A Guide to Perfecting Your Life’s Balancing Act
by Gear up by following these steps to making you reign as an excellent, all-around teen queen…
- Make a battle plan. assess your situation and make a general checklist of all the activities you plan to accomplish. Review your priorities and then figure out what needs immediate attention. What do you spend too much time on? What do you spend too little time on, but would like to give more time to? Do you work better individually or are you more productive when you work with others? That way, you’ll know what to do when you discover you have to pull an all-nighter with your group mates when you’re a morning person who’s more efficient when working alone.
- Redefine your To-Do List. Instead of merely jotting down all your activities and all the requirements you need to submit, you can arrange your to-do list chronologically and in order of importance. When you’re used to managing your time in an organized and structured way, you’ll think more clearly and you’ll avoid feeling overwhelmed. Setting a realistic time frame for every task is just as important. Don’t push yourself to read six chapters of your textbook in advance on the same night of your soccer practice. Before you sleep, create a mental list of the five most important things you have to do the following day. You’ll feel more collected and ready to face the next day with a purpose.
- Bite-size it. An average NBA player makes 8.3 points per game. The legendary Michael Jordan, on the other hand, made an average of a whooping 32 points per game throughout his NBA career. “Bite-sizing”. It’s a strategy where you simplify a daunting task through do-able and “bite-sized” measures. Let’s say you need to finish a 10-page research paper by Friday next week. Instead of finishing everything in one go on Thursday night, try writing two to three pages every day starting on Monday. By “bite-sizing”, you’ll gain more leverage than you can imagine!
- Un-master the art of multi-tasking. In your busy life, the common approach is to multi-task. In one hour, you’re watching TV while talking on the phone and eating dinner. In the next hour, you’re researching through the Internet while reviewing for a math long test. You do a number of things at the same time in an attempt to be more efficient. Is this a familiar scenario? News flash! The major drawback in multitasking is that you actually do things slower because you keep switching from one activity to another. This is because multi-tasking is like living at half-attention. You tend to lose your focus and end up giving half-baked outputs. The rule of thumb is to do things one at a time so you can be efficient and concentrate more on what you’re doing.
- Avoid the Superwoman Complex. In setting sky-high expectations for yourself, you may sometimes feel as if you’re out to save the world single handled. Bear in mind that ever superheroes have their sidekicks, so don’t hesitate to ask for help when you need it. When leading group projects, remember that taking charge also means delegating tasks appropriately not simply picking up the slack of everyone else. Superheroes know the right time to strike as well. So if you’re invited to a party set on the same night you’re supposed to be prepping for fundraiser, politely refuse the invitation. Saying no to activities your schedule can’t accommodate is better than saying yes when you know you can;t show up or give your full commitment.
- Be flexible. Even if you plan your activities right down to the very last detail, there will be times when you won’t be completely in control of the things that will happen.
- Make Me-Time a priority. When you’re juggling schoolwork, extra-curricular activities, and a happening social life, you may feel fatigued. Stress will become your number-one enemy, so getting enough sleep everyday is the best tactic to combat that. Caffeine can make you alert only for a given period of time. Remember that a balanced life is one that has room for all the things that are important to you.
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Post Commentpapaleng
On September 4, 2009 at 10:45 am
a must read for teens. Great plans shared.
Nikita K
On September 4, 2009 at 12:05 pm
Today we are all busy people and yeah, I am a teen who needs some time management skills and this is probably one of the most helpful things I’ve seen to help me plough through school. Good work.
jack dulay
On September 15, 2009 at 10:49 am
OMG!!! Are you Kish Carballo? Damn you are so lucky avoiding all the cops!! Good luck in the business.
revivor
On September 17, 2009 at 4:12 am
very good tips and ideas – there are one or two that I will implement like visualising the next day’s tasks and successes
CutestPrincess
On September 19, 2009 at 8:59 am
an excellent piece and you have expressed some good points.
V rank
On December 14, 2009 at 5:52 am
And do as planned it.. and if there are better changes, adopt to it freely…. Great…!