Sunday, January 27, 2013
Time is a gift that god endowed us with. It is a precious
gift that each one of us should use wisely; one day we will either sadly regret
the time we waste doing useless things or proudly reminisce the time we spent shaping
our future. Having a bright future relies to a great extent on how well one did
at university; hard working students achieve high positions, whereas low
achievers achieve little if not nothing. So what are the tips that can help our
students manage their time and achieve the future they want to build.
The first tip for good time management is to prioritize the
tasks. Students need to be able to know
which task is most important and completed first. By prioritizing students
determine the importance and urgency of each activity; this makes them able to
know how much energy and time they should devote to each task. Prioritizing is,
in fact, one of the founding pillars of planning and the latter is the key to
success. On the contrary; if students failed to prioritize their tasks, they
will fail to plan. He who fails to plan is planning to fail. However, only
prioritizing and planning cannot do the whole job. Knowing how to deal with
time wasters is also vital for effective time management. The first issue
students should do to deal with time wasters is by identifying them; the most
common time wasters among students are: too frequently browsing social media
sites and interruption by friends. Once students recognize their time wasters
and how negatively affect their plans, then the real job is overcoming them.
SMART strategy or SMART goal is of great benefit for
students' time management and thus for their success. "S" refers to
specific; meaning that students should have specific goal. Having specific goal
will help students focus their time and energy on one specific objective before
moving to the other. Students should take into consideration the following
things: what do they want to accomplish? Establish a time frame purpose or
benefits of accomplishing the goal; and how will the goal be accomplished? On
the other hand, "M" refers to Measurable. The latter means establishing
concrete criteria for measuring progress. When you measure your progress, you
stay on track and reach your target dates and outcomes. "A" step
refers to Attainable. In this step students determine what is needed to assist
in attaining their goals. Yet, they should be careful to the step number four
"R" which means realistic; students need to be realistic about the
planned outcome they want to reach in terms of time, competencies…last but not
least, the goal have to be grounded within a time frame. The more students base
their goal on SMART strategy the more they are in control of their time and the
more likely their goals will be achieved.
Let us be honest with ourselves and admit that there is no
magic strategy that solves our time management problems or make us the most
successful students in our university. Strong willingness, determination and
perseverance are the key attributes to success. What's more is that students'
habits have greater impact on their performance at university; the way students
use waiting time at a doctor's office or in a bus stop… is of great
significance. Learning how to say "no" to the plentiful distractions
students face and get the habit of immediate day to day revision after class can
make a big difference. Moreover, one of the most common enemies that can turn
students' time management into a real fiasco is that of procrastination. The
latter is, in fact, a disease eating away at students' time and thus at their
success. To deal with this problem, students are required to include a deadline
of their homework as well as the day of their examinations; this helps students
not to be overwhelmed by the work they need to do, and thus save their energy to
finish each task at its time.
I would like to conclude with a quotation from H. Jackson
Brown. The quotation goes like this: "Don’t say you don’t have enough
time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to
Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michaelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas
Jefferson, and Albert Einstein." Students
should learn from this quotation that success at university and elsewhere is
determined by the degree of their motivation as well as how successful they are
in managing their time. Success doesn't come overnight; rather, it is a process
in which time management plays a vital part. They say the future belongs to
those who prepare for it today. I say the future belongs to those who know how
to manage their time today!
By: Omar Taky-Edinne
