This week, we will be talking about time management and prioritizing our time. There are probably a million ways to do this and what works for some may not work for others. This method is one of the best I have found. It really makes us consider what we find important in our lives and how much time we waste doing things that aren’t really important to us at all. It takes a little time (yep! time management takes time), but it is well worth the effort.
Time/Priority Management
There are many tools to help someone with managing their time. One of the best places to start is to manage your priorities. What is a priority? Well for me, my job is a priority. So are my friends, my doggie, and my hobbies. I also like to eat. Sleeping is important too!
Throughout life our priorities will change and that is okay. Right now, this class should be high on your priority list. So should your health. But we are all different and have different desires in life. What we are going to try to accomplish today is find what is most important to you and how to put that into your weekly schedule.
First, let’s make a list. Write down on a Word or Google doc., in no particular order, what you spend time on during a given day and throughout a typical week. Once you have your list I want you to number this list with number 1 being what you send the most time on, then 2 being the second most time, and so on.
Second, I want you to make another list next to or below the one that you just made. This list is what you think are your priorities. There is a high probability that the same words show up on both lists. Now just like you did with your first list I want you to number your priority list. Number 1 is what you feel is of the highest
priority down to your lowest priority. Do your priorities match up with what you spend most of your day doing?
Third, watch the video below by Laura Vanderkam on TED Talks, How to gain control of your free time. You’ll want to take notes of main ideas or concepts that stuck with you. With the assignment you’ll need to write a few sentences on what you learned.
https://www.ted.com/talks/laura_vanderkam_how_to_gain_control_of_your_free_time.
Here is an article by Laura Vanderkam found on her website that is very useful as well.
Fourth, I want you to make a list of the things you value (love, wealth, family, nature, popularity, freedom, friends, power, etc). Same as your lists from earlier, number them from 1 being what you want to spend the most time on during the week down to the least, or what you want your highest priorities to be down to your lowest priority. Now compare the three lists. Are they the same? Do you spend your week doing the things you value the most? Are your priorities in line? Are you ready to make a change to your typical week?
Fifth, download this excel sheet, Time Management. You will need two copies of this excel sheet. For the first schedule, fill out what your typical week looks like right now (normal work/school week). It should include everything that you do (eat, meal prep, sleep, study, work, commute, play video games, spend time with family, etc.) in your current week. Exactly how you spend your time. Every minute of it. How does it look?
For the second schedule you are to make your schedule based on your values/what you want to make a priority. Hopefully this is very similar to our first schedule, but there is a chance it will be completely different. This should be based off of your priority list. The higher the priority, the more you should see it in your schedule. Now this should be realistic. Make it something that you can apply to your life right now. What can you do to make your priorities and values line up with your typical week?
We want to spend more time on what matters and less time on what doesn’t. We need to understand our values, priorities, how much time we actually have, and how we want to spend it. Let’s make a little change that can have a positive impact on our daily lives.
Here is what you accomplished with this worksheet:
1. A short paragraph (minimum of 5 sentences) of what you learned from the video.
2. A list of what you spend time on today.
3. A list of what you prioritize today.
4. A list of what you want to prioritize tomorrow based on your values.
5. Two schedules, one of what your week looks like now and one of what you want it to look like.
6. A better understanding of who you are and what you spend your time on.
Assignment
See the Fifth step above and prepare your two Excel Spread sheets. Add these to your blog by Sunday, September 19 along with a short narrative of how your restructured your schedule to find more time for what is really important to you. Keep in mind, this is a good way for your possible teammates to see how you well you can prioritize tasks and get work done!
