I did it..
Number one: Keep your goals in mind. Take a sheet of paper and write out all your goals for your future life. Keep that paper somewhere where you can see it very often, so that as you’re working, it will motivate you and remind you to stay on task, so that you can accomplish all of those goals. From the second I entered high school, I already had lots of goals. I wanted to challenge myself, with AP and Honors classes, become a leader or president for a couple of clubs/programs, and I wanted to become an editor for the school yearbook. Once I achieve my goals, I used to tear that paper to pieces and create a new one and start all over again until I tear another piece of paper. Every piece of paper became easier to tear as I started to learn how to manage my time in a way that it was easy to accomplish my goals, and with every piece of paper that I tore, I felt like I had another sweet victory.
Number Two: Give yourself at least thirty minutes everyday. Put aside a half an hour sometime during the morning or evening, and call it “Me Time.” During those 30 minutes, set aside your goals, worries, and grades, and do something that you genuinely enjoy. This is the time when you watch YouTube videos, scroll through you social media feed (as long as it doesn’t stress you out), or whatever else it is that makes you feel relaxed. My “Me Time” as watching my favorite movies. These thirty minutes will give you sometime to clear out your mind, and help you figure out what your next plans and goals are. It may also help to give yourself Sunday off. It may help to explore new interests, and fun things you like to do, before kicking off another grueling week of hard work.
Number Three: Schedule your week. This is the most helpful thing you can do for yourself when it comes to time management. As a high school student, I wasn’t really the best at planning my week, but one of the things I learned during my summer break after senior year of high school is the importance of scheduling my week. Once I schedule my week I know my priorities, what needs to be completed, and what can wait.
Life is so much shorter than it seems…to truly explore everything you’re capable of, and to experience everything that life has in store, you have to be able to manage your time to get to all of those things. Managing your time perfectly will allow you to rip hundreds of those papers, accomplish more than you ever thought you could.