After completed the SWOT analysis on my self, I have decided to investigate Time management, leadership with some reference to group work and oral communication skills. I decided to focus the attention on these skills because they are the ones where I have a greater lack and more weaknesses. Thus, I have more improvement to make in order to obtain my aims previously stated. From the analysis of the time logs (Appendix C) it appears clear that my time management it is not well organized and I have a tendency for procrastination (Appendix A) and wasting time.
I have identified my main issues as procrastinating before staring an important work, getting distracted easily, wasting time watching DVD’s and staring my day too late. As it appears from Cottrell (2003), it is important to keep a diary and a record of activities in order to evaluate and become aware of the usage and wastage of time. It is important to have a time schedule and plan activities in advance in a logical order. By following and try out some of this suggestions, I felt that they are actually working and I have improved my time management.
In order to improve my time management, during the last few weeks, I have decided to wake up earlier, at 7am. This made a significant difference, together with my TV breaking down. Besides, in order to maximize my time, I check my email in the morning while having breakfast. Lately, I have been starting my working day around 8am instead of 10. 30am as I used to. Although we discussed in the seminar that 6 hours sleep could be enough, due to a busy and active life, I need to sleep around 8 hours per day.
Consequently, as I wake up earlier in the morning, I have to go to sleep earlier in the evening. Losing 1 hour in the evening it did not affect me in a negative way because I am more productive in the morning and I tend to do constructive things during the day and relaxing and “wasting time” in the evening. Furthermore, I have realized that I waste most of my time during weekend and I need to reorganize my time in order to use my time more efficiently with productive results.
According to the outcome of the “Procrastination Indicator” (Appendix A), my biggest weaknesses are chatting, leaving important work until the last minute and difficulties in starting to concentrate to work or study. This defines me as a person aware of my tendency to procrastinate but who work hard to keep it under control. I totally agree with this description. I am aware of my tendency to procrastinate, especially before starting to study.
I have identified my self as an “Excessive Socialiser”, as I tend to get interrupted and distracted by my friend, especially chatting through MSN, and as a “Perfectionist”, as I always set myself high aims and want to achieve high results and marks, looking for more improvements all the time. Through the self-reflective “Time Waste” Test (Appendix B) I recognize that I am easily distracted by everything that comes along while I am studying. This often makes me loose time distracting me from what I was doing and loosing the concentration.
Another important issue about my wasting time is the proportion of time that I spend in front of the TV watching DVDs. However, the TV in my bedroom broke down about 10 weeks ago and I have suddenly stopped to waste a lot of time that I have been using for other purposes. I also waste a large amount of time replying to friend’s emails and browsing the internet throughout all day. Another important factor affecting my time schedule, it is the long time I need to getting ready before leaving the house, also due to the interruptions from chatting on MSN, email and phone calls.
