Time Strategies

     Time management used to be one of the skills listed on my resume before I realized that everyone lists 'time management' as a skill on their resume and I needed to list more unique skills in order to impress potential employers. Even so, I still pride myself on my time management skills. I'm a very organized person and love picking out a new weekly planner each year. I also am a huge fan of checklists, so I was excited when I saw one of the reading options was the article "The Psychology of Checklists."

     I've been using checklists and to-do lists since I was in high school, but my use really increased when I started college. With so many things to keep track of, I felt overwhelmed until I wrote down all the tasks in front of me. Using checklists has really helped me to stay organized and be a little less stressed, so reading about why checklists are so effective was interesting. In particular, I was impressed by the effect of creating a checklist at the end of the day, since this is something I have recently started to do at my internship. Writing a checklist before you leave allows you to simultaneously destress for the night and also prepare to start tomorrow off on the right foot. This tip is definitely something I plan to continue implementing this semester, both at my work and for my classes. 

     The other article I read was Time Management Tips for Creatives. I was interested in this article since I work as a graphic designer and am always looking for ways to improve both my productivity and my creative process. I really liked tip #2 "Act Purposefully", which involved finding a way to motivate yourself everyday by reminding yourself of why you're working in the first place. I think keeping my purpose in mind will definitely help me get through this busy semester.

     Overall, I think I'm fairly good at time management, but reading these articles gave me some new ideas to try to better manage my time. This semester will be great practice!

(Image source: by Moose Photos on Pexels)