Time Management In College Essay

Essay One
Learning better time management is a skill that is essential to a successful college experience. It is something I have been severely lacking this term. Time management is a skill I need to learn, since I plan on being in school for at least another three years. Needing to get good grades with a full load of classes so I can have a wider range of college transfer options. Wanting to play soccer competitively and at a college level. Maintaining relationships with friends and family. Trying not to quit my job, finding a moment where I can be by myself and breathe, as well as being able to shower for more than five minutes. All of these are goals that I want to achieve and they will be accomplishable with a set schedule paired with the discipline to follow it.
Time management is a skill I see not only being useful in the life of a student but in the life of anyone who has completely overloaded themselves with obligations. Some people are forgetful and simply need a plan to follow so they can stay on track. While everyone may not need to know how to effectively organize their time and can get by without it. It is a beneficial skill that everyone could gain something from if they

took the time to learn it.
Turning this into a research project will have some challenges. My first step will be to come up with a schedule. Working around everything that is more or less set in stone for me already, classes and soccer practices and games. Then filling in the gaps with my other priorities, homework assignments, personal training time, friends and family. Sticking to that schedule will be where the difficultly comes in; it is unrealistic to believe once you have a schedule everything will flow seamlessly from one task to the next. Being flexible while still maintaining structure is the key to being successful. This is something I have struggled with personally when trying to stick with a plan. A good example would be when I planned a weekend with my dad. I was very meticulous planning everything from what we were doing to, what we were eating, to how much time it would take to get from place to place. When the plan was slightly skewed, I almost had a panic attack. Great start to a fun trip right?
Having that experience taught me the reality in being flexible with plans and schedules and how that is a needed asset to being successful in that situation.

After I have set my schedule, I will begin tracking my progress and manipulating the schedule accordingly. I will follow the schedule I set for the day checking to see what things I have been able to accomplish. The first few days things while be moved around and prioritized, if I find out the task I assigned myself only takes forty-five minutes instead of an hour I may cut down the time I have allowed myself accordingly. The same is true for the opposite, and if something takes me an hour and thirty minutes when I only gave myself an hour, the schedules will be changed for the next day with more time allotted to the

task.

A successful day would be completing everything, getting to bed at a reasonable hour, and being happy with the quality of work I have done. A successful project would be more focused on the quality of work I had accomplished throughout the term, finding I was able to get more sleep, and being just a little relaxed by the end of the term, also having learned the skill of successfully being able to manage my time so I can apply it in other situations.