Time & Stress Management
In addition to these resources, check out the Time & Stress Management Workshop slides by clicking the title!
Feeling Stressed & Overwhelmed During Quarantine?
Ever wonder how the cycle of procrastination works? Click on the title to watch Tim Urban try to articulate why procrastinators procrastinate.
What Type of Procrastinator Are You?
When you put something off, what do you feel, think, and do? Take this quiz to find out what type of procrastinator you are. Pick one from each group.
What do you Feel when you’re procrastinating?
A. Overwhelmed
B. Guilty
C. Annoyed
What do you Think when you’re procrastinating?
A. Oh, I really should be doing that. And that. And that, too
B. I’m only making it worse but I can’t help myself
C. Shouldn’t someone else being doing this kind of thing?
What do you Do when you’re procrastinating?
A. A little of a lot of things to keep all the balls in the air
B. Nothing, but I think about it
C. Grouse a bit and then forget about it
If you chose mostly A answers, read about Pinball Procrastinators, below. Mostly B’s, you’re likely a Paralyzed Procrastinator, and C’s are Put-Upon. If you had a variety of letters in your answer, look for yourself in all three types, because you’ve developed a hybrid style of stalling. Read more about the specific types of procrastinators below!
Did you see yourself in one of these? Or a bit in all three? By admitting that you procrastinate, and digging into why, you take a giant step forward. But don’t be tempted to stop there. You also need to tackle how you procrastinate.
A. Pinball Procrastinator
You’ve got plenty of good ideas. They seem to spring up in almost every conversation, making you the go-to person for your less-generative friends. On the flip side, lots of good ideas mean lots to get done. And you definitely want to…if only you weren’t feeling so overwhelmed by it all. Sure, you’re busy, bouncing from one pursuit to another, but somehow you don’t end up doing what needs to get done now.
What’s really stopping you: Not knowing how to start or tackle the task.
B. Paralyzed Procrastinator
There are many entry points to this place of inaction. You might be backing away from something you know will be hard. Or you’re used to others criticizing or re-doing your work. Then again, you could have set the bar too high for yourself. All of these land you in the same situation: waiting patiently for the perfect moment to get it right, until you wait so long, there’s no time.
What’s really stopping you: Reluctance to be judged — by others, yourself, or both.
C. Put-Upon Procrastinator
You’re one of the most productive people you know. That’s why the label of procrastinator seems so not right. But if you lift up your pile of accomplishments, you’ll find a persistent list of not-so-interesting items that aren’t getting done. Is it paperwork? Writing thank-you notes? Taking down the recycling? The common element is that it’s boring, and, well, not that important to you. So you regularly put it off in favor of more significant stuff.
What’s really stopping you: Boredom, and a belief that it’s not a good use of your time.
Stress Balloon
When life becomes stressful, it tends to overpower us to the point to where it's hard to focus on the present and what's happening in our lives right in front of us.
It's important to match our stress with activities and habits that relieve it. Our life can be compared to a balloon. To fill up a balloon, air must be put into it. However, too much air can cause it to pop and break. Stress works the same way! Stress can be beneficial in moderate amounts. However, if we overfill our lives and make our stress load larger than we can handle, then we are putting our well being at risk of "popping". To make sure we are staying healthy, we need to release some stress or anger from our lives so we don’t pop or respond in an unhealthy way. Read the "101 Stress Relievers" to learn more about possible stress relievers and select a few that you think would best work for you!
Time Management for Students in 5 Easy Steps
By: Stephanie Osorno
Your Five-Step Time Management Plan
1. Analyze how you’re currently spending your time. Have you heard the saying “You can’t control what you can’t measure”? Well, that’s especially true of time. So, for just two school days, track how you spend every hour of the day. Be thorough and honest! Include eating, sleeping, studying, spending time on social media, playing video games or sports, and watching TV. Use the time tracking sheet template.
2. Create a priority list that includes everything you need to do today, including any social or family commitments. Group the items based on whether they’re onetime, daily, or recurring tasks. Don’t worry about the order; we’ll get to that in the next step.
