Time Strategies for the Semester

     This semester will likely be the one in which time management is the most necessary. It's only been a week and I already feel a bit overwhelmed.

    I am working two jobs on campus. I am taking a video production course in which I have to write shoot and edit a short video every few weeks. I am in a screenwriting course where I have to read and/or write a script almost each week. I am in this course which looks to require hefty amounts of reading and writing each week. I am enrolled in two other online courses. I am one of two artistic directors for the Oklahoma University Improv (OUI) troupe. Finally, I really want to find time to work on my own feature length screenplay throughout the semester. Just typing it made my head spin. Maybe that isn't really all that bad, but I am historically very bad with time management and procrastination. I am terrified to let even a single second of my time slip through the cracks this semester.

   

My time this semester (Brooklyn Shmidt)


    I read the article How Checklists Train Your Brain To Be More Productive And Goal Oriented. I didn't it to convince me of anything. One of the first things I did for this semester was plan out and organize my calendar and checklists. I have a separate checklist for each class and have every assignment for the next week on there with scheduled reminders and due dates. It's reaching a point of paranoia almost. However, as the article said, it is satisfying and gratifying to see the little check mark pop up and the item fade from my list. I truly hope I can keep up with it and make it a new habit.

    I also read The Important Habit of Just Starting. Once again, I didn't need to be convinced of anything. I still need to be convinced to start, but I'm well aware of  how hard that is. I am an absolutely awful procrastinator. I can't count the number of papers I've woken up at three in the morning to write before class started at nine. Hey, those extra couple of TV show episodes were really important at the time. Every time, I would wait and wait and wait to start an assignment or a project. Every time, I would eventually get over that hump and speed right through it and I often enjoyed doing the assignment too. I genuinely love writing, and I especially love writing stories and scripts. I hate starting them. So, I sit here with a dozen ideas I'm ecstatic about but know I'll only write them in a few months. Maybe... 

    This semester, I am really trying to change that. I have yet to put off an assignment yet. We'll see if I can maintain it and finally break my terrible habits.

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