Page 73 - Keys To Community College Success

■ Step 7: Take action. How will you persist? Follow the steps in your plan until you
achieve your goal.
■ Step 8: Celebrate! How will you recognize your accomplishments? Appreciate your
hard work with something you enjoy—a movie night, an outing with friends, some-
thing you’ve been wanting to buy, maybe even a long nap.
As you work toward your most important goals, consider how well you are using
your time. No matter how well you define the steps to your goals, you need to set those
steps within a time frame to achieve them.

WHO ARE YOU AS A
time manager?

Everyone has 24 hours in a day, and 7 to 8 of those hours involve sleeping (or
should, if you want to remain healthy and alert enough to achieve your goals). You
can’t manage how time passes, but you can manage how you use it.
The first step in time management is to investigate your personal relationship with
time. The more you’re aware of your own time-related behaviors, the better you can
create a schedule that maximizes your strengths, minimizes your weaknesses, and
reduces stress. Determine who you are as a time manager by exploring your preferences
and assessing your needs.

Identify Your Preferences
People have unique body rhythms and habits that affect how they deal with time. Some
people have lots of energy late at night. Others do their best work early in the day.
Some people are chronically late, while others get everything done with time to spare.
The following steps will help you create a personal time “profile”:
■ Identify your energy patterns. At what time of day does your energy tend to peak?
When do you tend to have the least energy?
■ Notice your on-time percentage. Do you tend to be early, on time, or late? If you
are early or late, by how many minutes are you normally off schedule? Do you set
your clocks five or ten minutes early to trick yourself into being on time?
■ Look at your stamina. Do you focus more
effectively if you have a long block of time
in which to work? Or do you need regular
breaks in order to perform effectively?
■ Evaluate the effects of your preferences.
Which of your time-related preferences are
likely to have a positive impact on your
success at school? Which are likely to cause
problems? Which can you make adjust-
ments for, and which will just require you
to cope?
■ Establish an ideal schedule. Describe an
ideal schedule that illustrates your prefer-
ences. For example, a student studies better
during the day and prefers a long block of
time. His ideal schedule may read: “Classes
bunched together on Mondays, Wednes-
days, and Fridays. Tuesdays and Thursdays
free for studying and research. Study pri-
marily during daytime hours.”

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