13/5/2014 The Ultimate Guide to Time Management and Yourself - The Pragmatic Person - Quora

The Ultimate Guide to Time Management and Yourself

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Brian Huynh
583 upvotes by Nick Kendall, Luca Amadori, Dgrdgd Dgrdgd, Mike Johnson, and
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Have you ever encountered outrageously busy people that seem to have the
superpower to do everything? For an adult, that would be that person you have met
that has multiple jobs, a family, and weekend activities. For a student, that would be
that person you have met that has multiple AP classes, stellar grades, community
service, sports, clubs, and a social life. Although these individuals have impossibly
busy schedules, they are healthy, happy, and energetic! How do they do it?
Throughout this manual, I will explain how to optimize time, but also to optimize
your life.

Motivation

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Here is a comical venn diagram of what time management looks like for a busy
student. Normal people can only choose two circles. Time Gods can choose all
three, hence their special title in the center of the diagram: “Defies Laws of
Physics.” For Time Gods, time management is mastered through mastering four
key elements: motivation, sleep, discipline, and nutrition/exercise. But before we
delve into the other pillars of time management, let’s focus on the most important
aspect: motivation.

Without motivation, you would have no desire to master sleep, discipline,

nutrition/exercise or even time from the beginning. Motivation is the most important
element of time management because it reinforces time management’s
subcategories. What is motivation anyway? You can’t touch it, smell it, see it, taste
it, or even hear it. But you can definitely feel it though.

According to the dictionary, motivation is defined as “the act or an instance of

motivating or providing with a reason to act in a certain way.” Finding reason in what
you do, whether that is chemistry homework, a video project, or a book report, will
cause you to work longer and more effectively, thus, taking less breaks and saving
time. Your motivation could be to get stellar grades, to please parents’
expectations, or simply because you intrinsically enjoy your work.

But what if you do not have a definite motivation? Find it. In order to find your
motivation, you should have some time alone to introspect on your
characteracteristics. You need to find your motivation whether that may be to get
good grades, to please one’s parents, to please one’s self, to earn a high paycheck,
or whatever other means of motivation.

With motivation comes confidence. You must be confident in yourself and also
in your short term and long term goals. Have the confidence to complete short term
goals, such as finishing an English essay, as well as long term goals such as
saving enough money to buy a car. Confidence allows Time Gods to dedicate
themselves to a goal without wasting time by squandering over their insecurities.
For example, if the student, Bobby, does not have sufficient confidence, he will take
a long time to complete his english essay as well as to save enough money for a
car because the lack of confidence generates self-doubt. This self-doubt causes
Bobby to have a psychological “tug-o-war,” constantly causing him to meander
towards and away from his goals, wasting time in the process.

But where can you find confidence? Two places: in yourself self or in others. In
order to discover confidence in yourself, you must embark on an existentialist

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journey. To find confidence, you must take pride in your accomplishments and
mitigate you failures. Again, this is where you must spend some time alone to
introspect yourself. In addition to introspection, you can associate with confident
people in order to learn where the confidence in other stems from and how their
confidence can foster your confidence.

Although confidence is critical for accomplishing tasks, Time Gods know how to
avoid blinding confidence. In the previous example, Bobby’s lack of confidence
prevented him from accomplishing his tasks in a time-efficient manner. Let’s
assume that after awhile, Bobby learns how to be confident -- a little too confident,
in fact. Bobby knows that he procrastinates, is easily distracted, and often
multitasks when he does homework. Because of Bobby’s new found confidence, he
considers taking four AP classes, working at two community service centers, and
participating in three clubs in his junior year of high school. Should he pursue this
rigorous schedule? Of course not.

Even though Bobby’s confidence allows him to finish tasks more efficiently, his
undisciplined work ethics inhibit him from pursuing this rigorous schedule. Bobby
can learn about his Work Load Limit by incrementally adding rigorous activities to
his schedule. For Bobby, jumping from one AP class in his sophomore year to four
AP classes plus numerous extracurricular activities in his junior year will be a
psychological and physical ordeal if he does not prepare. But if Bobby transitioned
from two AP classes in his sophomore year to four AP classes in his junior year
with limited extracurricular activities, then he should be able to adapt to the new
schedule because he incrementally added rigor to his schedule. In order to avert
mental breakdowns from being overworked, have a realistic sense of confidence
when determining your Work Load Limit.

