In an interesting twist of events, I've hooked up with a Graduation Specialist Mentor at my school (Western Governors University, for those who don't know - Woohoo WGU). Graduation Specialist Mentors are there to help us students keep pushing ahead on our classes and succeed each semester. This guy is great because he's working with me on improving my other skills. What I mean by that are things like organization, keeping a scheduled calendar, dealing with procrastination, study skills, setting goals, etc. And because I'm a big believer in self-improvement, I'm attempting to embrace this new ideology with open arms.
Okay, brace yourself. Those of you who have known me for a while will probably fall off your chairs. Monday night I actually did sit down and create a scheduled calendar. My wife had to help me, but I mapped out how many hours I spend studying, when I cook dinner (yes, I cook), when I spend time with the family, and...wait for it...when I get to write/blog. I even have a few open areas (not large ones) that allow me some flexibility in case I have to work late, or need a little more study time, or need some quality hubby-wife time (so I stay in her good graces too).
I do admit that it's been difficult adjusting, but the one thing that has made it easier is that I get reminders on my cell phone for each "appointment". And I carry my cell phone with me everywhere because of work. Being reminded of when I have to do these things has helped alot.
The reason I am able to put up a post tonight in fact is due to one of those flexible areas. I just got done reading the chapters I needed to finish and I have a couple minutes before heading upstairs to bed.
Yesterday I did not get to do any of my scheduled tasks however, since I was at work for 15 hours. Yeah, I got there at 6 a.m. and didn't leave until 9:30 p.m. It was truly rough, and not only was I really tired, I was actually disappointed because yesterday I had time set aside for writing. But such is life. On the good side, it looks like I'll be able to take Friday off, so maybe I can get in some writing time then (since all that time during the day is unscheduled. Muhahahahahaha!
Anyway, I hope everyone else is finding time to write and though it's difficult, I highly encourage any of you who were like me (completely disorganized, not writing much, etc) to stop and evaluate whether you can change your spots.
Wow, maybe I'll even stop writing by the seat of my pants...
...Nah, I don't think so. Let's not go overboard.
For those of you who are extremely organized, how do you manage your time?
7 comments:
Wooooo! This is the first semester I've kept a planner and it does wonders. I just have to take the time to fill it in every week. :/
I hope it works out for you!
I don't know how the extremely organized do it. I have tried to get things together myself a million times, and it all just falls apart after a few days.
Good for you! I'm not a great scheduler, either, but I find it helps a lot to know when I want to accomplish certain tasks. Having the flexibility in there is a so important too. Good luck.
Hi Eric, I love your site and as I browsed your blog I decided to award you the Creative Blog Award.
Go to http://astorybookworld.blogspot.com/p/awards.html and pick up your award.
~Deirdra
I'm a bit of a control freak, so you might think a strict schedule would be the perfect thing for me.
It's not. I'm so much of a control freak, in fact, that the thought of a schedule controlling my day makes me crazy. :-)
I'm glad it's working for you.
Schedules! Ah!!! Okay, I schedule. Sort of... I don't write it down or get reminders, but I do somethings every day in a certain order. That must count. Good luck with yours!
Icy - That is definitely the key, filling it in with all the new things one has to be doing. I'm still working on that.
Matt - Yeah, that's another habit I have that I am trying to combat. Hopefully I won't allow this new practice to disintegrate, but we'll see.
Angie - Thanks. I definitely need flexibility, as sometimes my schedule just gets crazy.
Deidra - Thank you for stopping by, and thanks alot for the award. I always appreciate those things, since they're a nice reminder that I'm doing something halfway decent ;)
Kat - See, I'd have thought you'd be all over this stuff. But I can understand why now.
Nisa - LOL, that was my first reaction too. If I didn't force myself to write (type) things in though, I'd never stick to it.
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