Thing 11 - Reflective Practice

Time Management 

I have to say I'm quite big on time management, I don't know why, but I'm always early to work so that I don't get caught in traffic.  I would rather be sat at my desk getting on with things than sit in my car waiting for the queue to move. 

It is the busiest time of year for us getting ready for the students to come back, and preparing all the research skills modules and getting book lists from tutors.  Because of this I try to make sure I get at least an hour away from that in a week to work on this, sometime in 2 half hour bits.  The main reason is that I can see some of it being very useful  and am incorporating it into my planning.  I have also passed some of it onto my colleagues so they can use it too - mainly the screenomatic, I really love that.  It maybe means some of my blogs aren't very long, but it's getting me into the habit of blogging regularly, so that when this is over I will continue to blog.

I'm a bit strange in that I work better under pressure & if I know something has to be done & time is running out I can seem to work better & quicker!!!  But I know that's not for everyone.  So I would just suggest looking at what you have to do in a week & making sure you make at least two 30 minute slots within the week & stick to them.  If it takes longer than that - add another 30 minutes somewhere. 

It is going to be well worth it I think, so I'm going to continue on this strategy - I hope! - if it starts to break down when the students return, I'll rethink it!