Fight Procrastination: You know about it. This is just a reminder.
Let’s talk about time management – again. We’ve all read about it and discussed its importance, but some of us (most of us, probably) underperform in this area because of human nature. Now, let’s revisit a simple time management concept and let our human nature help us, instead of hinder us, by reminding ourselves the importance of starting things early and spreading projects out over many work sessions with breaks for rest other activities between sessions.
The wisdom of my friend, George
I have a dear old friend, George, who is a generation older than I am. He’s a tremendous story teller and an always-ready dispenser of little pearls of wisdom. One of his utterances has stuck with me and I’m reminded of if often when I am pressed for time to do something that could/should have already been done: “The lazy person works the hardest.”
It’s so true. When I’m running around the house trying to clean it and get my bags packed for a weekend getaway that was supposed to begin an hour ago, I think of it: “The lazy person works the hardest”. If I hadn’t been so lazy, I would have set aside several short, leisurely time slots in the past two day to clean a room, get out my bags, pack a few items… and now, I’d be down the road on my adventure instead of rushing around the house in a fervor.
At this stage in our educations, none of us needs a course on time management, so this is just a friendly reminder: Start your computer science project early. Work on it every day. Set aside time to research it and to work on it. If you schedule well, you’ll be able to use excess time to try a few things, learn a little extra and cement your learning, rather than having to rush on to the next thing because of impending deadlines. You’ll also have down time between sessions to relax your brain and to let your subconscious mind think about some of the issues for you.
It’s so much easier that way. Learning can actually be a joy, and it’s so much more fulfilling.
You know what to do
Do yourself that favor. Plan to work everyday on whatever projects you have – be they for school or otherwise. Set aside time and get to it. Don’t wait until you have no choice. Rather, make the conscious choice to work now, when the deadline isn’t pressing. Relish in the fact that you’re not frantically pumping the bike pedals. You’re enjoying the ride because you’re not late. Your learning and productivity will be better and more enjoyable. You’ll thank yourself.
