Yep, it’s one thing to wish you didn’t have to return to the classroom after Spring Break, but it is disorienting to have that wish become reality.
So now what?
I am not thinking or advocating for every waking hour being managed, so keep reading, I just want you to consider your time as a valued resource and look at using it more efficiently. I subscribe to this way of thinking because I believe creativity can flourish with time on one’s hand.
The interesting point here will adjusting your balance to the new normal, somewhere between not as rigid of a school day routine and binging on screen time-either watching TV and or playing games.
I know I don’t enjoy the feeling I have when I am lying in bed reviewing my day and realize that I got very little done that matters or makes me happy. You ever feel this way?
It is strange to be thankful for good health for loved ones, a roof over our heads, healing from my surgery, and then, thinking I got next to nothing done that matters to me today. This leaves me feeling negative about myself. Even laid up, I feel like I can and should get some things done around this house, to better myself physically, or my brain in some manner other than napping.
I have plenty of books to read and time So what is keeping me from them?
I think it is the psychology of the unknown that makes me wonder, worry, and ultimately do very little. If I feel this way, then I would wager many others, including students everywhere would wonder what the heck and why the heck should they bother.
I would like to propose that the four-hour workday could be very manageable and give us all a better sense of being productive human beings while considering of our social and emotional well-being.
If you’re trying to stay on a normal schedule keep your time frames the same, but if, by being is on spring break you have already blown that and feel lost, do what you can to stay in sync with your family, meals and chores. Then carve out some time that you feel your most productive and block off this time for you and your growth. You will probably need about four hours a day to take care of your schoolwork and then some extra time for personal discovery growth. So maybe 4 hours during your day to take some classes like you’ve been doing and create your own elective is doable since you are used to going to school for seven hours. Maybe you can get by with less time for schoolwork and you won’t be wasting time in class chatting- instead you will be working.
Don’t worry, there’s time for chatting still just don’t drag out the schoolwork part.
Now what to do with your time?
Just an idea?
Organize your subjects from least favorite to favorite. Mine would look something like these: social studies, math, LA, then science. Math is a close second to LA though so.
Get yourself a timer
Set it for 25 minutes. This will be your first subject/ not so favorite subject and get to work. Take a five-minute break at the end of that 25 minutes.
Then set it for the next 25 minutes this will be for your same subject if you still need a little more time or it will be for a new subject if you got everything done in the last 25 minutes
OK, get through that 25 minutes and then take another five-minute break.
Set the timer for 25 more minutes next subject or continued subject. 5-minute break.
Last round will be 25 minutes more. At this point you will need to take a longer break so it can be 30 minutes.
Go do something physical, (PE class ?) There you just got 2 hours of work done, if you stayed on task and you only use your phone as your timer they call this the Pomodoro method. I call it working against the clock and using delayed gratification. This way you get your fun stuff at the end, you get the not so fun stuff over with in the beginning, then you have plenty of time to get that curiosity sparked with whatever your heart desires.
Do another set of these rounds after your 30-minute break or at another part of your day.
Using Parkinson’s Law, an activity a task project will swell and perceived importance and complexity in relation to the time allowed for its completion. Give yourself only 4 hours to complete all your work and you will still have plenty of time left to do as you please.
These two ideas, Pomodoro method (working against the clock in short bits) and Parkinson’s Law will help to guide you.
If you use this idea to get your regularly scheduled school work done, you would do your first round of pompadour the 25/5 (subject #1), 25/5 (subject #2), 25/5 (subject #3), 25/30 (subject #4), and then do another round and for the day or like I said, you could break these things up into do them at two different times during the day, just make sure you save time for your favorite because it will be so much easier to get back in the groove.
Now you are free to do other things like chores. Hint: the Pomodoro method works well here too and find out more about that new interest you are developing.
What kinds of new interest excites you?
Think about this try the Pomodoro method with maybe your chores first and then if you have some school work you could start there because that’s enough for right now you have lots of possibilities to sort through and you’ve done enough reading for now on some self-help which is cool and hopefully gathering some ideas on how to be more efficient with your time till next time.
| Subject 1 | |
| Break | 5 |
| Subject 2 | |
| Break | 5 |
| Subject 3 | |
| Break | 5 |
| Subject 4 | |
| Break | 30 |
| Subject 1 | |
| Break | 5 |
| Subject 2 | |
| Break | 5 |
| Subject 3 | |
| Break | 5 |
| Subject 4 | Hobby |
| Break | 30 |