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What are the advantages of having a schedule?


Lightmeow

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Hello, my parents are going to get me a nexus 7 or 10, for my birthday, but I need to keep a schedule. I have tried to do it for almost half a year now, but I have failed. Maybe some people could convince me good reasons why I should have one, other than you need to fill out a time sheet for your employer. I should of gotten the Nexus this Christmas, but I didn't do a schedule, and if I did one over last summer vacation I also would of gotten one. Please help me, I feel like I can't do it, but I need to!!!

 

I need to have two schedules, one that is a projected, what my day is going to be, and the other is going to be I write down my stuff as I do it.

 

What are the advantages of having one?

 

How could I keep one?

 

I fight with my parents all the time about this, and I am convinced that it is a waste of time. Please nobody agree with me and solidify my opinion.

 

Thanks

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Schedules are good because they help your circadian rhythms to become established and allow a steady sleep pattern. They also align well with the inherent human desire for routine and ritual. Finally, they teach you discipline and prepare you for harder tasks later in life. Those are a few ideas off the top of my head.

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Later in life, having time management skills is very useful. In fact, even in school (and later college) it can make you much more efficient in getting things done.

 

Starting early with such methods can help you to find a system that works best for you.

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Pros - new Nexus 10.

 

Cons - a bit of regular work.

 

No brainer - do it.

 

Set a reminder on your phone, your PC, or your watch and get into a routine. It can also be used as an emergency get out clause - when the parentals are gearing up to ask (translation: demand with menaces) you to mow the lawn, clean the car, wash the dog etc. take the initiative from them and mention you need to update your journal and hey presto 10 minutes free time and you have dodged the errand!

 

I really got into keeping a personal diary when I was booted from university - suddenly people like the department of social security have very little patience for missed appointments and life can become very tough. And in the battle between the bureaucrats who do keep time and schedules and the free-wheeling hippy - I lost.

 

Hints -

  • Fill in the interesting stuff and important dates first - multiple entries (mum's birthday, a week in advance to get card, a few weeks in advance to buy present etc) both fill in space and actually work.
  • Put in silly but fun things as well -the play off dates, fantasy football predictions, game scores/trophies etc
  • Don't spend a lot of time on anything - it is meant to save time and make things easier not be a pain in the neck.
  • Tick - cross through - place interrogation marks etc against everything your have for a day that is past - if it was important enough to mark down it is important enough to explain what happened.
  • When you are faking it use multiple pens
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Hello, my parents are going to get me a nexus 7 or 10, for my birthday, but I need to keep a schedule. I have tried to do it for almost half a year now, but I have failed. Maybe some people could convince me good reasons why I should have one, other than you need to fill out a time sheet for your employer. I should of gotten the Nexus this Christmas, but I didn't do a schedule, and if I did one over last summer vacation I also would of gotten one. Please help me, I feel like I can't do it, but I need to!!!

 

I need to have two schedules, one that is a projected, what my day is going to be, and the other is going to be I write down my stuff as I do it.

 

What are the advantages of having one?

 

How could I keep one?

 

I fight with my parents all the time about this, and I am convinced that it is a waste of time. Please nobody agree with me and solidify my opinion.

 

Thanks

IMHO there are no advantages, it is a waste of time.(1)

The military work entirely on schedules. Organizations, companies, jobs, a lot of things work on schedule inevitably. It is very constraining, very annoying. But useful.

Your parents want you to become disciplined and creating a schedule for yourself is supposed making you want to follow it.

Because if you make a schedule that you do not follow that is really a waste of time.

 

edit

(1) It is a waste of time because the time spent in making a schedule could be used in doing something useful. I suspect you are not spending all of your available time doing useful activities.

Edited by michel123456
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If you are going into science (and since you are here, I assume you are) here are some things that time management helps:

 

1) Knowing when you work best at what. I tend to well with trivial tasks in the morning, meaningful tasks in mid-day (e.g. research), and creative/planning in the afternoon. I tend to plan my next day at the end, doing those tasks that I hate in the morning and the ones I enjoy the rest of the day. Everyone has their own internal schedule. I would advise against arbitrarily setting a schedule. Spend a few weeks finding out what you are good at when. Maybe you should be getting up early to do homework instead of working at night (won't your parents love that).

