We all reach that point in our lives where we feel like the weight of the world is on our shoulders. Too much to do, far too little time. A wise speaker once said, whenever you feel like you need more hours added to your 24 hours, you’re doing too much. So how can you achieve all that you have to do with the time you have?
These 6 tips can help you handle your busy schedule and manage your time effectively
- Prioritize: You can’t tackle every task at once. Prioritize your responsibilities. They may change depending on what you have going on at the time. Making sure that your work is handled in order of deadlines and/or personal importance will help you get through an overwhelming amount of work.
- Organize: If you have a lot going on, organization is key. Make a schedule of everything you’ll be doing. Start with the daily tasks such as class and work shifts, and then add on other things such as weekly club meetings or volunteer schedules. Excel and Outlook are great programs for making personal schedules. Just having a physical schedule can make all the difference.
- Reinforce What Needs to Get Done: Reinforcing your to-dos for the day/week will encourage you to get them done and over with. If you tend to forget things, it’s best to write everything down…multiple times.
- Know Your Limits: It’s great to be involved and to be active, but don’t bite off more than you can chew. If you already have a full plate, be careful of signing up for anything more. There may be something you really want to be involved in, but can’t because of prior commitments, and that’s okay. Don’t exhaust yourself, because eventually, you will feel the impact. You may even want to analyze your current schedule if you’re feeling impossibly overwhelmed.
- Take a Break: Sometimes we start something and we don’t want to stop until it’s done. That’s not a bad mentality to have, but on some occasions, it’s better to take a break. Sometimes, when you walk away from the task at hand and return to it refreshed, you see things clearly and suddenly, it doesn’t seem so impossible to finish.
- Utilize your support system: Having someone help you with research, making a phone call, or running an errand or two for you can make a world of a difference. . If there’s any way someone in your support system can help you get things done, don’t turn away the help.
Written by Niyi Agbaje