In Which I Wish Time Travel Were Real, and Try to Make Do In the Meantime

Life is my biggest time management issue.

I am not trying to be facetious or funny, but in all seriousness, I find myself stressing out over my life and its busyness. School is really my biggest challenge, as it requires me to juggle both long and short-term assignments for multiple classes, as well as extracurricular activities. Ironically, high school was the first time that I had problems with time management, and it got so bad, my parents took me to get psychological testing and—surprise, surprise! —I was diagnosed with ADHD. Being on medication and counseling have helped me a lot with my management but it’s been very hard to learn skills that I have been expected to have but have only pretended. My mother and I have engaged in many a shouting match over my inability to pick up my administrative skills magically after being medicated, but we’ve since concluded that there is no magical remedy for a Type B personality, and so our expectations have been revised.

I am also a chronic “avoider.” When I have so much to do, that the mere thought of the sheer magnitude of my workload reduces me to a sobbing mess, I begin to stress over where I have to start working and how I am going to finish on time. By the time I devise an effective strategy, my assignments are inevitably due the next day and I am forced to pull yet another all-nighter. My dad used to call me a “passive procrastinator” and I have to admit I agree. (Just look at the time stamp of this entry...)

            My greatest time management tool is my giant whiteboard calendar. This little beauty helps me map out due dates and dates of important and not-so-important events as well as serving as an outlet for my artistic whims. My avoidance has become more avoidable (I couldn’t resist) and I am getting better at gauging what is due and when and what I must do to complete it in a timely manner. My stress levels are still quite high as I still have to settle into a routine and accustom myself to life on my own, but I have been successful in my attempts to be better organized thus far.

            Honestly, I do not think that I am at all qualified to give advice concerning time management. I am still learning and have felt the pressure of feeling like I needed to perform as well as my peers even though I was trying to build eighteen years’ worth of administrative skills from scratch. But I will gladly tell anyone that even though life can be stressful, it is very important that one takes time to sit down and realize that the world is not going to end just because one hasn’t finished one’s homework. Yes, it is vital that students complete assignments on time, but stressing out over what is not a dire task doesn’t help get anything done either.