When you are too occupied with things and you are trying to manage yourselves, by yourselves (i.e. independently) it is but natural that you miss out a certain things (it just doesn’t strike your brain at the proper time, it just slips out!).
I am not ashamed to admit , that, I have had to face those problems at the initial stages of my Univ – Life. Mistakes teach you a lot! They teach you exactly the things you MUST NOT DO, so then you don’t have to worry much about figuring out WHAT to DO!
Having about 19 credit hours a week, with classes continuously from morning to evening in different corners of the campus (which means you have to run around a lot, so as to reach the next class in time!), with a different schedule for each day of the week, weekly quizzes and assignment submissions, etc will all give you a big BANG if you do not take the right steps from the very beginning!
While discussing about all this… my pal and mentor Sulaiman gave me a very short n sweet yet thought provoking advice :
“List Management is equal to Life Management!”… he says!
This is what it more/less means (or so I understood)…
Make a list of what all you have to do, WRITE IT DOWN, it helps a lot, you wont “miss out” on anything!
Keep a notepad and a pen with you always! You will have a whole record of the stuff you have to do! Moreover, You never know when, where and how you might get an idea or tip, so you can jot it down instantly!
Make a to-do-list on three broad levels:
1) Daily : How many subjects/lessons should I learn today? From what time to what time should I spend on homeworks? Any tests/assignments due tomorrow or later in this week? Playing times? etc are things you need to plan about here.
2) Weekly : Formulate a tentative list of things you ought to do (at the beginning of the week)… How many subjects/lessons should I cover this week? Which all dates this week are the DUE DATES for Quizzes/Assignments? etc are things you can jot down here.
3) Monthly: Mark all the exam dates, test dates, etc. and organise youre Daily or Weekly list plans accordingly.
When you write those things down…
You wont need to depend on your memory (which often makes you miss out a few things);
You will have everything settled and organised in your mind, so you won’t be tensed and confused towards the end (cuz you have everything planned in advance!);
Also, it will serve as a “PUSHING FORCE” to you, as a reminder for you (of the things you ought to do)!
If you’re a person who forgets his wallet at home while leaving for office/college, or you wear sandals in place of shoes in haste, or forget some or the other book back at home, or forget to comb your hair, or forget your tie, etc etc etc. then this tip will help you a lot!
Assign each of those things you HAVE TO take with you from home (to office/school/college) a NUMBER.
For example…
1. Mobile; 2. Wallet; 3.Pen; 4. Car/Home/etc Keys; 5. Bag/Books; 6. Shoes; 7. Sunglasses; 8.Tie….etc…etc…etc…
Once you’ve done that…count 1-8 while tapping at the place where you’ve kept it on yourself(make it a habit to keep the things in that place always – eg: pen in upper shirt pocket, wallet at d back, mobile in the right side, etc). Once you get habituated to it, your brain will associate the numbers to those objects ‘automatically’! interesting isn’t it?!
Believe me, it really helps! Once you make it a habit…and fix it into your routine, you’ll eventually begin enjoying it and you will get well-versed with counting 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 (or however YOUR list goes)!! hehe!
Try it out! n lemme know if it has been useful for you!
yenjoyyy!
A.J. Siddiqui
