How Do You Manage Your Time?

[AzureWolf]

[COLOR=blue]This summer, I find myself a little overwhelmed with everything that I'm doing, leaving little to no time to do things I want. Work easily eats up way too much of the day (9-4, I don't take lunch breaks ^^). Hell, I don't even have time to get eight hours of sleep at night!

Because of this time dilemma, when I am doing something that requires more than one day, I try my darndest to do as much as possible, even though I should just be focused on the current task at hand. But that's going beyond my question, heh.

So how do you tend to manage your time? Are you on top of things, having everything scheduled and controlled, or are you spontaneous and "for the moment?" I used to be a "for the moment" type of person, but this summer, it's just not working out. So I'm slowing making my way towards scheduling. What's annoying about scheduling things is that the initial scheduling part takes up a lot of time unto itself, but after setting up your schedule, changing, tagging, and striking things takes only a moment.[/COLOR]

[kenshinsbabe]

[SIZE=3][FONT=Georgia]I find scheduling to be too much of a hassle. Life's no fun if you have to plan it first. Of course, I just moved to a new place at the beginning of summer, so I don't have any friends, making my time managing alot easier that it would be normally.

But, when I still lived back in the other place, everyday I would go out with my friends from about 9 or 10 in the morning and usually stay out until dark. Next year, I'll be getting a job, so that will majorly cut in to my leisure time.

Back to the topic, I'm more of a spontaneous person. It usually happens when I get bored, which is all the time lately. I'm wasting most of my time reading, which kinda sucks. Usually, I'm outside all summer, but being couped up in this house while the sun is shining outside is killing me slowly. ><;;; My mom won't let me explore the neighborhood by myself, my sister has a job and I can't drive. I'll let you do the math.[/FONT][/SIZE]

[elfpirate]

[b][font=Comic Sans MS]Oh, how I wish I could be on a schedule... but it's just not possible in this hectic situation I'm in, and with the insane sleep schedule (or lack thereof) that I have these days.

A schedule would probably relieve a lot of burnout...:animesigh
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[IceRose]

My summer has been filled with stress. Girst I got my job, then I volunteer in the animal shelter. I have table tennis lessons practically at midnight and my brothers play jokes on me and can barely get any sleep. Worse of all, I'm moving out of my parents home by December because I have to go to college in another country.

I need some rest

[Fall]

I don't. Simple.

I don't try and manage my time at all. I take everything as it comes. I'm really a "for the moment" person, as I usually change my mind at the last minute.

I find that not trying to manage my time, and just letting it all "go with the flow"... :nope: ..makes my day [i]alot [/i]easier and less stressful.

[Dagger]

I suppose it depends. If I'm in a situation where I have a lot of stuff that needs to be accomplished, I may set about making a detailed schedule or trying to be very disciplined with myself in terms of how I use my free moments. But times like that are extremely rare. Generally I don't have too much on my plate, and I trust myself to slog through the truly vital tasks at some point or another. So I just do whatever I feel like at the moment, for the most part.

~Dagger~

[Snarktastic]

[COLOR=Indigo]I used to be one of those that didn't do schedules... but then I went into college and realized that, hey, schedules are nice to have around so that you don't KILL YOURSELF.

Plus, the field I'm going into is all about the scheduling, with deadlines for projects and everything, so it's nice that I'm learning that NOW instead of on the job.

I don't sit down and make out a schedule on paper or whatever, but I do go over it in my mind, like, "Okay, I have a project that's due on Wednesday, so I should try to have it done by Monday so I can print it out on Tuesday..." That sort of thing.[/COLOR]

[SamuraiHaruko]

[FONT=Comic Sans MS]I have schedules!..........okay maybe not that. I have waaaaaay to much free time no matter what i do. If I'm given chores I do them fast and accurate heh accurate.....makes me feel smart XDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD lol

well basically I try to stuff up my time but in the end.....i always have waaaaay to much free time which leads to the fact to all the crap on my walls lol XDDDD[/FONT]

[Solo Tremaine]

[COLOR=#503F86]Err, I bought myself a diary some weeks ago. I haven't really used it, though. Most of the time I remember where I need to be (at the last minute), so nothing disaterous has happened yet. But I guess I'm tempting fate more than a little here.

I don't really manage my time very well. I haven't had a regular eating or sleeping pattern in weeks and I'm constantly taking on new endeavours. It's not that i don't have time for them, but I haven't worked out a routine for myself to fit everything in smoothly. I guess it doesn't help that a lot of the time things go on for longer than I anticipate- it does make things a lot harder to get round. The best thing to do is make a record of what you're already doing and then just learn to say no to anything that's going to conflict with what you feel is most important. Someone asked me up to Birmingham for three days this weekend, and I said no because I know I have a lot of other stuff I need to be doing (and I don't like Rammstien). But if I had gone, there'd be a whole lot of stress and unfinished stuff waiting for me.

