1 Read the introduction to a magazine article. What time management tips do you think the article might contain?
Do you sometimes feel that you’re wasting a lot of your time and not getting enough done? Don’t worry – you’re not alone. Most of us fail to manage our time effectively. There are lots of books about time management on the market, but you don’t need to waste time (and money) reading them. Here are some tried and tested tips for getting things done.
Practice
TIME MANAGEMENT
2 Read the main article quickly. Then choose the best title A–E for each tip.
A
Look after yourself
B
First things first
C
Just do it!
D
One step at a time
E
Keep going
1
It’s so easy to make excuses and find ways to avoid the thing you know you should be doing. Experts advise us to break this habit by becoming aware of our own excuses. The ‘right time’ to do something never arrives: the best time to do something is usually now. Once you’ve got started, you’ll probably find that it wasn’t as hard as you thought.
2
It’s important to make yourself a ‘to do’ list or exam revision timetable, but remember that listing things isn’t the same as doing them (see Tip 1!). Once you’ve worked out what needs to be done, decide which tasks have the highest priority and which can be left till later.
3
It’s inevitable that things don’t always go as well as you expect them to. If you find that you’ve ‘hit a wall’, there are two things you can do. First, persevere: with a bit more effort, you may find that you break through the wall. But if that doesn’t work, try having a (short) break. Do something completely different, and come back to the task.
4
Even if you’re under stress, there’s no point making yourself ill – that will just make the pressure worse. Make sure you remember to eat regularly and healthily, and, even though it may be hard, try to get enough sleep.
5
You can’t always make your brain work ‘on demand’. Don’t spend too long on one task, and learn to recognise when you’re slowing down. Divide large tasks into smaller parts that are easier to manage, and reward yourself for completing them by doing something fun.
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