Time management is an instrumental skill for the future. photo by AJ Domagala
We all need to practice and find little things in our lives to help us manage time.
Time is something that people have always wanted more of in their lives. There are only so many hours in each day, so time is always limited. As a junior in high school, participating in sports, and working every Saturday, I have learned a lot about the importance of time management. So far, junior year has been more time consuming than I thought it would be. Freshman and sophomore year were challenging, but junior year is a whole new level of stress. I am challenging myself more than I ever have by taking honors courses and two AP classes: AP Language and AP Physics. My current workload compared to my first two years of high school is much more, so I was forced to adapt.
Playing two sports takes up time after school that I would usually spend grinding out my homework, so time to do that gets pushed back later. After practice, I generally get home around 5:45 p.m. and begin doing my homework for at least an hour, occasionally two or more. With this, it is very important to know what needs to be done. What I recommend to stay on top of schoolwork is to utilize the planner that every student is issued at the beginning of the year. I use it daily to write my homework and tests or projects due in the future. This is a vital tool because it helps organize everything. When I finish an assignment or task needed for a certain class, I cross it off the list. This has been very helpful because it keeps my work in order and writing in my planner reminds me of the things going down in the future. This has played a huge part in my time management this year because it helps me stay on top of work so I never get behind.
As for working, having one shift on the weekend has been one of the hardest things to get used to this year. I work every Saturday, usually from noon to close, but it differs depending on the business of the store. This was difficult to get used to because I like getting projects or extra work done on Saturdays. However, there is always Sunday to do those types of things. With that, it just means I have to stay on top of my work to have more free time during the weekend.
One thing I want to emphasize is that procrastination is okay sometimes and needing a break from the work is totally normal. This is one thing I have struggled with this year because three projects due in two weeks is hard to get done on top of the normal school work. So, it gets pushed aside. In the end, staying on top of everything opens up a large window of time, leading to more time in general, you just have to look for it. The most important thing as a student in high school is to strive to stay on top of work. If you do so, the year will be much better.
