At first I was against any kind of time management because I didn't want to feel like a "robot" but ever since I started using Google calendar to plan my schoolwork, workouts, personal goals, hobbies and relaxation times I get more done, have much better grades and can actually relax and have fun instead of stressing in the back of my mind about things I should have done but forgot/procrastinated about. I feel much happier and relaxed all thanks to a simple calendar. I actually have a lot more free time now while staying productive and I know my priorities so I do what I really want to do instead of being a slave to whatever random thing. But I certainly wouldn't plan a year ahead like this guy, I usually plan 2 weeks at a time once a week.
Would you please share an example on how you go about planning? I really want to start doing this, but just find it really hard to start. I am student too, who loves to workout, have hobbies, but tend to get distracted and procrastinate a lot when it comes to school/job assignments ending everyweek on a high level of stress. I want this to stop.
Everardo Ibarra One tip is just to pick one day of the week to plan, I do this on Monday mornings it takes me like 1-2 hours to plan but it's worth it. Write a list of everything you have to do and want to do (including relaxing/fun stuff/netflix) I put everything in Google calendar with a due date first and then add a tasks so I can work on it a couple days before it's due. Example: Essay DUE on Friday the 13. Now I know it takes me like 2 hours to write and 2 hours to revise so I will add these tasks on google calendar. So on Wed the 11 I add:"Write essay for 2 hours" and on Thurs the 12 "revise essay 2 hours" If you want to work less on it just stretch it and work on essay 1 hour a day for 4 days in advance. When you have filled up everything you *have* to do you will see all your free time that's left and fill it with whatever you like to do. Make sure to plan because if you're like me I will forget to do my hobby that makes me feel good to procrastinate doing nothing. I will email you a better explanation with screenshots of my calendar if it'll help you. Being a student is not easy but planning a little give me sanity..lol
+amyn0va Now give a tip to someone like me, who calendars things and when the time comes to do the actual thing, I'm just like: "Meh, whatever, I'll do it later, I dont want to do it now." Then the deadline for the things comes and I'm just like: "Uhm, I'm sorry, I dont have it, maybe next week?" And this continues on forever... Lol, I'm such a lazy and unmotivated person. Any tips?
"you realize that for six months you've just been slogging and nothing enjoyable has happened." You hit the nail on the head right there, for me. I'm glad this video showed up in my timeline, it was short but impactful, at least for me.
The same happened with me. I have long wanted to dedicate some time to read something I like but haven't had the chance to. One day I had a strange cascade of negative emotions that literally paralyzed my mind. I couldn't focus on my studies and spent the whole evening analyzing my thoughts while finally I arrived at the conclusion that I had to get some time off from things I had been forcing myself to do. So I started prioritizing my tasks and my energy and concentration levels increased considerably. So, I think it is important that we know when to be lazy and be lazy in a productive way 🙂
Our Marine Corps drill instructors always used 3x5 index cards that they kept discretely tucked into their smokey bears and would refer to them throughout the day to keep the platoon moving from one task to the next. I still use them to this day. Another great lesson from the US Marine Corps! Semper Fi!
+edymasta He wasn't implying that this video in particular is a waste of time but rather the irony in that a youtube video, which are generally stigmatized by the addictive click from video to video waste a lot of time, could be used as a guide to be more time efficient.
+poposisa +Charles Hanson How is entertainment wasting timing? taking out time to relax and do something you enjoy is far from wasting time. everything in moderation my friend. This video was not about becoming a robot who has no fun.
+Charles Hanson It is possible to use RU-vid with a clearly defined purpose of doing research on some topic (specifically getting a starting point for research). Now, surely most people don't use RU-vid in that way but that doesn't make it ironic. Just as most people use RU-vid in a disorganized way, most people read self-help and don't take any practical action. But you wouldn't call a book about self-help, would you?
I tend to plan ahead and have a "mental calendar" instead of using a digital or physical one. I find it works for me instead of having to worry about whether my intentions are "recorded".
I can relate to this so much. It's the end of the year, the holiday season, so I've been seeing a lot of family. The way they all think and interact is very inefficient and since I'm so different from them, sometimes I think I'm crazy (you know, because of social proof). It's interesting to watch. As time goes on, I expect to influence them more and more and take part in the wave of influence coming down from my mentors, and their mentors, etc.
One question I have is how to manage for phone calls, text messages which just introduce new tasks suddenly. I deteste my phone. Anytime it rings or buzzes I'll cringe before I know who it is. Great if it's just a friend wanting to joke around, but if it's someone asking for something I'll just feel like my life is screwed until I deal with it. Doesn't help that I'm terrible at saying no to things
+brod2man maybe view these as requests to enter into your schedule. Only you probably know your schedule, so see when you can reasonably fit a new thing and then just communicate that. Does that help?
ljkolnick It does, but I often feel like some tasks aren't really things I want to do. Maybe I'm referring more to people messaging wanting to hang out. I have one or two people who are always messaging at odd times wanting to meet up - but I'm not exactly good friends with them, nor am I particularly willing to make the time. I already have a lot going on. Maybe this leaks into the realm of managing interpersonal relationships. But it can ruin time management as it introduces so many problems that can't be predicted. It's hard to say "No" to someone so many times in a row when they are clearly just lonely and wanting to see people. If I do say yes to them, I'll feel like it's a chore to meet up as it's not something I really want to do, and it's eating into my regular free time. Socialising is the hardest thing
brod2man Hmm, yes I have been there. One thing I do is generally let people know that I'm introverted so hopefully they understand that I'm not all that social in the first place. If someone in particular is really just too much, you might want to consider being straight with them about not be interested in hanging out, for whatever reason.
