As I assessed my time management skills with everything I have
going on in my life, I am surprised I am able to accomplish my tasks and goals.
From working full time at 630am-230pm, coaching Crossfit at 3pm-4pm and doing
my Deputy Marshal Reserve duties from 6pm-11pm, once a month attending drill
for the Guam Army National Guard, family time, and of course my graduate course
studies it still bedazzles me on how I am able to do it. I will not lie it is
very challenging to keep up, however I am accepting the challenge and know it
will all be worth it at the end. As Whetten, D. A, & Cameron, K. S describe
that two effective ways for time management is focusing on efficiently managing
my time and effectively using my time as well.
I am able to prioritize my work as
described in Rule #4 of Whetten, D. A, & Cameron, K. S. and time by putting them in an order of
precedence, from there ensure I provide myself reminders on my phone, calendar,
or post it for that matter to ensure that I am on point with work, homework, extracurricular
activities and so forth. As days pass, changes can occur, and shift priorities
of work. In the military I was able to learn to prioritize and differentiate
between urgent and importance when it came to work. Where importance was
focusing on a desired result, and urgent falls in line with immediate attention
(Whetten, D. A, & Cameron, K. S. 2011).
The skills I was able to develop provided me with taking
advantage of every hour of the day, of course there will be setbacks but that
just pushes everything (in what we call in the military) to the right, which
means at a later time or date. “Studies find that one can use time efficiently
and productively by setting short-term and long-term goals, keeping time logs,
prioritizing tasks, making to-do lists and scheduling, and organizing one’s
workspace” (Grissom, J. A., Loeb, S., & Mitani, H. 2015). As I explained
earlier, I take these approaches to hone in on my skills and allow for me to
have control over my time management.
I think that three areas where improved time management
skills would reduce stress is by (1) setting deadlines before an actual
deadline. For example, knowing I can finish my assignments before every Saturday
or Sunday at the latest, gives me time to relax and spend time with my family
or let alone have “me” time. (2) Would be to reserve time during the day where
no one can have access to me, or just personal time for at least half an hour
to Forty-Five minutes. This will allow me to think, re-evaluate, and attack the
remaining tasks that need to be done. (3). Is to divide up large projects or
tasks, in my life and work there are so many things going on with projects and
tasks. To divide them would put less stress on my work load and I can focus and
produce a detailed and better project instead of stressing and procrastinating
or rushing through my work (Whetten, D. A, & Cameron, K. S. 2011).
How my action plan will be implemented is to start writing
my tasks and goals for the week every Sunday. From there (which I already do)
is to conduct hourly alerts on my phone calendar for the tasks at for each day.
I will also look into my big projects that are given on a Friday for me for all
my jobs and curricular activities and divide them and ensure that there is a
decent amount of time given to work on them. My “me” time will be during my
lunch hour. I will designate specific days where instead of going out to lunch
with co-workers or others, I would just spend some alone time in the office or
at home and be able to execute that time and de-brief and think about the rest
of my day or week.
References:
Grissom, J. A., Loeb, S., &
Mitani, H. (2015). Principal time management skills. Journal of Educational
Administration, 53(6), 773-793. doi:10.1108/JEA-09-2014-0117
No comments:
Post a Comment