Time management

I am not the first, nor the last, to admit that before I started my degree I was someone who abused the fact that time was a 'luxury' - by this I mean I wasted time, I lost track of time and I always relied on my mom to remind me of key things such as the dentist, cadet uniform, camping dates.

Then I moved out, and a whole world of things happened. One of the key things I noticed is I was relying more and more upon To Do lists and highlighters, and I eventually purchased my first diary. I was starting to organise my own time and my own responsibilities.

I will be honest, it's something I became addicted to and love. I have colour schemes on my calendar for a range of things, for example orange will always represent a social event, and blue will represent an essay deadline or the date of a seminar which I need to present. I began to respect and admire people who keep mental calendars, or parents who manage their own timetables as well as their partners, their childrens and extended family. I began to respect the fact that time is crucial, and time is precious.

Things such as essay writing, domestic chores (I will never find a love for laundry washing), shopping, socialising, job hunting, part-time work, volunteering... it all collides at once and I found it incredibly hard at times to switch off at the end of each day. I have managed to find a balance now with categorising people and activities, and turning my phone off or diverting calls past a certain time so I have Me Time. I've found that timetabling my weeks, my days important and I rely heavily upon structure.

There are times when structure gets thrown out the window and I refuse to do anything but relax, but I know that by the next day I will be back on form and ready for whatever is coming my way (most of it is essay deadlines at the moment).

Time management is something which I have struggled with but is something I've found to be essential both on a personal level and also within the work place. I've realised the importance of meetings, appointment, getting things done and how important it is to work as a team to make sure each person is on the right track.

My work placement at Bournville College involved me writing articles in time to be published by major newspapers such as the Birmingham Mail. This demonstrated to me how important it was to break down what needed to be done and utilise my love for To Do lists, and remind myself that if I was to be disorganised with my own timetable and my own deadlines, then this has a domino effect on everyone else.

I know that this blog is focusing on how I have developed with each of the skills listed upon my Curriculum Vitae, but I find that being aware of my developments, how they have happened and how I can progress or utilise them is essential if I am to achieve what I want to achieve from this Social Media Internship.

This blog has provided me with a sense of purpose to my writing (ramblings) and it has also provided me with a reflective outlet where I am able to access, evaluate and move forward, and that saves me time in the future when searching for things to say when I hopefully attend an interview to be a Public Relations Officer (time management and effective delivery of projects... key!).

I do have a lot more things to write about in terms of my development but I want to be able to save those for another time.

My goals for the next week though are as follows:
- Finalise my seminar notes and essay reading
- Organise an informal meeting with Callie regarding a fundraising book-sale (we met through the Social Media Internship and she loves books... I'm excited!)
- Research career fields and edit CV for PDP portfolio
- Organise meeting to go through interview techniques
- Get an idea of how to finalise Derby Award portfolio which is stressing me out
- Write 300 word article for a student-led nationwide blog.

I will update again soon and I hope that you have found this blog to be engaging. If you have any advice on how to improve or what you would like to see then you can leave a comment.

Thank you.