Get back to work!
Not doing the trick? Alright, let’s start off with some real ways on how to manage your time, prioritize your tasks, and avoid procrastination. Why? ‘Cause these skills can mean the difference between keeping your new job and crashing on your parents’ couch.
“When the projects I work on meet delays, that means money is not coming in on schedule”, says Richard Salmon, senior legal counsel for Canada Post, “When we’re hiring, it’s generally because we need help ASAP. Anyone who cannot manage their tasks will soon get sucked into a vortex of chaos. I'll probably have to help fix things, and that means that demands on my time are going to increase, not decrease.”
Keep it simple
Experience proves the best solution is a low-tech one. “I have experimented with all kinds of time management solutions,” says Salmon. “Many of them had atrocious interfaces and required more time to enter data than I would spend on the tasks I was trying to keep track of.”
He writes his tasks in a Word document, and then writes the tasks he will tackle that day on paper. The priority of this short list is constantly revised according to the estimated payoff, time limits, and effort required of each. Not fancy, but it gets the job done.
But, remember: you have to get the job in the first place.
Make the time
To do so, people like Monica Colibaba, executive career coach at Queen’s University’s School of Business in Kingston, Ontario, offers one-on-one meetings to help students explore career choices, complete career assessments, learn more about resume-building and interview prep, and effectively engage in networking/company information events.
These are all while you’re cramming for exams and writing papers. However, if you want a job, you have to use every tool you can. And that takes time.
So don’t just find it. Make it.
Monica’s centralized to-do list is simple and effective. “First, you set categories,” she says, “like academic, work, and personal. List all the different items, anything you can think of.”
Once you have your list, resist the urge to jump from the nearest skyscraper. Break it down into doable bits.
“Get a calendar, and plug in the items from the to-do list. This helps you see snapshots on a weekly or even daily basis. It keeps you on task and keeps your deadlines at your attention. It also fights procrastination, because if you know you have between two and four to work on your research paper, you’ll be motivated by its time-sensitive nature.”
This time-budgeting method works perfectly for Mark Evans, MBA student at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, who even uses it to have some fun. “I make sure that when I sit down to work, I really work. When I’m not working, I do nothing but relax. This puts me in a better mood for when I get to work and helps deal with stress.” If he can still thrive in school after six years, you can believe he’s got his stress under control.
Stop procrastinating right now!
These methods might work for the diligent go-getter, but what if you’re prone to chronic procrastination?
Here are some quick things that you can actually do rather than just read another article on procrastination:
- Prepare. Make sure you have all the tools and space you need: good lighting, a pack of pens, headphones, a gallon of chocolate milk—whatever it takes.
- Set rules. Things like Facebook only once an hour or Walking Dead after I finish this assignment.
- Tell others about the rules and about your projects. It’s easy to break rules when no one knows you’re breaking them. If you don’t want people to see you’re slacking, tell them your goals and then let guilt be your guide!
There’s no one-size-fits-all method to master these skills, but this quote by author David Kadavy comes close: “Productivity is less about time management than it is about mind management.”
Now put that mind to work!
Discussion
What other productivity tips can you offer to other students?
Learn how to study more effectively for exams, and how to conduct research better. Read on for some freshman survival tips.