Careers Gateway - Magazine

Life in the fast lane!

Okay….so you might not be working for a merchant bank in Canary Wharf, have a penthouse apartment overlooking the Thames, a top of the range sports car, 3 mobile phones and a jam packed filofax! It is unlikely that you are going to be overheard in a posh restaurant screaming 'TIME IS MONEY!' or 'Make an appointment with my secretary! So you are probably asking the understandable question…….why is time management important to me?

You don't have to wear a pinstripe suit to be busy!

Whether you are in your teens or ninety three, time is very important. If you have too much of it, you worry about wasting it and if you don't have enough, you're stressed out and making big decisions under pressure. Time management can help you in lots of ways. Here are a few :-

Sort out your tasks (things to do) in priority (which are the most important or urgent)
Get more done (find out ways of doing tasks that save you time and get the job done in the best possible way)
Put you in control (organisation may help make your massive 'to do' list look more manageable)
Free up more time (for meeting your mates, playing football, bowling or going shopping…..whatever you like doing!)
Change your life! (Time management isn't just about careers and school, it can also help you in anything else you spend time doing!)

How to slow the clock down!

You have already looked at some of the ways to help you manage your time. Action plans are a great way of taking a big task, breaking it down into little tasks, planning time to do them and dates to do them by. Planning is always a great way of looking at what you have to do and how you are going to do it.

You might also have heard people talk about 'assertiveness' and this is really helpful for time management. You need to work on your communication skills and learn how to reply to other people asking you to do things. This doesn't mean that you should refuse to do everything you are asked, but you can look at your action plan and be honest and realistic about what you have time for and how important each task is.

If you aren't convinced about saving time to help you achieve your career, school or other goals, think about it like this. What if your Auntie Ethel wakes you up at 6am and asks you to deliver her coffee morning invitations to all of her friends? You might want to say 'NOOOOO, I hate your friends, they all talk too much and pinch my cheeks when they see me'. With your time management plan, you could say 'Sorry Auntie Ethel, I have a careers action plan and I am really pushed for time until I have had my careers interview. Can I do them for you next week?' You can be assertive with dear Auntie Ethel by showing that you are prioritising your time rather than just coming up with a really bad excuse! People might not mind you having to say 'no' if you have a genuine reason.

Keep a diary, it might help you to see how much time you really have and help you to plan all of those tasks and deadlines in your action plan. Ask for help (delegation), there might be some things in your plan that your friends of family can help with e.g. if your mum passes the post office on the way to work maybe she could post your application forms for you (but don't take advantage - you might get caught out!!).

Make a tidy space in your room. It won't help your organisational skills if you are trying to write an action plan or diary in a bedroom scattered with CDs, clothes and papers. Remember, if you have a clear space, you will have a clear mind too! Make some files for all of your paperwork, you'll be glad you did when you start to build piles and piles of forms, books, plans, and application forms and you need to find something in a hurry.

Stay strong!

Keeping to your time management system might be hard, especially when your mates ask you to go out with them or you want to watch something on TV. Hopefully, if you plan well, you can make sure that you organise your tasks around the fun stuff you want to do. Remember the basic rule. If you plan your work now, you save time later and if you save time later, you have more time to play!

There are lots of books and websites with information on different systems for managing your time. Have a look in your careers / local library and ask your Connexions adviser or teachers / tutors for some help. Use the systems that work well for you and make sure that you don't get bogged down. A complicated time management system is useless if it starts to take up even more of your time. Keep it simple!

Good Luck
Jennie Glitherow

At school or college? Look out for Jennie's future articles which we'll have here for the first Monday of each month, and which we'll link to the best sites we can find on the Web. Why not bookmark us now?

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