#Productive101: How to Not Get Overwhelmed

As the French phrase that goes, “Rome was not built in a day”,

Great things need time and so do we. As time can be both our friend and our foe, the way we manage our activities is very important to befriend time. This is because sometimes, certain conditions may ruin even the most well-thought plans.  This week, we compiled a few tips and tricks to help ease your burden of time management.

One step at a time

An overwhelming amount of tasks, assignments, and projects can be a frustrating thing to manage. Often, we neglect our tasks completely and fall into the depth of procrastination. Once we fall into that hole, it is going to be difficult to get back.

The solution? Taking the party-sized tasks into bite-sized steps to reach the end goal. Tasks are easier to manage by dicing the task into smaller sections — starting slow and steady, little by little — rather than munching the whole task in one go. Remember, do not bite off more than you can chew.

Plan & Prioritize

Planning is one of the most crucial, yet one of the most overlooked elements, when it comes to time management. People often make all sorts and types of plans without actually realizing the hierarchal and technicality aspect of it. Planning cannot stand on its own leg, it needs another element to perfect a foolproof time management strategy, which is none other than prioritizing. 

Before making planning preparations, we need to list our tasks that have to be done and rank them based on their importance, in context of the circumstances you are in. For instance, we may use time as the basis. Tasks with the nearest deadlines have to be listed on top and others will follow.  This allows us to have a sense of control of what is ahead of us, hence reducing the feeling of being overwhelmed.

Getting enough rest

Dividing tasks into segments, planning and prioritizing are some of the most important elements of time management. They give us a sense of purpose and a productivity boost. Yet we forget another element of time management which is often underestimated and deemed as wasting time — sleep.

A lot of studies have suggested that there is a correlation between sleep quality and both academic performance and psychology. Students who tend to wake up late in the morning have poorer academic performance. It is also important to note that it is not the quantity nor the duration of the sleep that affects academic performance, but rather, the quality of sleep.

In conclusion,

Although time management can be daunting, it helps us control our tasks on a day-to-day basis. The three important elements to help you do so are: fragmentation of tasks, planning and prioritizing based on deadlines, and getting enough good rest.

References:

•  Johns, M. W., Dudley, H. A. F., & Masterton, J. P. (1976). The sleep habits, personality and academic performance of medical students. Medical Education, 10(3), 158-162