Massage home-study courses have many advantages to traditional classroom instruction:
- You get the classes you want with no fuss,
- You get the class times you desire,
- You set the pace of your learning, and
- You can get the instructor that best fits your learning style.
But with home-study courses comes an inherent risk: life. It can easily get in the way of your studies while you tend to your children, significant other, daily career responsibilities and impromptu trips to the store to pick up dinner, etc.
Ultimately, you are the one in charge of how and when you choose to study. In the end, the only person you are going to hurt is yourself and your professional development if your studies remain incomplete. And if those other things in life begin to get in the way of your studies, home-study courses can begin to seem more of a burden than relief.
But it doesn’t have to come to that with a little bit of planning and you taking control of your schedule. That relief comes in the form of time management skills.
Time management will help you prioritize your daily responsibilities and make time work for you. It simplifies your self-discipline because you always will know what you should be doing and when. By laying out what you are to do each day, you will be able to easily find time to incorporate home-study classes into your schedule and hopefully make your life a little bit easier.
This is the first of two articles that will provide helpful tips to enhance your time management skills.
Time management tips
- Create a short, daily “to-do” list, which lists all of your major tasks for the day. Cross off your tasks as you accomplish them throughout the day. Then, move on to the next one until you’ve completed them all. This list should be a compilation of all your major tasks. Don’t sweat the small stuff. Save that for last when you have some free time.
- Make your list the night before. At the end of each day, write up your to-do list for tomorrow and then place it with your keys or purse, so you don’t forget it.
- Don’t deviate. Sure, other things are going to pop up in your life. But stick to this rigid schedule to accomplish your goals each day.
- When are you most attentive? This is the time of day you should schedule your studies. By studying at this time of day, you will gain a better understanding of the material and the classes will seem less of a chore.
- Schedule the most difficult tasks. This way, you won’t be dreading these at the end of the day.
- Break up large tasks into smaller ones to increase your organization and avoid feeling overwhelmed.
Check back next week for the rest of the time management tips in part two of this article.
–Jeremy Maready