"Life gives you two gifts: time and agency. The way you use your time reflects your agency."
That's how our presenter began the lecture on Monday. The topic, certainly one every college student needs to be reminded of now and again, was time management. I saw a little blurb on Facebook once that said the following: "1. Good grades. 2. Social life. 3. Adequate Sleep. Welcome to college, pick two." It's kind of true, unless we find the optimal balance.
My favorite idea from this week is something our lovely TA said in the lab, "It's not about managing your time; it's about managing yourself." I really like thinking of it that way. Time is this huge cosmic deal and I really have no business trying to master it. But myself, I can usually handle.
We also talked about priorities and goals and not doing anything that doesn't help us toward our goals. For an activity this week we all filled out time sheets of everything we did in 15-minute intervals for 48 hours. In the lab on Wednesday, we went through everything we had done and marked if it was in line with our goals in life. I can find a way to relate everything I do back to my life goals. It's nice because I usually don't feel like I'm wasting time, but it's hard to prioritize because everything I do is important to me.
Another idea that resonated with me was the concept of urgent vs. important. We talked about the zones of tasks, things that are urgent but not important, important but not urgent, urgent and important, and neither urgent nor important. In my own life, I often let things get urgent and then have to make snap judgment calls on how important they are. (i.e. do I skip class to finish an assignment that's due today or do I go to class and let the assignment go?) The ideal zone for getting things done is when they are important, but not yet urgent. Like that physics paper that's due in two weeks. (Not like the music civilization paper that's due on Monday.) This is something I need to work on, for sure.
Now, applying to my leadership role. Let me first explain the big rocks analogy to any who may be unfamiliar with it: in planning your time, if you put your first, most important things (big rocks) first, next things next (smaller rocks), then all the little things (sand and water) will fill in the cracks—but if you put trifle things (sand and water) first you won't have room for the important things (big rocks). The Church, and therefore my calling in it, are some of my big rocks. For my whole life, my family has always put church first and it's amazing that we always have time to get done what we need to. Continuing that habit has blessed my life in college. "...seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." (Matthew 6:33) It's true. When I put things in the right order, I end up having time for all the things I need. When I put the Lord and His work first in my life, He blesses my efforts in everything else I do so that I can do everything else. "For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it." (Mark 8:35) It's one of those beautiful Christian paradoxes.
I think the most important concept in managing ourselves to use our time wisely, is defining what's important and putting that first in all we do. How we spend our time defines us so we ought to spend it doing something worthwhile.
Quote of the day:
“Time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice, but for those who love, time is eternity.” -Henry Van Dyke
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