4.8: Summary
Career Connection
Rick says: I’ve wanted to work in radio since I was in high school and had great opportunities in college to learn at the campus station. I interned for a semester at a local Top 40 station and, after graduation, was offered a position as the producer of the station’s morning show.
The only problem: I had to be at the radio station by 4:45 a.m. I couldn’t do it. I tried everything—alarms on my phone, clock radio alarms, friends calling me. This is not a job you can be late for—dead air is a radio DJ’s greatest nightmare. But no matter what I tried, I could not wake up on time. The third time I arrived late, the radio station let me go.
Reflection question: How might you have handled the situation differently? How might this aspiring radio DJ have managed his time differently to ensure he was not late for work?
For discussion: Is the Internet responsible for most of our wasted work time? Read through this article. What do you think?
Who Wastes Time(opens in new window) [openstax.org]
Rethinking
Revisit the questions you answered at the beginning of the chapter, and consider one option you learned in this chapter that might change your answer to one of them.
- I regularly procrastinate completing tasks that don't interest me or seem challenging.
- I use specific time management strategies to complete tasks.
- I find it difficult to prioritize tasks because I am not sure what is really important.
- I am pleased with my ability to manage my time.
Where do you go from here?
Refining your time management skills based on an honest assessment is something that should never stop. The benefits of good time management skills are something that will apply to the rest of your life. What would you like to learn more about? Choose a topic from the list below, and create an annotated bibliography that would direct further research.
- Psychological reasons for procrastinating
- Technology and social media as distractions
- Additional time management strategies
- Time management strategies that successful people use