Mind Management Angela May

Reader Questions I

Got totally overwhelmed by the end of the year there, but I'm back with a vengeance. To get myself rolling once more here at Mind Management, I asked my readers for their Time Management questions...

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How essential do you think a routine is to making sure your time is managed effectively? I work in shifts from 16- 39 hours a week. I don't do the same days or times week to week so I find really hard to split my time between work, studying, social and hobbies. Any suggestions?

I've definitely been giving a lot more thought to habit and routine this year, but University was definitely more of a "shift" style arrangement with meettings and projects to manage. It's not easy! The human mind seems to thrive on habit and ritual. It takes us time to switch gears and settle into a task - like studying, or doing chores. But it's not impossible!

Here are some things you can try:
* Think of your day in one-hour chunks rather than blocks of "work" and "not work". When you're off work, use a timer to start a block and keep yourself focused (More on that: http://www.angelamay.ca/index.php/2010/01/count-up-timer ). You might need to limit your hobby to an hour a day in order to keep everything in balance but trust me - you can get a lot done in one hour if you focus!

• Keep an active list of *everything* you need to get done - for work, chores, hobby, social... everything on the same list!! When you have a spare five minutes and/or you just don't know what to tackle next, look down the list. Can you squeeze in fifteen minutes of class reading before your next lecture? Can you text a friend and schedule a get-together?

• Keep your tasks as mobile as possible. Even though a smartphone is an expense, it's invaluable being able to fire off a quick email while waiting for the bus, or modifying my grocery order on your lunch break. If you're waiting for a friend, you can get some good knitting/doodling/brainstorming in during that five minutes - but only if you have the tools at hand.

• Your social life needs to meet you half way. The hardest part of keeping up a social life when you're busy is the time lost getting TO where they are to hang out and then back from it. Friends need to be 'scheduled' just like everything else. It's awkward at first... especially if your friends are the type who just want you to come over and "hang out", but if you have goals to achieve that might not be feasible. Reduce travel as much as possible and consolidate "social time" alongside other things. Can you grab a quick coffee after class? Can you do lunch on your way to the grocery store? Working out? Make that a social thing and do it with a friend. Need to get some new shoes? Make that a social outing. Put a limit on the time you're socializing. It's a total drag only being able to see your friends for an hour or two, but using limits and keeping everything in balance makes sure you get to see them at all!

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How do you pursue a passion in your 'spare time'? I haven't had any 'spare time' since high school.

You haven't had "spare time" since high school, and yet you find yourself on a social network.....? I'm joking of course, I use the words "spare time" almost ironically because even in high school I was loaded up with different obligations and scarcely had time to myself. But your spare time is greater than 0:00 - I guarantee it - and if you think it isn't, that's more a factor of prioritizing your time effectively than 'spare time' not existing.

The biggest secret of time management is that 'spare time' needs to be *made*.

It's possible that your moments of spare time are highly fragmented througout your day, and you can't always do exactly what you want when you have a spare five minutes.

If your passion is, say, figure skating, you're not going to be able to do much towards it when your day job is lifting boxes in a warehouse. It takes a lot of time to get down to the rink, lace up, warm up, skate, cool down and change and get back to whatever you were doing before. But how else can that passion manifest? Can you listen to podcasts about figure skating on your drive to work? Can you read figure skating blogs on your phone during your coffee break? Can you tumblr a figure skating photo in the five minutes before bed?

And when it comes to actually getting down to the rink.... how early can you wake up?

If it really is your passion - really truly - and you still can't find ANY spare time to practice for it, you do need to take a hard look at what IS filling your day. Is figure skating your passion... more than video games? More than being on the PTA? More than the ten minutes you spend waiting for a latte at Starbucks?