Time management is one of those skills we all know we must master in order to become better students, but too many times we find that we don't have enough time to learn the necessary principles it involves. Then once we have learned the time management skills that are helpful, we often realize that we don't have enough time to use them. How many people reading this article know that they should be reading for CIV rather than sitting in the stall checking out The Balance Beam? The key to effective time management is not how much we know about managing our time, we all seem to know a bit about that, but using certain simple concepts to optimize our time. Although there are hundreds of sources on time management, I thought the best place to go was our local resource, the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) in Sweet Hall.

The two primary factors to successful time management are values and goals.

Values and personal mission statement:

A mission statement and values help people recognize what is important in their lives and act as a means of evaluating what decisions to make. For example, the next time you find yourself in a bind between going out with friends and finishing your reading or a problem set, base your decision on what is important to you. If you value friendship then it will probably be healthy to make time to visit with your friends when you can. On the other hand if you really want to do well in a class and need to put in extra studying time you may have to sacrifice doing other things.

Goals:

Have you ever taken a moment and written down a hundred goals and told yourself that "this time" you were going to make them happen? Then, a few months later you realized that you have not accomplished many of those goals? The key to effective goal setting is aligning your goals with your values. Unless you know why you want something, you won't invest too much time in realizing that particular goal. For example if you don't recognize that doing well in organic chemistry is aligned with getting into med school, which you want to do in order to help people as a physician, you may not be as motivated to do well or get the help that you might need.

Big picture vs. what do I do tonight:

Once you have realized what is both important to you and what you will spend your time doing, you need to plan for the long term; such as doing well in your classes and getting something out of them, and the short term; studying regularly and maybe talking to your TAs or professors so you can realize the long term plan.

Managing your time does not lie in doing something faster or more efficiently, but rather in the very assumptions by which we determine and approach what we are trying to do. Dennis Matthies, who works at the CTL and is the RF of Otero, suggests that effective time management is the evolution of yourself so that your actions coincide with what you believe is important.

In a nutshell:

1. List your priorities. 2. List goals that fit in with those priorities. 3. Plan your week or month so that you find time to accomplish the goals that coincide with your priorities. This also involves evaluating your commitments and their importance to you. 4. Create a "to do" list and daily schedule to increase efficiency. 5. Remember that balance is the key. Matthies also suggests that humans need to be disciplined in their endeavors, but recognize their need to be spontaneous at the same time.

Resources:

- If you want more help with working on your time management skills, drop by the CTL which is in Sweet Hall. The CTL offers free services to students wanting to develop their learning skills. You can also sign up at the CTL if you need a tutor for introductory classes.

- Talk to your AA or faculty advisor.

- If you want to talk to anyone about problems that you are having regarding time management or any other issue, call The Bridge 24-Hour Peer Counseling Center at 723-3392. Its services are completely confidential.

The Balance Beam is sponsored by The Bridge, Cowell Student Health Center, and the Publications Board.