Although money, grades, and respect from others are all forms of motivation,
passion is the best form of motivation. Passion is an intrinsic, perpetual motivator
while money, grades, and respect from others are all extrinsic, finite motivators. If
you can find your passions, you can stay forever motivated. And being passionate
allows you to endure hours of work without stress or exhaustion.

When Bill Gates found his passion for programming, he programmed from
sunrise to sunset. It was not grades, money, or the respect from others that
motivated him, it was purely his love for programming. While other might consider
programming as work, Bill Gates recognized programming as fun because of
passion. Passion has the special ability to convert work to fun. In doing so, you do
not need to allocate time specifically for fun because you see your work, to an
extent, as fun. For Bill Gates, programming is his work and fun. For you, chemistry
work, video projects, or essays may be feel like work and fun.

Additional Content:

1. The Surprising Truth About What Motivations Us:

2. The Puzzle of Motivation:
3. Why We Do What We Do:
4. What Makes Life Worthwhile:

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Nutrition and Exercise

If motivation is the psychological fuel, then nutrition and exercise are the
physical fuel that powers Time Gods. We hear it all the time from doctors and
parents: eat healthy and exercise! Besides benefiting our health, healthy nutrition
and exercise provides and regulates the energy needed for time management.

The chart above illustrates the difference between foods high in starch and foods
high in sucrose. Sucrose is the scientific name for a type of simple sugar, also
known as table sugar. Since its molecular structure is less complex than the starch
in bread, foods high in sugar are metabolized faster and release quick bursts of
energy accompanied by energy crashes. Time Gods usually eat foods high in
complex carbs to maintain a gradual release of energy. By eating foods high in
starch (complex carbs), Time Gods do not frequently experience periods of high and
low energy throughout the day. Having a consistent energy output allows Time Gods
to work quickly with more focus with less drowsiness, thus, saving time.

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By eating healthy, you will provide your body and mind with the proper energy
and nutrition to work longer and faster. Healthy eating habits along with exercise will
also prevent you from getting sick so you save time by not missing days at work or
at school. Here are some key vitamins and their benefits:

Vitamin A
maintains vision, resistance to infections, assists, immune reaction, supports bodily
growth and repair
milk, eggs, meat, fish oils, green leafy vegetables, carrots, yellow vegetables,
yellow and orange fruits

Key:
[Vitamin]
[Benefit]
[Source]

Vitamin D
good for bones
sunlight, dairy, fish oils

Vitamin E
fat-soluble antioxidant, good for the skin
plant oils, green leafy vegetables, nuts, seeds

Vitamin B1
Helps metabolize carbs, maintains appetite and normal digestion, supports normal
appetite and nervous system function
whole grain cereals, beans, nuts, pork, ham

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Vitamin B2
part of coenzymes used in energy metabolism, supports normal vision and skin
health
milk, yogurt, dairy, meat, leafy greens, whole grains

Vitamin B3
part of coenzyme used in energy metabolism, supports health of skin, nervous, and
digestive system
tuna, dairy, meat, whole grains, nuts, protein-containing foods

Vitamin B5
part of coenzyme A, which is used in energy metabolism
widespread in foods

Vitamin B6
part of coenzyme that helps the body synthesize nonessential amino acids
green leafy vegetables, meats, whole grains

Vitamin B12
helps to maintain nerve cells
meat, dairy

Vitamin C
strengthens blood vessels, forms scar tissue, is a matrix for bone growth, an
antioxidant, strengthens resistance to infections, improves the absorption of iron
fruits (esp. citrus) and vegetables

Sleep

Another physical fuel that Time God’s manage when managing time is sleep.
Similarly to nutrition, sleep is also the food of the mind and body. We obviously
sleep to regain our energy, to subconsciously reorganize our thoughts, and to
recuperate our mind and body after a long day. But how to you exactly manage it
and how much sleep do you actually need?

