Taking it One Step at a Time

One of the most committed guilty pleasures would be in no bout wasting time. Planning is important; Benjamin Franklin once said, “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” Many successful people were people who could efficiently manage their time. This is a well-known fact and people are well- aware of the importance of planning. That is why in the beginning of a new year or a new semester students make it a ritual to plan out new year’s resolutions and goals.  

Despite all the effort in conjuring up the most productive year ever, few ever make it to the end of in success. People who are met with disappointment year after year unable to meet the goals end up giving up and thinking that they are weak willed individuals. Though this may be in part true it also may be that these people are just not planning the right way. Many people make unrealistic vague goal blatantly without much of a thought and think that an it will work out in the end. Some are too enthusiastic and end up devising a plan so difficult that a one couldn’t possibly keep up with.

Planning a productive and workable schedule isn’t difficult to make and also it isn’t impossible to make. Just take these few little tips into consideration while planning out your next daily, weekly or monthly goal.  The first tip is to set a clear goal and write it down, the more detailed the better. The key to planning is organization and the first step is to organize what exactly is it that you want. Second is to organize your goals into long and short term goals and break them down into monthly, weekly, and daily milestones. Then fill in the rest of the empty slots in your schedule with other must do, but less important goals. It is important to prioritize what needs to be done first to last so that you know exactly what you have to be doing in that moment. This is the basics to planning.

After the basics of planning your focus should move on to how to combat the three most irrisistable distractions that leads to the downfall of a perfect schedule which are multi-tasking, procrastinating, and small external time wasters that cause time wasting. First, multi-tasking does not save time, a brain cannot focus on two things at a time but even if it is in brief intervals it will switch back and forth focusing on whatever it is just causing lack of productivity, concentration, and efficiency. When finding one-self multitasking just stop what you are doing, take a moment and start again one thing at a time. Small external time wasters, in our spare time we always say after this TV show, or after one round of this game, in spite of what we say we end up spending way too long doing something unimportant. Or during a phone call drifting into rabbit trails and talking for hours what should have been minutes. When doing small tasks remember to focus on the task given. Also when taking small breaks you should put an alarm on your phone for a certain time limit and remind yourself to get back to your task, as well as keep track by writing how much time is being spent on those activities. That way you are constantly aware of what you are doing and can reflect on your actions. Lastly, procrastination, this is probably the most difficult thing to overcome. However, this problem is actually easier them you think to fix. Procrastination can be fixed by just doing whatever it is that you don’t want to start. Sounds vauge but keep up with me. In every task, beginning the task marks half the task already finished. Your fear of doing things that you don’t want to do will disappear by starting on the task you don’t want to do. So when you think you don’t want to do something remember that it is the perfect time to do it.    

The last thing to do is to review on a weekly basis and reflect on how you did, and accordingly plan your next week in a way that you can do better. Also a small tip is to leave the weekend a little open so that you can finish up work that you weren’t able to finish during that week and for any surprises that might come up during the weekend.

Chun Se-ryoung (ST Reporter)

Csr918@ssu.ac.kr