2) Research is not all about being in the lab! Especially not in this day and age:

a) Experiment planning. You will need to spend some time planning out your experiments. First literature searches ("A day in the library is worth a week in the lab."). This, too, requires some time management. If you love a subject, you can actually spend more time than necessary here. Careful planning of experiments is important. You should have a target date and steps along the way. After you have a plan, then you can schedule approximate time schedules for experiments. E.G. After I deposit my gold contacts (0.5 days), I can test the conductivity (0.5 days).

b) Down-time tasks. A decent amount of science is 'waiting.' While a watched pot does boil, you haven't made it go faster watching it. If something takes an hour to run, then you should schedule a task that takes about an hour. Read literature, get lunch, etc. Another source of downtime is that fact that sometimes things break, orders are postponed, or some other reason you can't be in the lab. You can sit around and mope or you can think about what you want to do in the future, do tasks you have postponed, or write a paper.

c) Deadlines! When is the grant due? How long will it take me to write this? OR When will the project funding ending? Experiment planning is a small part of this.

3) Experiment Planning - said it 3 times for a reason. This is the reason that people with experience are valuable. They know what can go wrong and can plan for it. They know the most elegant way to run an experiment (correlating to lowest cost and highest probability of a good outcome). Learn this and you will be valuable in any economy.

Edited by AbeMichelson
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If you are going into science (and since you are here, I assume you are) here are some things that time management helps:

 

1) Knowing when you work best at what. I tend to well with trivial tasks in the morning, meaningful tasks in mid-day (e.g. research), and creative/planning in the afternoon. I tend to plan my next day at the end, doing those tasks that I hate in the morning and the ones I enjoy the rest of the day. Everyone has their own internal schedule. I would advise against arbitrarily setting a schedule. Spend a few weeks finding out what you are good at when. Maybe you should be getting up early to do homework instead of working at night (won't your parents love that).

2) Research is not all about being in the lab! Especially not in this day and age:

a) Experiment planning. You will need to spend some time planning out your experiments. First literature searches ("A day in the library is worth a week in the lab."). This, too, requires some time management. If you love a subject, you can actually spend more time than necessary here. Careful planning of experiments is important. You should have a target date and steps along the way. After you have a plan, then you can schedule approximate time schedules for experiments. E.G. After I deposit my gold contacts (0.5 days), I can test the conductivity (0.5 days).

b) Down-time tasks. A decent amount of science is 'waiting.' While a watched pot does boil, you haven't made it go faster watching it. If something takes an hour to run, then you should schedule a task that takes about an hour. Read literature, get lunch, etc. Another source of downtime is that fact that sometimes things break, orders are postponed, or some other reason you can't be in the lab. You can sit around and mope or you can think about what you want to do in the future, do tasks you have postponed, or write a paper.

c) Deadlines! When is the grant due? How long will it take me to write this? OR When will the project funding ending? Experiment planning is a small part of this.

3) Experiment Planning - said it 3 times for a reason. This is the reason that people with experience are valuable. They know what can go wrong and can plan for it. They know the most elegant way to run an experiment (correlating to lowest cost and highest probability of a good outcome). Learn this and you will be valuable in any economy.

 

I think this is good. With the waking up early, I kind of think sleep is a waste of time, so I only get about 5 hours a night. I understand that I need to plan. I have a really good internal clock and can usually remember when I need to do things, except for the schedule.

 

 

Pros - new Nexus 10.

 

Cons - a bit of regular work.

 

No brainer - do it.

 

Set a reminder on your phone, your PC, or your watch and get into a routine. It can also be used as an emergency get out clause - when the parentals are gearing up to ask (translation: demand with menaces) you to mow the lawn, clean the car, wash the dog etc. take the initiative from them and mention you need to update your journal and hey presto 10 minutes free time and you have dodged the errand!

 

I really got into keeping a personal diary when I was booted from university - suddenly people like the department of social security have very little patience for missed appointments and life can become very tough. And in the battle between the bureaucrats who do keep time and schedules and the free-wheeling hippy - I lost.