While doctors and websites say that you typically need eight hours of sleep,
that number is just the average. Some people require less than average while others
need more to function optimally. For me, I usually need only 6-7 hours of sleep on a
typical school week. You can discover your sleep threshold by correlating the hours
of sleep you get to how tired you feel. This can be done mentally or through writing.
Keeping a journal that correlates sleep-hours to states of tiredness will help you
gauge your sleep threshold.

To manage sleep, you must maintain a consistent sleep schedule. For a typical
busy high school student, they might go to sleep at 11pm on Monday, then at 3am
on Wednesday, and then at 5am on a Saturday. The student may stay up late on
weekdays because of homework or distractions. On weekends, the student may
stay up because of fun. Whatever the reason, you should keep your sleep schedule
consistent, even on weekends, within plus or minus two hours. For example, if you

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usually sleep at 12am, it is okay to occasionally sleep at 2am if you have too much
work to do. But if you need to stay up past 2am, you need to account for “sleep
debt.”

Sleep debt is defined as the “accumulated sleep that is lost to poor sleep habits,
sickness, awakenings due to environmental factors or other causes.” Think of sleep
as the money that you consistently pay someone. Let’s say that the Time God,
Charles, has to pay the bank at least six dollars a day, everyday. On Monday and
Tuesday, Charles pays six dollars. But on Thursday, Charles pays the bank four
dollars because he is too busy with other duties. He then owes the bank two
dollars. So on Saturday, Charles must work overtime and pay eight dollars to the
bank on that day to compensate for the two dollars missing on Thursday.

Similarly to daily payments to a bank, sleep is a daily payment to your health.

Just like money, you can compensate for “sleep debt” by sleeping more on the
weekends. So those two hours of sleep you lost on Thursday can be compensated
by sleeping in for eight hours on Saturday.

But in order to reinforce the management of “sleep debt” and sleep schedules,
you must learn how to fall asleep quickly and how to wake up quickly. It usually
takes the body 15-20 minutes for the body to fall asleep. Here are a few tips to
quicken the process:

establish consistent sleep and wake schedules, even on weekends

relax your mind before you sleep
have a dark, quiet, comfortable, and cool environment when you sleep
finish eating at least 2-3 hours before your regular bedtime
exercise regularly
avoid caffeine and alcohol products
relieve the tension in your jaw and shoulder muscles by massaging them
install daylight-colored bulbs in your room and use an outlet timer to set your
lamp to turn on when your alarm goes off

Scenario 1
Once in awhile, you might have to stay up to 4am or 5am which only allows you
to have two hours of sleep. Should you sleep for two hours or power through the
night without sleep? You should power through the night without sleep because
sleeping for two hours will make you feel more tired than staying up continuously.

Scenario 2
You just got home from a tiring day at school and you want to take a nap.
Should you do it? Taking naps for thirty minutes of less has proven to make people
feel more energized and alert. Napping for more than thirty minutes, however, leaves
you groggy and irritable.

Even after learning all these sleep management techniques, you might wonder
what are some of the consequences of chronic sleep deprivation. Without proper
sleep, the human body will experience physiological and cognitive damage.

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Physiologically, “the lack of sleep -- especially on a regular basis -- is

associated with long-term health consequences, including chronic medical
conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease, and that these
conditions may lead to a shortened life expectancy.” Mood disorders, obesity,
hypertension, and compromised immune systems have all been linked to chronic
sleep deprivation.

At a cognitive level, chronic sleep deprivation adversely affects the learning

process by preventing the brain from forming new, long-term memories. Let’s say
that the student named William did not do any of the homework for chapter nine in
his geometry class. William study-crams the night before his chapter nine test and
does not sleep. He scored a 95%. But when Finals comes along several months
after the chapter nine test, William cannot remember anything from his previous
exam. But William aced his previous exam, so how can he possibly forget what he
learned? William used his short term memory to ace the chapter nine exam instead
of his long-term memory. So by the time Finals came along several months later,
William has forgotten everything because his sleep deprivation prevented him from
forming long-term memories.

In the the process of learning, sleep deprivation can cause “our focus, attention,
and vigilance [to] drift, making it more difficult to receive information. Without
adequate sleep and rest, overworked neurons can no longer function to coordinate
information properly, and we lose our ability to access previously learned
information.”

