What I Have Learnt From The Collegiate Engagements

A healthy educational environment enhances the student-teacher relationship, and thus promotes a healthy learning culture. As students, we are often given a platform to ask questions on areas that are not clear. The teacher, on the other hand, should not hold the student by their hand and just give the student everything, but rather challenge the student in a way that motivates him or her to research more. In writing up the collegiate engagements, personally, I have gained a lot of knowledge that is helping me in my education, and will assist me in my future career. All my Collegiate Engagements were based on the topic “Time Management and Organization”. I wished to improve my organizational skills, as well as learn better ways to manage my time effectively, as those are two problems that I face all the time throughout the semester and negatively affect my grades and performance in school.

Rory Vaden, in his TED Talk video “How to Multiply Your Time” was very helpful, and assisted me in noting down crucial areas that I have to improve on as far time management and organization is concerned. I understood that time is not a one-dimensional object, in that, for a person to achieve anything, all must be drafted in calendars and checklists, and having tips and tools that can better help you. I understood that time management and organization calls for a 3D thinking approach that incorporates several aspects, such as importance, which answers the question of “How much does it matter?”. It also incorporates urgency, as to when does a problem or assignment need to be finished, as well as incorporating the significance of the assignment. Sometimes throughout the semester, when I would have several assignments due throughout the week for various classes, I would focus on one assignment more than others, which would lead me to not getting a good grade on the other assignments that receive as much attention from me. Therefore, I needed to find a way to balance my workload where I can focus on each assignment without ignoring any others. It was my goal to be in a position where I can use time in a way that creates more time for future activity. The use of a 3D approach helped enable me to spend more time in a way that organizes my future plans. The best way towards this was to follow the pattern of eliminating unnecessary tasks, automating processes, and delegating duties.

In a Ted Talk by Laura Vanderkam, she emphasized that the key to time management is by an individual knowing their priorities. A key point that I gained was that my priorities should not be meaningless, as they would cause bad consequences. Vanderkam emphasized the need of people “thinking about their weeks before getting to them.” Another great lesson that I acquired from the video is that time is a choice; this means that I am able to use my time in the way that I want and that time does not constrain me. I must say that one of my major weaknesses was always saying that I have no time, being constantly busy with little output. Vanderkam really assisted me in the video by stating that when an individual says they do not have time, it is just an implication of having no priorities, but not time. I realized that throughout the semester, when there was a busy week or a busy period of time when a lot of assignments were due or I had some exams during the same week, all my time during that week would be dedicated to just studying or working on those assignments, as I would basically put a pause on my social life and would not allow myself to have any time for just me to relax. Therefore, overtime this would lead me to slowly burn out, reaching to the point towards the end of the semester where I do not have any energy to study or even try. After watching Vanderkam’s Ted talk, I realized that if I try to visualize what my main priorities are in the week, I will be able to create sort of a schedule in my mind to help me accomplish what I need to do on time without procrastinating. Her Ted talk gave me some tips as well as to what my priorities should be, as I should focus on school, as well as my social life and my own time. Therefore, there should be some sort of balance between them in order to be organized.

Sometimes during the semester, as I mentioned before, there would be weeks where I would have a lot of assignments due, and I did not plan correctly for or did not organize my time well, which would lead me to just focusing on finishing all the assignments, without actually considering the quality of work I was doing and whether or not I would get a decent grade. Sara Cameron’s TED talk video was very insightful to me on the need of having a balanced and organized schedule. A key point that I learnt is that being busy does not necessarily reflect into productiveness. She emphasized that both the quality and quantity of work that I engage in will end up being affected if am in a constantly busy schedule. I personally learnt that the schedules I create for myself should be so strict in that I do not have free time. After watching Cameron’s Ted talk, I realized that sometimes I give myself too much work to do in a very limited time, rather than spreading it out slowly. Consequently, Cameron’s Ted talk gave me some tips on how to acquire in my workload. I have learnt that balance is very important, as being too busy disables me to focus and also makes me lose more energy than is necessary. Therefore, when thinking of my weekly schedule, I need to have in mind that I should allow myself some time for me and the things I want to do, so that I am not spread too thin trying to finish my work

I must confess that there are moments that my main focus at times has been concentrating on my engineering degree as a path of getting a lot of money. But, by learning about managing time, I have started having an all-rounded approach to life. The networks that I have are the sure stepping stones to success. I watched a TED talk titled “Don't Manage Time, Manage Focus” by Savinda Ranathunga, which gave me new insight on how I can better focus on school, rather than just wasting large amounts of time without actually using it to the most. At the beginning of the semester, I usually set academic goals for myself, the notes, revision plan and a need for a discussion group. An amazing realization is that I usually end up not realizing all the goals that I have set for myself, so I asked myself the things that I need to do in order to achieve my goals. This Collegiate Engagement Event opened my eyes and I realized that using the SMART approach is the best way of achieving my goals. Ranathunga emphasizes that my goals should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound. As a student, my life in college is not all about studying, but I must employ good organization skills to balance on other critical aspects such as my finances, reading time, socializing, resting and religious duties. In order to achieve my set goals, this event emphasized that I must “know who I am” and my “goals, missions and aspirations.” I have finally concluded that, being successful does not entail being in the best schools or doing the best courses, but being happy by what one does and eventually being a great organizer and effectively managing their times

As I mentioned before, it is critical for me to learn how to use my time to the most. What I mean is that I only have a limited amount of time for assignments, exams, or any other aspect of my life, hence I should use that limited time in a way where I am able to succeed. In his TED video “The Philosophy of Time Management”, Aeon Brad covers an interesting aspect which, as I learnt, is the need of making the most out of the minimal time that each of us is allocated. As an engineering student, I now better understand the frame that time is money. I understand why successful people act greedy with time and spend it on activities that enable them to generate money. As a student, I strongly believe that money would never be the real measure of the value of time. Philosophical teachings say that we will all die someday, and thus, we should utilize the time we have well. I often ask myself whether I can manage the time that I have, but Aeon teaches that our forefathers were the people who actually “Never Had Time”, as they did not have the devices we have today that can act as tools that aid in saving time, therefore I do not have an excuse. Whatever I do with my time is my own choice, and choices have consequences. I don’t have all the time, but I can use the little time I have to accomplish much.

The collegiate engagements have opened my eyes in ways I could not have imagined before. In as much as I now believe I am better placed on being an organized student and a good manager of time, there is a need for having personal goals for myself. In all the activities I am involved with, I always set my goals before I start the process. Some of the short-term goals are already achieved. Some of such goals I set included to always be caught up in all my classes, be able to have enough time to create quality work, learn better ways to organize my workload, and be able to have a sort of balance between my social life and school.

All in all, I had a lot this semester. The collegiate engagements have not been like any other assignment, as these have guided me higher on the ladder of success. I am better placed to be a more organized student who is a good manager of his time. I believe by staying focused and following the guidelines from the TED talk videos, nothing will stop me from being successful.