By Holly Gordon

10 Times I Tried to Time Manage and Failed (+ 1 Time it Worked)

Getting a lecture on an unrealistic method of time management felt a bit patronising to be honest. I’ve dealt with teachers in the past, frustrated at my lack of focus and my inability to finish tasks and ultimately bringing it up at parents evening where my mum would sigh and wonder what she was ever going to do with me. I’m not dumb or lazy, I’m just a slow thinker. One of the things I struggle with is the time constraints. I feel the pressure to think up stuff or work faster which ends up with me either procrastinating for 30 mins or producing something sub-par. 

1. When I was 7 – Tried to split my homework into manageable slots and ended up taking the whole weekend because I got distracted and couldn’t focus. (Got diagnosed with Dyslexia soon after)
2. When I was 11 – Had an art competition at school and ended up putting all my time into that, forgetting I had actual homework to do. 
3. When I was 15 – Got put on school report because I was so disorganised I was handing in below average work.
4. When I was 16 – Attempted a revision timetable for GCSEs but completely bombed at following it because I was taking to long to get through my subjects. 
5. When I was 17 – I only had 4 subjects to manage but that didn’t stop me being on report again
6. When I was 18 – Foundation Diploma forced me to create my own timetable which I made and then never followed due to the pressure.
7. Between 19-22 – When I was at University, I just fully accepted that I was’t going to reach a deadline without multiple all nighters so I tried to plan my all nighters the week before but it never worked and ended up staying up the day before anyway.
8. 22 and after – I have lots a side projects I want to do but never give myself time so they never get done.
9. At my old job – Would have to stay late to finish off projects that should of taken a few hours. I never even attempted to figure out a way to manage my time by then, I had just come to accept I wasn’t good at it.
10. SCA – Well I forgot about this SCAB until late last night because I forget there’s a rota that is my responsibility to check. I’ve realised that I can’t time manage my projects well enough so I don’t have time to do all the extra bits which is why this SCAB is probably late and/or sub-par, I have yet to finish TWO posters for the staircase and I have made one topical that I never ended up sending.

(+1 – When it does work – More often than not, I’m always early or on time to somewhere I need to be because I hate being late so I’ve gotten into the habbit of leaving 30 mins before I need to)