*ends ramble* So yeah, prioritising is good.[/COLOR]

[Fyxe]

[size=1][color=slategray]I am definitely a "for the moment" person. I hate to do work early, unless I really want to get something done. This mainly gets me in trouble at school. People tell me I'm a great student, but I need to do my work more often... heh, being "smart" and not doing your work is [I]not[/I] a good combo. Then I always get swamped with all the make-up work I have and it drives me crazy. I don't even use my Study Halls wisely, I just sit there and throw things at people or read... when I have about ten things to do. Then I end up doing all my work at the last minute, like, five minutes before I need to go to school. Which isn't smart.
This year I am going to try and make an effort to actually do my work on time and to my fullest potential.. okay, maybe that's too much to ask from me, but I'll still try more.
There is always something that distracts me, like, "Oh... well... this worksheet is easy.. and I'm really close to completing that video game... oh hell, I'll do this later." That's basically my attitude to work. Ha.
I think when I get a job, I'll work harder at that, since you don't have many things to distract you there, plus, it PAYS. >> If teachers paid you to do homework, I'd be more enthused.[/color][/size]

[Snarktastic]

[quote name='Lix][size=1][color=slategray]I think when I get a job, I'll work harder at that, since you don't have many things to distract you there[/color'][/size][/quote]

[COLOR=Indigo]HAHAHAHAHAHA.

HA.

Eh-heh.

*clears throat*

What I mean is -- whoever told you that is a damn dirty liar.[/COLOR]

[PiroMunkie]

Trying pretty much cutting yourself off from the internet and sell your TV (any you have that are yours), and see how much time you free up in your day. I only really ever use the internet any more to just check my e-mail and quickly browse a few message boards. So I am only really actively on it maybe 10 minutes a day.

Nothing [i]bad[/i] can come from setting your priorities straight. Sometimes you just need to take a step outside your box and take a look at what your doing, and make sure you have everything in order. I am starting to keep schedule much more than I used to (because I never did before), but it is still nothing huge.

I recommend finding, possibly buying if you can't find it at a library or whatever, and reading the book [u]Personality Plus[/u] by Florence Littauer. Make sure just to get 'Personality Plus' and not 'Personality Plus for Couples' or 'Personality Plus for Parents.'

The book has nothing to do with scheduling, but it does go over four basic temperaments found in every person - Popular Sanguine, Powerful Choleric, Perfect Melancholy, and Peaceful Phlegmatic - the strengths and weaknesses of all of them, and how to deal with people whose temperaments are very different from yours. There is a small test to find out how much of each of the four you are, which I recommend taking before and after you read the book (my scores changed dramatically).

Judging by how you are talking, I would say your strongest temperament is Popular Sanguine backed by a little Peaceful Phlegmatic, you will have to find out what that is on your own. I strongly recommend the read, though, for anyone.

[Boba Fett]

[color=green]I'm working three days a week and interning another three, so my free time isn't exactly copious. I guess I just get into a routine and stick with it, and make sure to get all my work done at work, so when I get home goofing off isnt a problem.[/color]

[Panda]

I use to schedule my day from when I would wake up to go to bed. Because of the amount of things I use to do I had to do this in order not to let things slide. For example: High school. I was active in band, worked part time, went to night classes at the community college, studied and hung out with my friends. If I didn't plan time for everything something would slide. I had to do it.

Now I don't schedule anything. Because of my poor health I pretty much wing stuff. If I schedule everything and I am too sick to do it, I would get really frustrated and down on myself. I had to teach myself to take things as they come and deal with things when I can. Life is too short, I don't want to spend anymore of it making schedules that my health won't let me keep. :D

[Goodbye, Face]

I guess I'm like Dagger, if I have a lot of stuff that needs to be done, I try to make a schedule around it. I usually always fail to do some part of it, though. I'm usually a perfectionist, so I do tasks that would normally be small over a long period of time and try to get it right.

[Pumpkin]

[COLOR="#CC3366"][FONT=Tahoma][SIZE=1][b]Oh how I wish I could schedulized and organize things. But I'm afraid I'm one of those "live in the moment" people, much to my dismay. I really wish I were more organized and I even have a calender to write events down, however things always go wrong for me. I never wake up on time for anything, or something always gets in the way of plans. It's not that I lack motivation, it's organization and the planning that is my weakness.

Seriously, I've been stressing out over this summer of when and where to do things when I could have just put it all in my calender months ago and had everything scheduled so I wouldn't have to rush things. Now I feel like panicking since I have to do a lot of things before the school year starts. So you see, living in the moment is not always easy, and I admire anyone who can schedule their days and make it through without any hassle. For I truely wish it were that simple with me, but sadly it's not. It can be a great tool to plan out your day, and believe me would make life way less stressful if you got a lot on your plate.
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[sakurasuka]

[CENTER][SIZE=1]Work takes up far too much of my time these days. I only work seven hours a day/four days a week, but it still gets straining. I don't suppose it'd be all that dificult, but I also have an abundant amount of summer-school work (No, I'm not an idiot or anything, my mother simply decided my school is rubbish and she wanted to homeschool me all year round. Real nice.)

With school and work (I work Monday 2-9, Wednesday 8-3, Friday 2-9, and Saturday 8-3.) and school working around work, it is dificult for me to get much of anything done.

Therefore, no, I do not schedule. My time is somewhat forced into certain areas, but it is not by choice. When I have free time, my world is random. (But I'm not allowed to GO anywhere since I do NOT have my licence as of yet, and my parents are far too protective.) At any rate, my rambling is done.[/SIZE][/CENTER]