Time Management and Stress
The practice of managing the daily activities surrounding one’s life remains to be an important aspect of shaping adaptability to the current trends of the environment. With today’s fast-paced and relatively dynamic lifestyle, it is essential to look into opportunities that can generate effective avenues that can manage time and stress accordingly. Each of these elements promotes the viability to make things possible and adhering towards personal goals. Thus, these two important elements establish the foundation of achieving success remains to be seen and manifested.
Reflecting on these current applications with my given schedule of classes and individual activities, significant observations can be seen in my ability to address the issues of stress and time management. Since the majority of my time is involved with the study, the value of determining which one needs considerable attention remains to be seen. This is congruent with the condition that to achieve competence under this area, careful attention must be made with the elements that shape an individual’s approach in handling tasks associated with time (Mind Tools, 1999).
Looking at this data further, there are two things that I realized when I was going over the schedule and the things I did. One important aspect that this schedule shows limited opportunities for my part to engage in other activities. Instead, my day is always comprised of three to four classes per day. This goes to show how hectic my schedule is to balance other areas I also want to engage in. Another relevant observation during this time frame revolves around my ability to handle and create a discipline to wake up around 6:30 in the morning and prepare for school. Despite its relative consideration on the value of time, I feel that this remains an important aspect that connotes how I adhere towards disciplining myself in areas such as punctuality in class and anticipating the traffic and burden that may come during rush hour time. This avenue remains an important component shaping one’s ability to recognize and develop the necessary values pertaining to one’s ability to manage and influence achieving tasks and goals for a specific time (Peel, 2001).
However, I would prefer to spend more time sleeping as I only get six to seven hours of sleep instead of the required eight hours. As a student, concentration and focus are important to do all tasks effectively. In my case, I find it hard to concentrate especially during examinations because of a lack of sleep (Mind Tools, 1999). Thus, I would also prefer to spend less time with my friends and watching TV to allocate more time to my studies on school days. I will jus allot my weekends to do these social and personal activities. All these speak of balanced student life because I will see to it that my priorities are set properly and given time accordingly.
In addition, I thought I spent more time doing each of my requirements for school and just enough time with my friends. Looking at it now, I only spent half to a full hour on a required task, and I that I allotted a long time with my friends on school days. This is perhaps because I rush on my school tasks and thought that I had done enough for these and that I enjoy the company of my friends, respectively.
Generally in my life, the areas of stress that are evident are the times when I had to accomplish school requirements and tasks. At that time, these academic tasks make me restless and want to escape, thus, I had to meet and talk with my friends to ease the pressure. Over time though, I learn to allot more time to these to avoid being pressured and stressed with lack of time and concentration to accomplish all my requirements. Realistically speaking, however, stress is unavoidable especially if one has a lot of responsibilities on his or her shoulders. As for me, what I can do to relieve my personal stress is to get more sleep and prioritize my studies on school days and allot my weekends for personal and social activities. This way, I get to have adequate rest, enough for me to focus on school work, and managed time for social and personal growth as well.
Looking at these time logins for a three-day period, I can say that I have not been very effective in handling stress and managing my time well. However, I did what I can with my routine. Seeing this now, there is much that I need to do in terms of prioritization and proper time allotment. If I managed my time effectively, then I would have more time to engage in other activities for my holistic development.
References
- Mind Tools. (1999) Introduction to time management. Retrieved December 20, 2009, from http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newHTE_00.htm
- Mind Tools. (1999). Rest, Relaxation and Sleep. Retrieved December 20, 2009, from http://www.mindtools.com/stress/Defenses/Rest.htm
- Mind Tools. (1999) Stress Management Techniques. Retrieved December 20, 2009, from http://www.mindtools.com/pages/main/newMN_TCS.htm
- Peel, K. (2001, September/October) Time Bandits! Today’s Christian Woman. 23 (5)
- Retrieved December 20, 2009, from http://library.gcu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rlh&AN=5128298&loginpage=Login.asp&site=ehost-live&scope=site
