I’ll do that… just later. Not today. Maybe not even tomorrow. In a day or two. Or three.
As I sat before my computer, staring blankly at the screen, I answered my unimportant e-mails, cleaned my already tidy room, and thought to myself that studying for my midterms can wait.
Then it hit me- my whole life consists of putting things off until the last minute. Exams: I study the night before. Articles: I finish five minutes before the deadline. Even meeting with friends: I’m closing the door of my room when they’re already at the stage of calling the police to report me missing.
I know that I’m not alone. I belong to a special category of people who despise the limits of schedules and the idea of planning. We don’t believe in calendars and are proud to tell our friends after the exam that it took us only one night to get ready for it.
If you want to know whether you belong to this wide society, go over the points listed below:
• You don’t have an alarm clock.
• You have an alarm clock that is so simple to turn off when it starts ringing that it’s like having no alarm clock at all.
• You don’t have a clock.
• You have a clock, but look at it less than six times a day.
• You don’t have a calendar.
• You have a calendar, but the only things you put in it are your friends’ birthdays and upcoming parties.
• When you arrange a meeting with your friends, they know they have to come a half-hour later in order not to wait for you.
• Nobody is ever surprised when you’re late.
• You always get alarm clocks and calendars for your birthday.
• You truly believe that an ideal day should be 30 hours long.
• Your brain is used to working with full efficiency after midnight.
• “Tomorrow” is your busiest day.
If you have answered more than half of these questions positively, than you can proudly call yourself an absolutely free person.
But is there something to be proud of when you’re late for class or when you’re chasing the professor, trying to explain why you couldn’t hand in the assignment on time?
Time, according to the Cambridge Dictionary, is “that part of existence which is measured in seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, years, etc., or this process considered as a whole.” And if time is the indispensable part of our existence, is there any way we can control it? In my search for an answer I’ve gone over a dozen books on time management, but they just gave dry pieces of advice that I would never use in real life. Therefore I decided to make up my own list of things to do to be better able to control time. These may not be the things that are usually recommended in such cases, but they are the things that really work for me.
1) Think of the benefits you will get from fulfilling the task on time. Not just the benefits of getting a good grade, but think logically – good work means good grades, good grades means a good diploma, a good diploma means a good job, a good job means good money… you know what to do with good money, don’t you?
2) Throw out papers that aren’t of any use. You can’t seriously believe that the pile of garbage on your desk “brings back memories.”
3) Keep your door closed and locked when you’re working. Ignore the knocking. No one ever said that doing that is unfriendly. Is having your friends knocking on your door at 2 a.m. on the day before the exam just to tell you a joke considered friendly? Besides, this is a free country. It’s your door and you can do whatever you want with it.
4) Turn off instant messengers and close irrelevant Web sites when working on your computer. It’s hard, I know. I succeeded only on the 12th try, so know that it might take some time.
5) Learn how to say “No.” Not “erm…no?” and not “No! Period. I mean exclamation mark. Whatever,” but just “No.”
6) If you can’t do something on your own, ask for help. I know I’m not a genius. I can’t even count without a calculator, however I know people who can and people who can lend me a calculator.
7) Don’t get too comfortable. If you’re sitting on the bed among soft comfy pillows, with a pack of chips on your right and a TV remote on your left, forget about working on something. You’re just going to watch TV instead. Be sure to sit in that hard wooden chair over the desk with pens, pencils and papers on your right and this reminder on your left.
8) Discuss your plans with your friends. It’s the tip I’ve figured out myself. Sometimes my friends know my schedule better than I do. They can also remind me about the things we have planned together and give me a good idea of what my week will look like. They also encourage me to do my work as soon as possible so I can spend more time with them.
9) When thinking about your day, always determine the “Big One” – the most important thing you need to do. Even if it’s something like: “Buy a new alarm clock for he one I crashed this morning”. It will help your to understand your priorities for the day.
10) Reward yourself for the work finished. For writing this article I’m going to reward myself with vanilla ice-cream, watching “Jackass” and one more hour of sleep. I will make myself think it’s a reward, but it’s actually the things I wanted to do but postponed them until the work was done.
The last tip is what one wise man once said: “Before going to sleep, I think of the things I have done. After waking up, I think of the things I need to do.”
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