Ladies and gentlemen! MPOLs is back again. For those of you who do not know MPOLs is basically parent teacher interviews that we have to do where we reflect on our learning over the year. Last year I decided that I wanted to improve my time management skills. Did I manage to improve? I would say yes. I have defiantly gotten better at handing things in on time and I have familiarized myself with apps like Things a lot more. That being said, I am still far from where I want to be. So I decided that I would like to continue pursuing that as my learning goal. I think that if I get better at time management I would be less stressed with doing things last minute and my work would improve. 

What have I done so far?
My goal ladders is a great example of where I was using my time effectively and, in my opinion, the results were rewarding. Having actual time blocked out made it a lot easier for me to think clearly which improved what I was doing. I found that a good strategy for me to use is to set the due date a lot sooner than it actually is. This way I can block out time sooner rather than later and hand things in before it’s due. I did this with the goal ladder and it defiantly worked. I handed it in early and even made a second one with the time I had left. Because I was less stressed it was easier for me to think rationally and like I said, I had remaining time blocked off for me to get other work done. I have begun applying this to DI as well and I can see that I am still in top of my work.

I find that where I am when I am doing the work also effects the level of work that I do. There is a big difference between the kind of work I can get done at school and the work I can get done at home. My goal is to close that gap. One thing that I have started to do to counteract this is to set alarms. Every 30 min or so I set and alarm to either take a break, get back to work or to switch up what it is I am working on. Something I find that I do a lot is to over think. So by setting these alarms I can switch from assignment to assignment and look at something with a refreshed view. Doing this has helped me improve in communicating, comprehending, and analyzing skills. Since I have started using the alarms system the amount of rants I go on have shortened down and I get things done quicker thanks to that. This means that I can be more direct and get the point across much easier. Not only that but looking at things with a refreshed view helps to change up my mindset and is really helpful in understanding my work.

That being said this strategy does not work 100% of the time. A great example of this is the math project that we are working on right now, or even the winter exhibition. If the project is non digital it becomes more difficult for me to take breaks or to listen to the alarms that I set. Luckily, I find that when I am making a physical object I don’t get as distracted because it is much easier to see how much progress I have made and how much I need to do. On top of that it is easy to see when I get distracted as well. So getting back on track becomes less difficult than in a digital project. I also have people there to tell me if what I’m doing doesn’t look like work.

Another challenge that I find happens is when I need to revise a post. Usually I have set times for me to do my work so when I’m suppose to revise something it becomes complicated. Rearranging what I have already planned is a little hard for me to do because I am usually one of 2 extremes. The first is that I don’t plan anything and I just do whatever needs to get done when I feel like it. The second is that I have planned something out and I need to stick to it or else I start getting stressed. In grade 8 I was the first example and that ended up with me handing everything in late and not being happy with the result. Nowadays it’s usually the second. This is exactly what happened with my Live Event post and the Run video post. I had set a reminder set to revise it but never finished revising until Ms.Maxwell had to track me down.

In the end, I think that I need to get better at being able to be flexible yet also sticking to a plan so I don’t fall behind. In order to do this I think that the best option would be to block out a free block that is used for revisions or anything else that I may need. This way it is in the plan to block out that time. Other than that I think that the strategies that I am using are working fairly well. Finally, I am aware that I need to work on the communication competency, by that I mean speaking out loud,  and revise competency and it is something that I am setting goals to do.

So, I would like to know whether or not you think that my goal is manageable, and is something that I should be focussing on.