Student Blog: How to Manage Plans More Effectively?

The spring semester has begun. College students will be busy with their work. Sometimes they are busy with their experimental reports, works or college clubs. If you have a lot of things to do like this, it can suddenly become a problem.It's about how to prioritize work and how to solve things. If things pile up more crazy, you could be in a panic. So, what are some easy ways to get things done without panic? Here are some helpful tips.

1. Think Positively.

"You said you'd introduce me to a way to handle things easily, but suddenly introduce me to a positive mind?" You might think that having a positive mind is quite far from planning things.

However, the most important thing for us to move forward is to have a positive mind. The idea that you can achieve your goal, and the belief that it will work out. The reason why positive thinking is most important is that the direction of behavior can vary depending on how you think.

If you do things with a positive mind, you can focus on how to solve problems with confidence in yourself. In other words, you're thinking about how to get things done. However, if you do things with a negative mind, you could be captured by the thought that even the things you could solve would be difficult. So it won't help you solve the problem. Therefore, please think positively when you start anything.

2. Distinguish between the Important and Urgent Task. And Distribute Time Efficiently.

There are various things related to college, such as assignments, appointments, meetings, etc. Not only that, but there are also personal things such as walking dogs, exercising, and cooking.

There's a lot of criteria to sort these things out in detail, but I'd like to recommend that you divide them into two. The first one is something important, and the second one is something urgent. From a long-term perspective, you might have some important work. And you might have some urgent work in the short term.

So when you're dealing with a given daily routine, make plans with important tasks first. (If you compare it to a tree, it is like a pillar.) And write just a little less important, but urgent things on the branches. If you plan with these two directions, you will be able to focus on more important things than before.

3. Minimize the Burden - Set a Goal for Three Months First and Gradually Increase It.

Do you remember New Year's Day? Or, do you remember the beginning of January? Everyone opens a diary and writes down their plans for the year. There's no better month than January to motivate yourself! But when you make a plan, you can suddenly feel pressured. 'Is it possible to do all these things during this year?' And maybe you might want to escape from those plans. Like, 'I don't want to work, I just want to go out to play'.

A year, maybe too long to make a plan. But a year is consisted of 12 months. And one year passes after 3 months repeats 4 times. Therefore, I recommend that you set a goal for three months first, not for one year. "Oh no! Hasn't it already been three months?" That's all right, but we still have nine months more! Just write down the goals you want to achieve from April to June. And write down what you have to do for three months. Of course, rather than writing too much, I recommend you to write things three to as many as six. If you set a goal of 3 months, divide it back into 1 month. You'll be able to face a much more visible goal than before. Maybe, it's much easier to achieve!

4. Make a Break - Don't Put Off Your Happiness.

"After this project, I will eat as much as I want and sleep as much as I want."

"After this exam, I'll only watch sports games all day!"

Have you ever made this promise, too? It's probably natural to postpone what you want to do right now to focus on a given project or task. However, if this process is repeated, it will continue to accumulate stress. It's really important to make steady efforts to achieve your goals, but it's never good to constantly delay personal happiness and a short break for this.

So, the most important thing for us is the ability to control. For example, if you've done more than half of the important tasks, you can eat delicious cookies for a while or watch your favorite sports event for about 30 minutes. It is also good to go on a short trip after completing a major project. Self-happiness and a short break help us achieve our goals successfully and move forward without panic.

Photo Credit: Eunsong Yang

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