Time Mngt (Step 1): Create your schedule

Your schedule will become one of your most powerful tools during the entire time of your project, in this case your studies. Here is why that is so and what conditions your schedule should adhere to.

Why you need one

 The obvious reasons are quite self-explanatory. A schedule:

• provides a clear oversight of your planned activities & commitments

  
  

• enables you to make new arrangements without endangering your existing plans

  
  

• frees your mind from having to remember everything and helps bring order and reduce stress

Additionally, a schedule also works to reinforce your promise to yourself and acts like an anchor when life makes you question, doubt or sway away from your goals.

If you do need to sidestep for a bit, it also acts like a guide and compass to bring you back on track, so whatever it is that sidetracked you will not permanently damage your longterm goals. (cfr. step 4)

It also makes it easier to communicate with your social circle and make them respect your time. For some people, and I'm one of them, it can be difficult to say no to social requests. Having a fixed, goal oriented schedule, provides a very powerful aid in maintaining healthy boundaries while still nurturing your social connections.

A lot of people experience a sort of duality when it comes to schedules. They tend to recognise the benefits of having one but at the same time often feel like it would trap them. When I speak to them and ask what their biggest objections are the one thing that keeps coming up is 'what if something happens that I didn't anticipate?'

Definitely a fair question and a valid concern. One that I'll address a bit further down this post.

The key to avoid feeling trapped by your schedule is to remember that your schedule is a tool, not a command set in stone.

It is a tool designed to serve you, empower you, enable you and support you.

Conditions your schedule should observe

KiSS - Keep It Simple & Structured.

The simpler you keep your schedule, the easier it is to handle and the less time you will lose while using it. your schedule is supposed to work for you, not make you work for it.

So it's better to have a very basic tool and a very basic method that you can easily and quickly access, adjust and consult, than a flashy one that requires thirty minutes just to add a new item or a 10-day course just to learn how to set it up. 

Simple also applies to the way you structure your schedule.

Don't overdo it with fancy things. At least, not in the beginning. Get familiar with the actual scheduling first and then later you can add the bells and whistles if you so choose.

A clean, to-the-point, basic structure that a ten year old would understand is preferable. In Step 3 we will discuss structuring and organising your schedule in more detail. 

KiA - Keep it Accessible.

Choose a tool that you can easily access.

This may sound obvious, but think also beyond the obvious. You want a tool you can also access even when you are temporarily without internet. And with access I mean not just to consult, but also to adjust.

So preferably a tool that you can access both on- and offline. (if it syncs once back online that is even better).

In Step 2 I will discuss the schedule types that I base my personalised schedules on and the tools I like to use.

MiA - Make It Adaptable.

Remember the question some have that I mentioned earlier? 

'what if something happens that I didn't anticipate?'.

I promised I would address this concern.

The way you silence that fear is by making your schedule solid but flexible. By creating it in such a way that it will allow you to easily adjust according to need without compromising your goals.

How this can be achieved will be addressed in Steps 3 and 4.

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Create your schedule

Are you in the process of organising yourself for a long term project? Then join this excercise and let's start creating your schedule.

Think about the 3 conditions and what that would look like for your situation. What would constitute 'Simple', 'Accessible' and 'Adaptable' for you? What needs to be in place (or what needs to be removed) in order for those to apply for you? 

Consider not only your job and training schedule, but also you as a person. What do you need as a person in order to make something fit in to these three categories? This can be different for different people. Try to define your own version. 

What you decide will help you to make your decisions further down the road. But remember, you can always go back and refine (just like I did over the years).