English 250,
November 17, 2008
Time is limited, we only have 24 hours in a day and there is no changing that. So how are we supposed to manage school, work and the family all in one day? Manage your time. How you may ask? There are many ways that you can manage your time; first find out where you are wasting time, by track your daily activities and find out where all your time is going. Second find a way to keep track of time, and all your resources.
Get yourself a planner and plan out everything you need to remember and include your family duties. Most people get some kind of planner that works for their style; palm pilot, cell phone planner or a hand written planner. Whatever works for you but make sure it’s a detailed planner that you will stick to. If color coding or adding a red flag to an important event will help you remember better, make sure and do it.
I interviewed a fellow student to find out how she manages everything. It’s important to hear real life experiences, so you could make a connection with a student that has found a way to manage life and school.
Julie Regalado has been a student at Gavilan College since the summer of 2006. Julie is currently taking 15.5 units this semester, that includes a night class, and she’s in a study group once a week. She also works at the Writing Center on the Gilroy campus. Julie commutes 30 minutes to school every day. Julie will be transferring in 2009 to San Jose State.
Julie is a mother of two teenage girls, one in junior high and the other is in high school. Both of her daughters are very involved in their schools. She has one daughter in band and the AVID program. The AVID program prepares the students for college and helps them plan for the future by taking them on trips to different college campuses. Julie’s oldest daughter is in high school and plays softball for the travailing fast pitch team. Julie is always running them to practice all over the place, making sure their uniforms are clean and being in their life every step of the way. Julie also volunteers once a month at her church. Julie is a devoted mother, always keeping her kids as the number one priority.
I asked Julie, “How do you manage everything?” Julie told me, she uses the planner on her cell phone. She puts everything from A to Z into the planner with an alarm set to go off, and the events are color coded. Julie told me, that anything she needs to do, or remember goes into the planner; including when the dog needs his medicine and what day the garbage goes out. Julie also told me that she keeps a hand written copy for back up, just in case anything where to happen.
I asked Julie, “Do you think you would be able to manage a job and go to school if you didn’t work at the writing center?” Julie said “No, because I would not be able to have time for my kids and my other priorities. Working at the writing center gives me a chance to work without sacrificing my school work, and it is flexible.”
How did you pick what University you will transfer to? Julie said, “I could go to almost any University and would like to attend U.C Santa Barbara, but the family would have to move and that’s not fair to my girls.” “I wouldn’t feel right disrupting their lives.”
What about when you have a test coming up and you need to study? Julie said, “I take the family to the library.” All of them are able to do homework, work on the computers and not fight over the one at home. There are fewer distractions, so they can be more productive. If Julie has time between classes she will do homework and study. Julie has no time at home, so she doesn’t waste time at school.
What about all the chores at home? Julie told me, she and her daughters try to share the responsibility but that doesn’t always work out with how busy all of them are, so Julie ends up doing most of the chores before bed. But both of the girls are in charge of cleaning their own rooms. Julie spends at least one day of the weekend doing the laundry, cleaning and relaxing. Saturday is family day or she is running the girls to games and band. If she is lucky, she might get some down time but that doesn’t happen too often.
I asked Julie what tips she would give to incoming students. Julie recommends using all the resources the school offers, like the writing center, math tutoring, basic skills and all the other programs offered on campus. Pick a major and stick to it and finish it or you will be at school forever. If you have a few minutes to kill, do homework, in-between class or waiting for the kids to get out of school.
I myself don’t have kids but I do have a busy life. I carry a planner with me everywhere; you never know when you will need it. I like to have my weekends free, and work really hard all week long so I can. I write down all my assignments in my notebook with detail and rewrite it in my planner. When I write it down twice I know it will get done. Life is stressful, and even more when you are in school, so don’t make it harder on yourself. Find a way to manage your day and before you know it you will be able to managing your time wisely.
I wanted to learn more about time management so I goggled it. I found a lot of helpful information, but for the most part, they all agreed on not wasting time by procrastinating and keeping track of your time. I found that “10 Tips from Time Management ’by Penelope Trunk where very helpful. She says to answer your email when you get them and not put it off, then when you are done reading it, delete the message. Keep your emails organized in different folders to cut down on distractions. Don’t over multitask when you are working. Work on the most important task first and get it done. If you feel overloaded, work task by task and work at your own speed. If you improve your typing skills you could save lots of time over time. Always stay organized and keep to your to-do list. Plane out every day, week and month to keep you on track.
I could give you a million and one ways to manage your time, but who says that will work for you. You are the only one that can manage your time, so find out what works for you and stick to it. College is a lot of homework and a big responsibility; you will have to find a way to keep everything straight. There is no time for goofing off, or slacking off if you want to pass your classes and have a social life. You must stay on top of the work if you don’t want to fail and repeat the class. In some classes all you have to do is miss one assignment and your grade takes a plunge off the deep end. Make sure you have your work done or at least started before you go out on the town. You want to have a good time and not be worrying about if you will finish your paper on time. If you don’t think you will be able to finish your paper on time, tell your friends you can’t go. They will understand and is it really worth repeating the class for one night of fun? School is a requirement in today’s world and there is no time to waste. Get an education plane of what you want to do and find out how long it will take you to reach your goal. Stay on track and you will be done before you know it. Take full advantage of what the school offers and be successful.
Time is limited and the better you can manage it, the faster you will succeed. Find out what works for you, so you can organize your planes and stick to them. Time management is important in everyday life for everyone. Knowing how long it takes you to get to point B from point A is helpful when you are setting appointments, and meetings.
Work Cited
10 Tips for Time Management in a Multitasking World. “Penelope Trunk.
Julie Regalado; interviewed took place in Gilroy, California at the Gavilan Community College Writing Center November 3, 2008 at 1:35pm to 2:05pm.