This semester taught me many lessons beyond the content covered in my courses. There were several things that I had heard before enrolling in college that seemed cliche but are in fact true. The first concept was the importance of time management. It seems easy enough to implement, but what can make time management complicated is that everyone has their own system. Some prefer analog planners and calendars, some prefer to use a digital planner and calendar, and some prefer a mix of both. No matter what system someone chooses to use, digital or analog, it is important to use some form of planning or schedule to keep track of important tasks, events, and dates. Planning is something I’ve found to be very useful this semester because there are so many components to each class I’m taking, all of which can be time consuming. Therefore, it’s important to know what to prioritize and when to do so. Learning time management takes time, but it is proving to be a useful skill to have when balancing many different aspects of life.
Proper time management helps to open the door of having balance between the different aspects of life such as personal relationships and school. I’ve found it easy to fall down the trap of only focusing on school and neglecting the other areas of my life, such as wellness and personal relationships. It’s easy to fall into the pattern of staying up late to complete an assignment or spending all weekend studying and completing assignments. However, even though academics are important, maintaining my health and my relationships with others is equally important. One aspect does not need to be sacrificed for the other when I hold myself to a schedule for completing school related work and routines to stay healthy. It may sound cliche, however, taking care of myself has helped me do better academically and prevent burnout as much as possible.
As I head into winter break and into the spring semester, I’m going to continue to work on building up my time management skills, so that balance between the different aspects of my life, is slightly more intuitive.