 

Hints -

  • Fill in the interesting stuff and important dates first - multiple entries (mum's birthday, a week in advance to get card, a few weeks in advance to buy present etc) both fill in space and actually work.
  • Put in silly but fun things as well -the play off dates, fantasy football predictions, game scores/trophies etc
  • Don't spend a lot of time on anything - it is meant to save time and make things easier not be a pain in the neck.
  • Tick - cross through - place interrogation marks etc against everything your have for a day that is past - if it was important enough to mark down it is important enough to explain what happened.
  • When you are faking it use multiple pens

 

 

That is a really good idea to use different colored pens, and I need to do that. I am a really spontaneous person, so it is hard to keep a schedule. I often go for random walks and the like. With the don't spend a lot of time on anything, that is also a good point. I obsess on things, then forget life around me(over Christmas vacation I was learning the programming for Arduino I obsessed on it and was awake for two days and nights straight. I, at the end of vacation found out the core reason why I obsess with things. I always feel like I don't have enough time to do everything. I also need to get into a habit of going things at certain times. I forget to eat a lot because I am in my own world of doing something more important. I also don't like doing a schedule because I am a perfectionist, and if I am always thinking of doing a schedule I can't fully focus on my other stuff.. I will admit, as much as I hate schedules, I love school because of schedules. It makes it so I have to eat at a certain time, classes at these times. I am still behind because I don't keep an assignment book. I am trying really hard this quarter to keep it. I just guess I am very arrogant because I usually get A's and A+'s, so I have no reason to keep a schedulefrown.gif I'm trying so hard thoughsad.png I will win!!! Thanks for the advice.

Edited by Lightmeow
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I think this is good. With the waking up early, I kind of think sleep is a waste of time, so I only get about 5 hours a night. I understand that I need to plan. I have a really good internal clock and can usually remember when I need to do things, except for the schedule.

 

 

That is a really good idea to use different colored pens, and I need to do that. I am a really spontaneous person, so it is hard to keep a schedule. I often go for random walks and the like. With the don't spend a lot of time on anything, that is also a good point. I obsess on things, then forget life around me(over Christmas vacation I was learning the programming for Arduino I obsessed on it and was awake for two days and nights straight. I, at the end of vacation found out the core reason why I obsess with things. I always feel like I don't have enough time to do everything. I also need to get into a habit of going things at certain times. I forget to eat a lot because I am in my own world of doing something more important. I also don't like doing a schedule because I am a perfectionist, and if I am always thinking of doing a schedule I can't fully focus on my other stuff.. I will admit, as much as I hate schedules, I love school because of schedules. It makes it so I have to eat at a certain time, classes at these times. I am still behind because I don't keep an assignment book. I am trying really hard this quarter to keep it. I just guess I am very arrogant because I usually get A's and A+'s, so I have no reason to keep a schedulefrown.gif I'm trying so hard thoughsad.png I will win!!! Thanks for the advice.

 

That's a respectable amount of self-knowledge - kudos. I love gadgets - but even though I can comfortably afford them I ration myself and set them as rewards for goals; a journal vs a nexus 10, I would take that challenge any time. In fact my diary for 2014 just arrived today - stupendously silly moleskine hardback with star wars detailing. last year's had the (a little OTT) quote from master yoda on the cover - "do. or do not. there is no try"

 

Your comments on the As and A+s - that's what's fun about university; mostly you are working with people who similarly found school a bit of a breeze - it's fun to hang around with people who are brighter, more knowledgeable, and more driven than oneself and that is why I come to scienceforums.net

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I am a really spontaneous person, so it is hard to keep a schedule. I often go for random walks and the like. With the don't spend a lot of time on anything, that is also a good point. I obsess on things, then forget life around me(over Christmas vacation I was learning the programming for Arduino I obsessed on it and was awake for two days and nights straight. I, at the end of vacation found out the core reason why I obsess with things. I always feel like I don't have enough time to do everything. I also need to get into a habit of going things at certain times. I forget to eat a lot because I am in my own world of doing something more important. I also don't like doing a schedule because I am a perfectionist, and if I am always thinking of doing a schedule I can't fully focus on my other stuff.. I will admit, as much as I hate schedules, I love school because of schedules. It makes it so I have to eat at a certain time, classes at these times. I am still behind because I don't keep an assignment book. I am trying really hard this quarter to keep it. I just guess I am very arrogant because I usually get A's and A+'s, so I have no reason to keep a schedulefrown.gif

 

I think your problem is perspective. Look at it this way, a spontaneous person needs a schedule more than someone who's not. You need to know you can afford to do what you please right now because the beeping schedule will tell you if you need to be doing something else, something you'd rather not miss. You need to remove the stress of worrying that you're missing events and deadlines and eating.

 

Oddly enough, the more order you place on your routine life, the more chaos you can handle, guilt free.

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