One class assignment asked us to determine what challenges we might face in being a graduate student. The biggest challenge for me (and maybe many others) is of course, time management. Time management is one of THE most difficult things for me as a graduate student and in my personal life as well. It's not that I don't accomplish what needs to be done but by the end of the day I feel exhausted and discombobulated of sorts, like I had to rush to fit it all into a small window of time. This can be very overwhelming and often leads to frustration and stress.
I've read many books on time management and yet I still find myself struggling to get it all done without so much pressure. According to the article Time Management (2007) time management "is a set of principles, practices, skills, tools, and systems working together to help you get more value out of your time with the aim of improving the quality of your life" (p.1). Now here's my issue with that, I have yet to discover a book that lists these principles, practices, skills, tools, and systems. Yes, I find information or examples about how to better manage my time but I have yet to discover how I can actually obtain these principles, practices, skills, tools, and systems.
The most meaningful concept of time management, yet still a bit elusive, is ensuring that you are "working on the right things, the things that truly need to be done" (Time Management, 2007, p. 1). How do I know if I'm working on the right things? I'm not only a full time wife and mom, but I'm also a small business owner and graduate student. These are the four MOST important aspects of my life right now and I still don't know how to effectively juggle them all. Even finding time to write my journal entries is yet another task I find difficulty doing because I try to determine where I can effectively fit it into my schedule.
Time management is very important to me as I know once I get a better handle on it I'll be much more productive. I do somehow manage to get it all done but I have yet to find a manner in which to get it all done and still function at a normal level. What I'm learning is that just because I have not found my most effective method today does not mean I should stop looking. In the meantime, I'll just continue to try different ways to effectively manage my time.
References
Time management. (2007). Timethoughts. Retrieved February 9, 2010, from http://www.timethoughts.com/time-management.htm
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