12 Days of Time Management: Just One Thing
Yesterday’s the past, tomorrow’s the future, but today is a gift. That’s why it’s called the present. Please accept, as our present to you, another tip in our 12 Days of Time Management for Teens: Just One Thing In a rich and productive life, every day feels like a new adventure. Sometimes, though, even the road to adventure becomes a slog, where too much mundane work separates exciting times. When your to-do list becomes so long that it threatens to entangle you in inaction, cut through that constricted feeling by focusing on your MIT: your Most Important Task. No matter how much you have to do in a day, you should be able to sort through your demands and pull out the most important ones. Better yet, determine each day’s Most Important Tasks in advance. Start with just one small, necessary task that, when accomplished, will relieve some of…
12 Days of Time Management: Take Small Bites
Philip Stanhope famously recommended that we take care of the minutes, for the hours will take care of themselves. Considering how much the 4th Earl of Chesterfield was able to accomplish in his time, he may have been on to something. Follow the industrious example of each era’s movers and shakers by applying our 12 Days of Time Management for Teens: Take Small Bites An old, familiar saying begins with the appalling yet intriguing question, “How do you eat an elephant?” The glib answer, “One bite at a time,” establishes that the issue on the table, so to speak, is not pachyderm pot pie but rather an insight into how to approach any large, daunting task. We often ask students this admittedly distasteful question when addressing just how challenging earning one’s very best scores on the SAT and ACT can be. Breaking down all the challenges arrayed against a…
12 Days of Time Management: Plan Your Breaks
It is said that the length of a minute is not absolute, but depends on which side of the bathroom door you’re on. Find ways to make those long moments work for rather than against you with our 12 Days of Time Management for Teens: Only Take Planned Breaks Do ripe, red, juicy tomatoes inspire you to get to work? If so, you’ve probably already heard of the Pomodoro Technique, a time management method developed by an inspired individual named Francesco Cirillo. He discovered that focused bursts of uninterrupted activity interspersed with brief planned breaks produced an optimized work flow. Cirillo named his technique not out of any serious love for Solanum lycopersicum but rather for the tomato-shaped kitchen timer he used as a college student. The Pomodoro Technique is rather simple to understand and implement. Determine which task you are going to tackle and decide how long each…
12 Days of Time Management: Only Think When Necessary
In the grand scheme of things, every hour is but another hour. Imagine, though, what you might accomplish in your finest hour. Any hour can be your best if you apply our 12 Days of Time Management for Teens: Only Think When Necessary Have you ever felt so brain-dead that you wanted nothing more than to collapse on a couch and watch your favorite movie? Do you feel that way every day? Maybe you’re thinking too much! Cognition and mental processing are ultimately physical functions. Pushing too hard physically exhausts a person. If you’ve ever taken a really long standardized test, you know how draining that experience can be as well. When you take the time to think about it (not too hard though), our brains are greedy. Though they account for less that 2% of our mass, brains consume far more energy than any other organ, just about…
12 Days of Time Management: Just Start
Author Gordon Livingston has observed that only bad things happen quickly: “…Virtually all the happiness-producing processes in our lives take time, usually a long time.” Take your time, but manage it well with our 12 Days of Time Management for Teens: Just Start How many great works have died on the vine, never to be culminated or appreciated, due to a failure to launch? We’ve all been guilty of the crime of inaction, endlessly thinking and over-thinking a situation so that no decision is made or action taken. Failure stings, but this phenomenon, known as option paralysis or analysis paralysis, is far worse than that because at least failure teaches us something. Doing nothing teaches nothing (except maybe to actually make a decision next time!) The motto of those who burn to get things done in the 21st century is, “Work iteratively.” In essence, this approach demands that you…
12 Days of Time Management: Have It All
“I wasted time, and now doth time waste me.” If you’re not sure what Shakespeare meant by that portentious verse, you’re probably managing your time well. Keep up the good work with our 12 Days of Time Management for Teens: You Can Have It All The modern college-bound high school student shares the plight of the 21st century workforce: much more to do and less time to do it. Seriously, the productivity of your average teenager, at least in terms of information processing and creation, puts most generations of humanity to shame. However, the crush of academic, extracurricular, and social commitments can often feel too much to bear. Some students are adept at juggling competing priorities, whereas others feel their only choice is to cut certain activities out of their lives. All too often, I’ve seen high schoolers abandon the sports or clubs that mean the most to them…