Summary

This assignment will take 30-45 minutes to complete.

• Read the webpage itself (5-10 min)
• Read the materials linked for time management (15-30 min)
• Complete the declaration in canvas (5 min)

Time management

This short assignment is dedicated to giving you tips on effectively managing your time.  If you already have effective time management skills, then skip to the readings at the end and look for some new tips.  All of us, no matter what level we are in life, can use new times to help us deal with the overload!

Each module will contain the following components:

• Readings from the book
• Short videos 
• Homework assignments or quizzes
• Some modules: Discussion on slack 
• Projects

Although we have made the deadline flexible, you do not want to schedule it all on Sunday evening as you will not get it all done nor will you learn as much.  

I know you are juggling lots of classes and other responsibilities.  This module is aimed to help you manage your time for all of those things.

Fill your jar with big rocks first

How do you fill your time?  There is a well-known story about priorities, told using rocks and a jar.  I believe it comes from one of my favorite books:  Steven Covey’s First Things First.  

The original story can be found here.  It is only one page, please read it!  It will help you to prioritize the important things in your life!

Time management strategies

All of us struggle with overload.  The pandemic has only exacerbated it.  Many of us now wear extra hats all day long, mother, father, brother, sister, teacher, student, employee, etc.  There is a lot of advice online about how to do effective time management and I don’t expect you have time to read it all!  I’ve given you a list of ideas below.  Please pick two or more and read and try to gather useful tips for starting your semester off right!  

• Short article on First things First by Steven Covey.  Note, this actually habit 3 in his book “The 7 habits of highly effective people” but he has an entire book dedicated to “First things First” which I found revolutionary in helping me to plan my time.
• The Important Habit of Just Starting by Jory Mackay
• The Psychology of Checklists by Lauren Marchese
• How to Beat Procrastination by Caroline Webb 
• The Myth of Too Busy by Tim Grahl
• Realistic Study Plans by Amanda Collins 
• 3 Steps to Recapture Time by Joynicole Martinez
• 4 Questions to Help You Overcome Procrastination by Peter Banerjea 
• Time Management Tips Just for Creatives by Amanda Oliver 
• 11 Ways Unsuccessful People Mismanage Their Time by Áine Cain
• Why Time Management is Ruining Our Lives by Oliver Burkeman – this is long but worth it
• The previous essay is related to a relatively recent book called “Overwhelmed: How to Work, Love, and Play When No One Has the Time” This book is worth the read but here is a much shorter book review  (NYTimes links should be free for OU students) if you want to learn more. 
• I recently read a fabulous booked called “Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less” which focuses on narrowing your priorities to the very essential and learning to say no.  The book is great and here is a long-ish overview of many of the ideas.
• I read “Busy: How to Thrive in a World of Too Much” which focuses on very similar principles.  Some quick reviews & summaries are available on goodreads.