[nabs-l] Time Management

[Cricket Bidleman]

Hi Arielle,

That email was very enlightening. I will definitely keep these
techniques in mind, especially since they are tried and true. I find
that a lot of the time, people talk about things they do to manage
time, but nobody really knows if they're successful or not. It's
reassuring to have someone who went through college with flying colors
talk about the way they managed time. Thanks for the insight!

Best,
Cricket Bidleman

On 7/19/16, Arielle Silverman via NABS-L <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Hi all,
> The recent discussion made me reflect on my college experiences and
> the process I used for time management. I wanted to share some
> strategies I used successfully in the hopes that it might help some of
> you who are feeling overwhelmed by the demands on your free time from
> studying. Time management is an important skill whether you are blind
> or sighted, and it matters in the job world as much or more than it
> does in college. I do believe, though, that everyone can learn to
> become good time managers by following a few simple procedures.
> To give some background, I graduated in 2007 with a double major in
> biology and psychology. I took between 13 and 17 credits per semester,
> and earned a 3.91 GPA. I'm sharing this not to brag, but just to
> demonstrate that my time management process was effective, and it is
> certainly possible for a blind student to take a challenging course
> load, have a life, and get a full night's sleep every night. Yes
> that's right, a full night's sleep.
> So how did I do it? First, I scheduled mandatory breaks. This may
> sound counter-intuitive; with so much to do, how could taking more
> breaks possibly be helpful for time management? But, just as you want
> to charge your phone regularly so it doesn't die on you at the worst
> time, so too, our brains need to regularly recharge. As was mentioned,
> when we don't charge our mental batteries regularly, they can die on
> us at the worst times, in the form of falling asleep, zoning out
> during a reading assignment, or getting writer's block while working
> on a paper. To ensure my mental batteries were charged, I made a rule
> that no matter how busy I was, I would always quit working 8-9 hours
> before I had to get up the next day. So if I had a 9:00 class, and had
> to get up at 7:30 to get ready, then by about 10:30 or 11:00 I would
> shut the book and go to bed. I made sleep first priority. I need a lot
> of sleep to function, and some of you may do just fine on six hours a
> night. Figure out how much sleep you need to function well, and then
> schedule an appointment with your bed each night so that sleep will
> happen. With a well-rested brain, you will be able to think clearly,
> retain information, avoid becoming frustrated, and articulate your
> ideas clearly in papers. This is doubly important the night before an
> exam, which is why I never understood the all-night cramming trend.
> Eating regular meals is also important to keep your brain running
> smoothly.
> In addition, I took a 24-hour hiatus from schoolwork each weekend. I
> preferred to do this during the Jewish Sabbath on Saturdays, so I did
> no work on Friday evenings or Saturdays during the day. During this
> day off, I would focus on other things like spending time with my
> family and friends, NFB activities, or just relaxing in front of the
> TV. Your hiatus day could be Saturday, Sunday, even a weekday when you
> don't have classes; but by taking one day off each week, you are
> likely to feel more motivated, and work faster and more efficiently
> when you return to the grind. It also gave me something to look
> forward to when I was getting burned out at the end of the week, and
> made me less tempted to take impromptu breaks.
>
> As far as how I managed my actual work time, I created a file called
> "ToDo" on my Braille Note. In it, I kept track of school assignments
> that were first priority (due the next day), second priority (due
> sometime in the next 2-6 days), and last priority (due in more than a
> week). When I got home from classes each day, I would start by
> knocking out the first priority stuff, take a quick break and then
> move on to the second priority stuff. The real trick is to try to get
> a head start on some of those Priority 2 assignments before they
> become Priority 1's, so that on any given day, you don't have too much
> work that's due the next day.
> I used my syllabi as a guide for scheduling my work. For bigger
> assignments like term papers, I would break down the assignment into
> weekly sub-assignments. So if my term paper was due in a month, I
> might give myself an assignment to do some initial research on my
> topic this week. Then, next week I would work on taking notes on my
> sources, then during the third week I would write the first half of
> the paper, and during the last week, finish the paper. Breaking things
> down into manageable chunks makes them easier to manage. When doing
> this, try to build some extra time into your schedule in case you run
> into any unexpected issues with accessibility or just with things
> taking longer than you expected. If you work with readers, you can use
> your scheduled reader appointments as deadlines by which you will have
> certain sections of the assignment completed.
> The key with any time management system is to be both rigid and
> flexible when making rules for yourself. Set a structure that you will
> follow, but then be willing to adjust it if things come up or if you
> find that the structure you tried out isn't quite working for you.
> Calendars, alarms, and other tools can be useful for helping you stick
> to your system and keeping track of how much time you have available
> to you. If you find that your work is taking too long, or you are
> struggling to come up with a good time management process, it's OK to
> start slow, and take only one or two classes until you feel like you
> can stay on top of your time. It takes practice to become a good time
> manager, and there are definitely ways I could still improve myself.
> If you are in high school, it is not too soon to begin practicing
> managing your workload.
>
> I hope this is helpful.
> Best, Arielle
>
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