ljkolnick I'm also quite introverted and like a lot of alone time. You're right it's a good idea to be honest about it and the way you naturally are. People are often very understanding. But with certain people I'm a little afraid that they won't take it well, The types of people who post things on facebook late at night saying, "Life's hard" "Can't sleep again tonight" etc. I'm very weary to reject these people who already seem pretty unstable. Then even more afraid if I said "I'm busy", then the next day they see me chilling out doing nothing. I just want to hide in a cave
I have profession where i can have calls and emails that need fast responses. In this case i Think best is to use do to lists. I have no point scheduling tasks because they can take 10x longer than planned. I also use large wall calendar where i put my appointments. Usually there are just few important appointments and birthday remainders per month. Also if i have some large task then its best to try to chop it into many smaller few hour tasks. This will help reward the brain by completing these tasks.
When you have responsibilities, living in the moment is living in the past. Only when you organize your thoughts and schedule can you actually experience the present moment.
I'm so bad at stuff like this. I have a habit of saying "Okay, on Tuesday I go to a cafe and just relax all day, on Wednesday I'll do some work at some stage". I end up procrastnating the entire day of wednseday, but eventually do maybe 40 minutes of work, which makes me feel somewhat satisfied. On the Tuesday, before and after going to the cafe I'll make zero attempt to do any work. My planning is SO broad and it leaves so many hours unused, simply because I'm not in the habit of organising myself properly. I've got a lot of hobbies and interests I'm just failing to pursue because of this, kind of a shame.
+brod2man I generally work the same way. I have found that creating a to-do list (that is, a list of things that I need/want to get done that day) every morning tremendously helps. The point of making plans is to be specific, which might be why your approach isn't working. Hope this helps.
Luis Montoya I just started uni as a mature age student. The first couple weeks I found I had to write a to-do list just to remember all the stuff I needed to buy/people to talk to/places to go to organise things etc. But once that was all done the to-do list died. At the moment all I need to do is read. I guess it's just a matter of writing down READ, EAT, READ, WALK, READ or something like that. But that seems very unnatural. Much easier when there are small tasks that are completeable.
brod2man That would be an example of a (proposed) transcript of your day, not a to-do list. And again, your "tasks" are too broad. You're listing verbs, not setting up tasks. If you specify a book and the amount of pages that you would like to read by that day, that's a task. If you were to specify which classes you need to take notes for, write essays for, or otherwise do something specific for, then you would have an effective to-do list. Add in certain hobbies or activities that you enjoy and the to-do list becomes more tailored to what you enjoy; it becomes easier to develop a balance between what you need and what you want to do.
+Luis Montoya true, it sounds so simple but it's just something I'm so out of touch with. Even sitting down in the library, I'll look at my books for 3 seperate classes and my brain is like "Oh shit you can't do ALL of those, better just choose one and totally neglect the rest. When of course I could just do 10 pages from each or something. But I've just never been used to doing things in that way. It's always an all or nothing approach. I'll give the specific list a go
In this video, Daniel Levitin shares his thoughts on productivity and time management. He says that it might be useful to use flashcards, and that it's important to leave time in your day for spontaneousness and creativity.
Good tips. Simple but good. Strange this "Big Think" channel. It is the first channel I ever saw having more than a million subs, but still has less views per video than a channel with 100k subs. Why is that?
My "to do" list usually involves a pile of paperwork that I've carefully hidden on a shelf in my storage closet, out of sight and out of mind. It's not super effective.
maybe just stop trying to do everything because society wants you to do that and instead drop everything and do things that are useful. all this research and advice for humanity is only here in the favour the system. maybe i dont want to do anything, thanks.
+Litvo So you want your life to be even more meaningless than it already is by its nature? Sure, you don't have to do anything because society "wants" you to do it, buy you must have something you'd like to achieve, or else you're just a cockroach who won't even have the ability to support itself.
+Litvo So monitoring your health (which was the example the neuroscientist gave) is about serving the system? Where is the contradiction between time management and doing what YOU want to do?
you are monitoring your health for these reasons well depending where you are -good health- more productivity for the society -saving money for the government for treatment and absence from work. and my favourite is get people focused on staying healthy while the products we got to consume are unhealthy itself and the system is unhealthy for people in general. oh and while we are trying to be healthy with gym memberships taking bad supplements etc really we're just occupying ourselves with a distraction from reality of uncaring society. why? take a guess its just my opinion feel free to disagree :D
What if I don't want to do anything, huh? What if I don't want to help the system, and just live as a natural free-living thing as we were born to be? What If I want to be just a blob, huh? YOU CAN'T STOP ME FROM BEING FREE! YOU CAN'T STOP ME FROM BEING A BLOB!
+josephrainer Without "the system" you wouldn't be sitting here on RU-vid making such comment. You'd be out in the wild, searching for food and fearing threats at any moment.