If you want to score higher on exams and live a healthier life, do yourself a favor
and get adequate amounts of sleep. For Time Gods in high school, their adequate
amounts of sleep allow them to learn quickly. A typical, sleep deprived math
student may have to do numerous practice problems and use flashcards just to
remember a math formula. But for a well-rested Time God, it only takes a glance
and a few practice problems to memorize a math equation. By increasing learning
efficiency through adequate amounts of sleep, Time Gods spend less time fortifying
information into their long-term memories. So the next time you stay up late for
whatever reason, consider how you are neglecting your health and be sure to
compensate the hours of sleep you lost.

Discipline

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The Rules of Time Management:

1. DO NOT Procrastinate
Procrastination, or doing things at the last minute, is the nemesis of Time Gods.
Sure, it feels great to have fun instead of doing that homework assignment; but
cramming the assignment at the last minute is an inefficient use of time and energy.
We procrastinate because we want to feel rewarded immediately. Sadly, it is in our
biology to procrastinate. The feeling of instant gratification after completing work just
before the due date perpetually fuels procrastination. My advice: find pleasure in
completing work ahead of time.

Take a moment to recall the worst procrastination experience you ever had. Now
let that painful memory burn into your mind. Then recall a moment where you
completed a big project well before the due date. Savor that memory and all the
stressless free time you had when you did not procrastinate and allow it to motivate
you to not procrastinate in the future. When you see others procrastinate, take pride
in yourself and thankfully realize that you are not in that mob of procrastinators.

2. Eliminate Distractions
If you really want to be productive, disconnect yourself from the internet, games,
and the tv and focus on your work. Play can wait, but work cannot.

3. DO NOT Multitask
Would you use a straw to eat a bowl of pasta? Of course not. A straw is not
design to pick up noodles effectively. The same goes for the human brain: it is not
designed to multitask effectively. Focus on one task at a time. So instead of
chatting with friends on Facebook, listening to music, and doing chemistry
homework all at the same time, focus only on one thing at a time -- preferably the
chemistry homework. Play can wait, but work cannot.

4. Write Down Your Thoughts

It takes time and energy to remember and retrieve information from your brain.
Limit the retrieval process by writing down your plans, thoughts, feelings, ideas, and
goals. You should focus your energy on creating new ideas, plans, and goals
instead of wasting your time and energy trying to remember old ones. Writing down
your thoughts also relieves stress and raises workload tolerance -- another key
element for a Time God.

5. Set Deadlines and Take Initiative

A goal is a dream with a deadline. Have any plans or ideas? Set a due date for
them to ensure that you carry through with your actions.

6. Be Persistent and Dedicated

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“Pain is weakness leaving the body” -Marine Corps. Traverse the psychological
and physical pain of a rigorous schedule in order to master time. Motivate yourself
to be persistent and dedicated. Imagine the feeling of accomplishing your goal and
savor that feeling.

7. DO NOT Be Lazy
Being a Time God is like running a race: you must maintain your pace. Got
extra time? Develop a new skill or find a new hobby. Whether that be cooking,
sewing, running, biking, or art, do something fun and, most importantly, productive.
Do not sit around too long watching TV shows or facebooking because Time Gods
know that once they lose their pace at time management, it is difficult to regain the
momentum.

8. Learn How to Say No

Have friends that constantly ask you favors? Have too many club obligations?
Got too many activities? Just say No. Time Gods know that unexpected favors from
friends, clubs, or even family members will disrupt the delicate art of Time
Management. Prioritize your work and activities and know which ones to quit when
you schedule is overloaded. Even Time Gods have their limits.

As a former studious high school junior, most of the information in this guide is
based from experience and online research. As a disclaimer, the information
presented above should be solely interpreted as advice. The techniques and
observations listed above reflect what I found to be most effective for time
management. But I am sure that there are other techniques that I am not aware of
yet that was not included in this guide. With motivation as the foundation for
nutrition/exercise management, sleep management, and discipline, becoming a
Time God is possible. I hope this guide helps you manage time more effectively
whether you are a student or even a working adult. Good Luck!

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