In the previous post, we discussed why it is important to work towards important goals on a daily basis. We also discussed what your daily tasks to reach these goals might be. At first sight, completing all of these tasks on a daily basis seems to take a lot of time. Hence, I would like to now cover the important question:

 

How to make time to do my daily tasks?

 

Well, let’s first see how long it might take to do the proposed example tasks:

 

Task 1 (Work on two modules) 2 hours (maximally, less is ok)

 

Task 2 (Work on one assignment): 30min

 

Task 3 (Work on your research project): 1 hour or less on days where you don’t do experiments, more on days where you are doing experiments

 

Task 4 (Work on your career preparation): This can be built into your daily schedule and often does not require dedicated time, as it is about networking and talking to professionals, Profs, other students, reading information online, working on your CV, getting feedback from the career centre etc. etc. For me, train rides make a great time to get things done, because I am motivated by the short duration of the ride. And it feels great to be one of the few on the train not wasting time playing games, watching dramas or chatting away. (MRT picture)

 

But you still need to make some time to get the other tasks done. That may require giving up some things that you regularly do and that are not helping you in the long run. But more than this, it is important to develop certain habits that help you to be consistent in working on your goals. I for instance have started to wake up by 5:30am every day. It sounds difficult, but after a while, you get used to it and it becomes quite easy (see here for how to build a new habit like waking up early).

 

The advantages of waking up early are several fold. Firstly, mornings hours are the most productive for most people (apparently even for most people who think they are an evening person). And it feels really great to have done a great deal (or all) of my important daily work by the time I get to my office (and have time to spend with students or attending meetings etc.).

 

But we were talking about how you could get your daily tasks done, on top of your other commitments. So let’s say on an average day you have 3 lectures, one from 10-12, one from 12-2, and one from 4-6, followed by CCA and dinner.

If you start your work at 6:30am, after taking a shower and having breakfast, or while having breakfast, you can do two and a half hours of work before leaving for your first lecture. Then maybe you have lunch from 2-3pm, and you have another hour that you can spend in the library. That means you are done with your daily tasks and have the rest of the evening for fun stuff (of course, you need to go to sleep a bit earlier).

 

If you like to wake up at 8, you can still get an hour of work done in the morning, one more hour from 3-4pm and then you still have to spend a bit of time after dinner. Remember, it is ok to spend less time on each task, as long as you spend some time every day!

 

(If you like to wake up even later, then sorry, this plan is probably not going to work for you…)

 

If you are actually running experiments, things are a bit trickier. Often it is possible to do some work while waiting for things to incubate. Again, it is ok to spend less time on the various tasks, as long as you do SOME work towards each goal.

 

If you follow these, no day will ever be wasted again. You will see that if you have done your daily tasks you feel good. And you have also done something for your all-rounded progress in your studies, personal development and career preparation. And what is also very amazing about this approach is that things actually get done over time in a non-stressful manner.

 

Finally, one thing that I find very helpful is to keep a log of your daily actions towards your goals! It is a constant reminder to stay committed to progress. It is also a good incentive to keep up with your daily tasks, even if you don’t feel so motivated every day.