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Show 8 | MyWeberMedia.com | April 8, 2019 By LANDIN GRIFFITH Reporter Weber State University students who don’t manage their time well and tackle the “go-go-go” mindset find difficulty in achieving academic success due to the mental, physical and social complications that come with a heavy workload. Many students find themselves struggling with hyper-productivity, a term used to describe individuals who don’t manage their time well and try to accomplish too much at once. Weber students acknowledged this issue when asked how not managing their time well affected different areas of their life. According to one Weber State student, not managing his time well resulted in a non-existent social life. Another student said that she had strategies to manage her time but poorly implemented them into her day to day life, which created anxiety and stress. This was a common answer among Weber students who said that they didn’t know how to manage their time, and because of it, their anxieties, stresses and lack of self-care were all elevated to some degree. So how can students embed themselves with a “work smarter, not harder” attitude and become professionals at managing their time? A common answer among students was to create a checklist, similar to a shopping list, and list the tasks in order from most important to least important. Students who identified and wrote down the most crucial tasks for each day found greater success at managing their time, as well as improving other aspects of their lives. “I write everything down at the beginning of each day or week. When I’m able to check things off, I know I’m getting things done,” said computer science major Tyler Jaenins. “That’s how I’m able to manage time on a day-to-day or week-to-week basis.” In addition to being enrolled as a full-time student at Weber, Jaenins noted that by creating a checklist, he was able to find time for himself and his relationships. “You have to get things done, but you need to find time for yourself or you and your relationships are going to fall apart,” Jaenins said. Whether it’s web surfing, video games, a notification ‘ding’ from your phone or a list of emails beckoning to be replied to, distractions can play a prominent role in how students manage their time. A common distraction that may occur among students is the impulse to check their phones and scroll through Twitter, Facebook and Instagram the first thing in the morning. In addition, most of the distractions in a student’s life are in the comforts of their home. Distractions that cause repetitive impulses can affect a student’s ability to break bad habits, which may prevent them from building good habits that benefit their time management skills and academic success. AVOIDING “You have to get things done, but you need to find time for yourself or you and your relationships are going to fall apart.” TYLER JAENINS WSU Student E AUBR npost he Sig DT | T HAR E ECK HYPER-PRODUCTIVITY MyWeberMedia.com | April 8, 2019 | 9 Cody Sullivan, a department manager at Pinterest, said that once he recognized his distractions, he was able to moderate or eliminate them, which has helped him both as a student and marketer. “As a marketing employee at Pinterest, I’ve learned that distractions are recurring,” Sullivan said. “There are quarterly revenue goals at Pinterest that have to be met each month. If I’m constantly distracted and don’t meet those goals, then there will be problems.” In addition, Sullivan said that not all distractions are bad. Some distractions, such as taking small breaks and social interactions can be beneficial to how a person manages their time. Small breaks may include taking a walk through the park, socializing with a classmate and eating a healthy snack. Allowing a “brain break” helped students focus on their current tasks when they returned. Students who identified distractions early in their college career helped them take on the responsibilities as a student and prepared them for upcoming deadlines. A controversial statement that students often overlook is that they can achieve more by doing less. “There are a lot of things I know that I need to cut out of my life,” said student Lexie Martinez. “I wake up at 6 a.m. every morning, then go to class, work, then dance and find it impossible to do any of the things that I’m passionate about, whether it’s my hobbies or extracurricular activities.” According to The Startup, when creating a daily, weekly or monthly checklist, students should write down the things that add value to their lives and ask the question, “Is this a task that I am particularly well suited to complete?” Students who attempt to complete a difficult task will often spend too much time on the task and forget about the essential tasks needed to be completed. Compared to the hyper-productivity mindset, students who “bite off more than they can chew” are often more overwhelmed than students who take a slow approach and complete their tasks little by little each day, rather than waiting until the last minute to cram everything together. Students who created checklists, moderated or eliminated distractions and focused on things that added value to their lives said their academic success revolved around managing their time well. There are hundreds of articles and studies from accredited websites and colleges that discuss how students can manage their time well. However, it’s the student’s responsibility to challenge themselves with new ideas and to implement those ideas into their busy lives. Comment on this story at signpost.mywebermedia.com |
