Reflecting on time management strategies

Ninety-five percent of people have a tendency to procrastinate at times, while 20 percent of people are chronic procrastinators, a study from the University of Calgary reports.

The ability to make efficient use of time is critical to not only success in high school, but in all avenues of life. Although several LRHS students find themselves within the procrastinating demographic, there is no time like the present for students to make efforts towards improved time management.

For student Lacey Miller, the ability to use time effectively is directly related to motivation.

She explained, “I consider myself to be okay at managing my time. If I struggle to have enough, it’s normally because I’m not motivated.”

Similarly, Kierstin Witt said, “I can be good at time management, but I do tend to procrastinate unless I’m very interested in what I’m doing.”

“I don’t consider myself good with my time,” admitted Jordan Olson, countering, “but, I am by no means bad with my time.”

The quintessential line of a teenager, he continued, “If there is a reason I struggle with my time, it’s because I sleep too much.”

For Ellie Gering, doing too many things puts pressure on time management: “When I do struggle to have enough time, it’s usually when my schedule is really busy and I’m not spending the needed amount of time on my homework.”

“I think that I manage my time well,” said Lorria McCauley. “It’s actually pretty simple for me.”

She simplified, “When it comes to getting stuff done, I just do it.”

Balancing rigorous classes and numerous activities, Gering reflected, “To manage my time, I prioritize. If something is due sooner, I get that done right away and then work on assignments that are due in the future.”

She added, “If I know I’ll have a busy day that week, I’ll try and get more done before the busy day so that I’m prepared.”

Like Gering, prioritizing is McCauley’s strategy.

She explained, “It stresses me out more having unfinished tasks, so I use that to get everything done.”

Unsurprisingly, time management is made simpler when inspiration is not a limited resource.

When asked why some other people struggle, McCauley asked, “Less motivation maybe? I’m not sure. It’s something I often wonder.”

Apart from finding motivation and prioritizing, there are other strategies students are working to implement to improve their efficiencies.

Among these methods are maintaining a dynamic task list, one that keeps track of goals, yet maintains flexibility. Project leadership expert and author Susanne Madsen recommended, “Capture the tasks and activities you must do on a list and update it regularly during the day. Revisit this list frequently and add new items as soon as they appear.”

Though it may seem counterintuitive, students are also working to improve their time management by limiting multitasking.

In response to the paradox, journalist Olivia Goldhill reports on The Telegraph, “Multitasking is a scientific impossibility.”

Goldhill explained, “MRI scans show that…We focus on one task and then quickly refocus on a second task, but never successfully perform both at the same time.”

Although multitasking is not effective, successful LRHS students are finding other combinations for time management that do work for them.

In considering students’ various degrees of efficiency together, the words of businessman Michael Altshuler provided relevant inspiration: “The bad news is time flies,” he mused, concluding, “The good news is you’re the pilot.”