Now, rank each of the items on your to-do list as A, B, or C, based on their importance:
A = Important and urgent
B = Important, but not urgent
C = Not important and not urgent
For example, let’s assume that your SAT or ACT test is two months away; your history paper is due tomorrow; your best friend is counting on you to attend her soccer game; and you can’t afford to fall behind on reading assignments. Your final prioritized to-do list for today might look like this:
Daily tasks
A. Read class assignments
A. Clean the kitchen
B. Phone or text friends
Recurring (but not daily) tasks
A. Attend class
B. Study for SATs
C. Get a haircut
Onetime task
A. Attend a friend’s soccer game
A. Finish history paper, which is due tomorrow
Of course, circumstances and priorities change from day to day. While studying for the SATs and ACTs may be a B today, it’s likely to become an A the week before the test.
3. Enter your to-do list items in your preferred calendar planner, estimating and blocking out a time slot for each item. Enter all the recurring items first. For example, if Mondays from 9 to 10 are reserved for math class or soccer practice, you’ll want to know that slot is unavailable for other tasks. Enter all your A high-priority items first, followed by the B’s and then the C’s.
4. Make adjustments in your planner based on your current time management habits.
- If you’re a Multitasker who usually underestimates how long a task takes, then increase the time you’ve allotted for each task. The time log you kept will give you an idea of how much extra time to allow, but start with at least fifteen extra minutes to be on the safe side.
- If you’re a Helper who tends to fall behind because you’re assisting others, build more lead-time into every project. You might also want to consider dedicating a specific time slot for maintaining friendships, such as setting aside an hour a week to Skype with friends and catch up.
- If you’re a Deliberator who excels at breaking large projects into individual tasks, incorporate that approach into your planner. Get as detailed as you like so you’re in even more control and getting the satisfaction of checking off all those tasks one by one.
- If you’re an Early Bird who likes to focus on one project at a time, make the most of that focus by scheduling project tasks at the time that’s best for you. That is, if you’re most alert in the morning but you drag in the afternoons, schedule your high-priority A tasks in the morning and save your B’s and C’s for the afternoon.
5. Do, review, and repeat daily. As you go through your day, tackle tasks based on how you’ve organized your A, B, and C priorities in your planner. Check off your completed tasks. Copy uncompleted tasks to tomorrow’s to-do list and start the whole process over from Step 2.
As you practice these steps over time, you’ll learn a lot—both about yourself and managing time. So, give them a try for a week and then come back and tell us what you’ve discovered.
Procrastination Tips
• Productive procrastination. You’re busy-busy-busy getting stuff done, crossing items off your list…and actively avoiding you-know-what. But as long as you remain on-the-go, no one can say you don’t have a good excuse, right?
If you want to stop this: Put only the critical items on your to-do list, and don’t let yourself stray from your set agenda.
• Unproductive procrastination. Similar to productive procrastination, you push the unwanted to-do off your radar, but instead of filling your time with lots of other tasks, you simply go about your day as if the unwanted task didn’t exist.
If you want to stop this: Turn the task from invisible to unavoidable. Make it an obstacle that must be dealt with before you can move on to more welcome activities. For instance, you can’t pick up your new floating chair for the pool party until you go to the Post Office and buy stamps.
• Waiting for perfect. You can’t get started, or finished, if circumstances aren’t just so. So, you don’t.
If you want to stop this: Prove to yourself that you don’t need a perfect moment to perform. Use your scraps of free time, five minutes here or 20 minutes there, to make progress.
These solutions won’t feel good at first because you’re pitting your rational side against your emotional one. But the more often your rational side perseveres, the easier it will get. But there is one catch: You have to want to stop procrastinating for any approach to work.
Helpful Time Management Skills
When life becomes stressful,
- Make lists or some form of writing to keep in check what you have to do.
- Reward yourself after every “To Do” list item you accomplish (15 min of tv, social media ect).
- In moments when you feel stressed, remember to breathe and try to focus on what you are doing in that very moment. Forms of meditations and walks can also help
- Try to put yourself in a healthy working environment that will help keep you focused
Click here to get the printable commitment chart!
If you're struggling to print it out, try taking a screenshot of the chart and printing it or adding it to a word document then printing it!