One of the first things that graduate students learn is that there is never enough time in the day. How can you keep yourself sane when you’re overloaded with courses, research, teaching, and a life? Get organized sometimes is not easy or maybe we believe we are not “so” disordered and disorganized. Sometimes is just difficult to realize that we need to control our time and effort on different activities. I want to share some of the advised techniques that we should use to “get organized” and make it “possible!”.

Your calendar

First, take a look at the calendar you’re using. To use your time, you have to be able to see it. A calendar with a full-month view is the best way to do this. Why? In one glance you’ll be able to see if one day is full and another empty…that you’ve got something planned after work three nights in a row. You’ll see if one week looks busier than another… And you’ll see that you’ve scheduled two busy weekends in a row. With that one glance, you’ll be able to plan your time better to truly fit your schedule.

A weekly or daily calendar are great for a detailed list and/or description of the activities we want to do every day.  But, add a monthly view calendar and turn to it first when setting appointments. You’ll really see when you have some time to spare, or not.

Use Multiple To-Do Lists

At this stage in your life it is likely that one to-do list isn’t enough. Use multiple lists to organize tasks by topic or context. For example, you might maintain separate lists for each area of your life, such as home (for grocery lists, bills, and household tasks), social (for lists of friends and family to call, email, or contact on Facebook), and school (obviously, for maintaining lists of school-related tasks, like assignments and meetings with professors).

And focus on Organize two things every day. How do I define “things”? I don’t. YOU do. That’s what’s so great about this organization technique. The biggest hurdle to getting organized is beginning.

Break Each Large Task into Actionable Easy Tasks

The trick to making consistent progress on your tasks, especially academic tasks, is to separate each task into all of the smaller component tasks. For example, I think we all have an item on their academic list called: Write a Paper. That’s one big task. Each time you look at that task it may seem overwhelming, so you glance over it and move on to the next easy task. What’s an “easy” task? It’s an actionable task – one that has a specific beginning and end and consists of no smaller steps. Easy tasks are less overwhelming because they are clear cut. To make sure that you tackle the big tasks, like writing a paper, it’s essential that you break it into small “easy” actionable tasks, such as:

  • Run an Internet search for supporting your idea and compare your results. It could be great if you organize your references in this step.
  • Meet with your professor to discuss final results
  • Make a decision about the information you will include.
  • Start writing the “easy part”: The procedure. Even it took you more than one year in developing it. And then you can continue with the discussion of results.
  • Write the introduction, conclusions, abstract and so on…

Prioritize Your Tasks.

“Pareto’s principle” states that 80 percent of your accomplishments come from 20 percent of your efforts, so think strategically: Locate and isolate this valuable 20 percent, then focus your efforts on the tasks that promise the greatest rewards. Once you prepare your lists you may find that you have much more to do than you ever realized – and feel pressured for time. Breathe. Relax. You don’t have to do it all now. Some of it can wait a little while, more of it can wait even longer, and some of it may never get done. That’s ok -if you prioritize your tasks.

Seat deadlines for Yourself

Academic work entails many steps. Set a realistic deadline for each step. How do you determine what’s realistic? Sit down with a calendar and think about how much time you will spend on your project each day and what you can complete in that time. Use your estimates to set deadlines. Recognize that you may have to adjust your deadlines. We often overestimate the amount of work that we can accomplish. Take this tendency into account by beginning your assignments early.

Be Flexible

While to-do lists are wonderful for helping you to organize and prioritize your life, remember that there will always be interruptions and distractions. Try to allow time for them.

Go with Your Flow

Consider your own biological peaks and lows. Are you a morning person? Or are you at your best at night? Plan your day accordingly. Save your most difficult work for the times when you’re at your best.

Say “No”

Learn to say no to nonessential demands on your time. Don’t volunteer for a committee if you don’t have time, and decline invitations to events you don’t have time to attend. Sometimes we take on too much. Whether it’s extra courses, job responsibilities, or extracurricular activities, consider how important each is to you before agreeing.

Make Use of Wasted Time

Have you ever noticed how much time you spend commuting, standing in lines, and waiting (for doctors, advisors, etc.)? Carry pocket work to make use of that time that would otherwise be wasted. Carry a short reading assignment or flash cards for studying. Or use the time to write in your planner and organize yourself. Ten minutes here, fifteen minutes there, it all adds up and you’ll find that you can get more done.

Turn off the TV, control your internet use! (e-mail, facebook, twitter, etc.)

You have to use your time wisely to get yourself organized. Many of us waste a lot of our time in front of the television or in the web and we don’t even realize it. Instead of wasting your time on it, spend that time (time you say you don’t have enough of) organizing just two things!

Some other important recommendations are: Delegate as many chores as you can. Hand out projects to subordinates at work. Overcome procrastination. Avoid perfectionism. Don’t waste time obsessively perfecting a task when you could better spend the time on something else. Create some personal time by waking up half an hour earlier or going to bed half an hour later than usual.

References

  1. Kuther, Tara. Simple Steps to Master YOur Use of Time.
  2. Burgett, Ann. Five Techniques For How To Organize Your Life.
  3. Mind Tools. www.mindtools.com