Ryan Lopano Blog

Time management is a ridiculously important skill. If you do anything in life, you need to manage your time. This is especially true in college. Students are taught how to balance all the activities they are doing on top of their school work and social time. I know for me, it feels like I have a million things going on. For example, I work for two different hockey teams, do design work for the sports organization on campus, work 10 hours a week at RecWell, am taking 16 credits, and have to balance all of that with being able to hang out with my friends, family, and girlfriend. Stolen Focus talks about this saying, “We live in a culture that constantly asks us to do more and more, and it’s burning up our ability to do one thing well.” Obviously, that is a lot, but it is manageable when you have good time management skills.

Something I find really useful is having some sort of calendar or planner so you know what is due when or where you need to be when. I have several different systems in place that work for me. One thing that I do is constantly look at the calendar pages on Canvas and Blackboard. Seeing everything lined up nicely on a calendar is very useful to see. From there, I can compare it to my school and work schedule. Talking about those, I have reminders set on my phone 15 minutes before all of my classes and shifts to remind me about them. These aren’t always used, especially towards the latter half of the semester, but they are definitely good to have and keep you in a route. This also comes in handy when things are “off” about your routine. For example, if a class is canceled or if a shift is moved from its normal time. Regardless of changes, having tools to keep you on a routine and keep you organized is very useful. Despite any changes made, I am always on task.

Something else I find very important is communication with others. Communication is key in many aspects like and time management is one of those things. I find it very useful to talk to people, as you learn information you might not have known about. I do this all the time when it comes to both school and work. If I don’t understand something or want some clarification about something relating to due dates or something else time-related, I will go talk to a classmate. They will either be able to help me or also show their confusion. Both of these things are useful because then we can come to a conclusion together. I also do this a lot for work. As I work for a hockey team in Oklahoma, I am not always the most aware of what is going on. This is why it is important to communicate with your coworkers. This will keep everyone on task and help them manage their own time.

Because of all that is happening in our busy lives, time management is super important. This just helps you stay organized and get everything done promptly. Hari explains this perfectly by saying, “When you are constantly interrupted, you start to internalize the interruption, you become your own interrupter.” Overall, it helps you balance what you need to do and makes sure you are all set with everything that needs to be done.