PROMPT: 1. Think about your studies in the past: How has your time management been? With time management as a skill, what have you been good at, and what have you been bad at? Give personal examples and analyse why and how you have developed these skills. 2. Think over the information from Week 2's lesson. Was anything new? did anything surprise, inspire or irritate you? What techniques or methods would you like to try? 3. Thinking about the above two areas, and problems you may have with time management, how will the skills, techniques and methods you learnt in Week 2, help you in the future? Can and will they improve your confidence in writing succesfull academic work? How?
Please give answer in 300-400 words.
1. In the past, my time management skills have been fairly average. I have always been good at creating a to-do list and prioritising tasks according to urgency or importance. However, I have struggled with procrastination and often leave tasks until the last minute. I have also found it difficult to stick to a schedule and tend to go off track easily.
One personal example of this was during my final year of university, where I had a dissertation to complete alongside several other assignments. I made a to-do list at the start of each day, but I often found myself getting distracted by social media or other non-essential tasks. This led to me working late into the night and not getting enough sleep, which impacted my productivity the following day.
Over time, I have developed better time management skills by learning how to set achievable goals and breaking down larger tasks into smaller, more manageable ones. I also learned from my mistakes, and now try to minimise distractions by working in a quiet environment or using tools such as website blockers.
2. The information from Week 2's lesson was not entirely new to me, but it did reinforce the importance of time management and introduced some new techniques that I had not tried before. I was pleasantly surprised by the Pomodoro technique and found it to be a useful way of staying focused and managing my time effectively.
One thing that irritated me was the suggestion to "just say no" if someone asks you for a favour or to do something outside of your schedule. While this may be helpful in some situations, it is not always possible to say no, especially if it is a work-related task or something that cannot be avoided.
Overall, I would like to try implementing the Pomodoro technique more regularly and also experiment with different methods such as time blocking and task batching.
3. The skills, techniques and methods learnt in Week 2 will definitely help me in the future in terms of managing my time more effectively and efficiently. By setting clear goals and prioritising tasks, I can avoid procrastination and allocate time and energy where it is needed most.
Improving my time management skills will also improve my confidence in writing successful academic work. By breaking down larger assignments into manageable chunks and allocating specific blocks of time to work on them, I can work more efficiently and reduce the stress and pressure associated with last-minute cramming. Additionally, by staying organised and on top of my workload, I am better equipped to handle unexpected obstacles or emergencies that may arise.