At this point we should all have an agenda, a designated workbag/schoolbag
and our closet organization should be underway. So, now it’s time to talk about
priorities. Priority management is a useful
tool to use when separating the personal and the professional life.
There are a few tips to priority management that just about anyone can master. Try incorporating a few into your everyday activities to see what works best for you. With a few small accommodations into your busy lives a little priority management will surely come in handy.
First, use your agenda to manage your time. If you set aside one hour a week to “clean you room” than spend one full hour each week cleaning your room. If you are finished in 45 minutes then so be it, you’re finished. But, don’t take advantage of the extra 15 minutes. If you continually find yourself with 15 minutes to spare than recognize that you are rushing and there is likely room for improvement.
Balance. It is important to understand the concept of balance. One must be able to balance their personal world and their professional world without too much overlap. Your professional world will benefit from your attention.
The same thing goes for your personal world. Friends and family will appreciate your engagement at social gatherings. But don't go out with friends and spend the entire night on your phone dealing with work (unless of course there's an emergency) and don't spend your workday catching up with friends (texting, Facebook, Twitter etc.). Each world will benefit from your commitment and dedication.
Handle interruptions appropriately. If your work and professional world tend to overlap than you must be able to handle interruptions appropriately and efficiently. Though there is a time and place for overlap between the worlds, there is no time during work hours. It's simply unprofessional.
I have just started to do something similar to this. I write out everything that needs to be done in the foreseeable future in order of priority. This is done on a whiteboard in my room so I don't forget to do them. It really helps for when I have to make plans that are outside of my school/work life.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely something I need to do. I have an agenda, although my use of it could be improved. Especially with us entering the workforce, it's time to grow up a little bit and get rid of those last bits of childhood and adolescence. Great post!
ReplyDeleteI think one of the biggest struggles students have coming out of school is balancing their professional life with their personal life. Although the two over lap you have to create boundaries in order to keep things professional at work and keep a good relationship with friends. Sometimes this is easier said than done - especially now that social media is booming and everyone has a phone! Great post.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Brittany! Especially like the part about dealing with work while you're out with family or friends or using your work time to deal with your personal life. It's a great point – if you dedicate yourself to each facet while you're present, it will balance itself out in the end. - Jeff
ReplyDeleteGreat post.
ReplyDeleteIt is so important when entering the work world to be able to balance your life effectively. Balance is something you will have to figure out once you have an established work scheduled (if you can get that lucky!). I think this is going to be my biggest challenge (along with financing) in the year to come.