Wednesday, May 27, 2009

How do I unscramble my time management?

Dear Mom:

I'm always at least five minutes late to my first class of the day. How do I schedule my time so that I'm not late?

Sincerely,
Scrambled Up

Dear Scrambled:

Forgive me for using such a "churchy" example, but I believe it will work in your case.

When I was a young mother, trying to get ready for church was a nightmare. Not only did I have myself to get ready I had my three children as well. And then I had my husband who did alright on his own most of the time, unless he couldn't find his shoes.

At any rate, this is what I was told by a very well-meaning person, though the name escapes me now. Let me just say that I hated her at first, telling me what to do as if I couldn't figure it out for myself. And yet, what she had to say made sense.

In a nutshell: Lay out your children's clothes and shoes the night before. Bathe them the night before. Get the diaper bag ready and set it by the front door. That way, in the morning when you are scrambling to get ready there will be less scrambling out the door.

In your case, decide on what you're going to wear the night before. If you don't want to lay your clothes out, put them in an area in your closet where you can get to them easily the next morning. Get all of your books and stuff ready for school the night previous. I have one of those unattractive suitcases with wheels that I load up the night before with all my books and papers. In the morning I just have to cart it downstairs and into the car. I wouldn't be able to handle showering at night but after hearing one conversation recently about the five roommates and being late to school because the person couldn't get into the shower-I wonder if this might be one of your considerations.

The bottom line is this: I do what I can do at night so that I'm less scrambled in the morning?

While some suggest setting the clock ahead, I wouldn't recommend it. After a while you remember you have fifteen minutes more than the clock says and adjust your mind clock accordingly. I would suggest, however, leaving your home earlier than the time you think you need to get there (and if you're getting most everything ready ahead of time the night before, this step is that much easier). If it would regularly take you a half an hour to get to class, (And I'm speaking of class here, not how long it takes you to reach the parking lot and find a spot), give yourself an additional 15 minutes for commute. That way, if there is a car accident, slow traffic or bad weather, you can still get to class on time. I know, I know, you want to sleep in as long as possible, but giving yourself some extra time for variables will ease your stress in being late and will give you the freedom to step into that class-on time.

See you in class!

Mom

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