College of Agriculture & Natural Resources



Self-Care: Barriers, Boundaries and Best-Practices: Time Management Tips Sean Knurek, MPH, MA, Extension Health EducatorBe mindful of your internal clock. Have you ever noticed that there are certain times of the morning or afternoon where you are more productive? Block off that time for projects that will require extended attention and concentration.Allow twice as much time for tasks than you think you’ll need. Let’s assume you are working on an article—if you think you can get it written in two hours, allow yourself four hours. If you’re done early, you can move on to less important tasks seamlessly and with a sense of accomplishment. If you only gave yourself a two-hour window and you don’t finish in that time, your stress levels may increase.Turn your phone to silent/vibrate and keep it out of arm’s reach unless absolutely necessary. Creating physical distance from your distractors can help you to resist the temptation of distraction.Maintain a dedicated workstation. Decorations are fun and can keep your spirits bright but do your best to prevent normal household items from entering your work area. Separating your home from your work can help you to avoid distractions. As the Rate My Room Twitter handle suggests, succulents are a nice addition. Dirty dishes, junk mail, and other random stuff are not.Turn off your e-mail notifications on your laptop in Outlook. Under “File””Options””Mail””Message arrival”, turn off the options to play a sound, briefly change the mouse pointer, show an envelope icon in the taskbar, and display a desktop alert when an email arrives. Certainly, there are times where we are waiting on urgent emails, but our productivity plummets when we stop what we’re doing to see what airfare or recommendations from online merchants have showed up in our boxes. According to Cal-Irvine researcher Gloria Mark, a distraction (either external or caused by ourselves) can derail our productivity on average by 23 minutes. You can always actively check your email if it is necessary to do so.Block off some time on your schedule for planning. If there are times of the day where you know that your energy is lower, such as after lunch, take some time to plan a to-do list for either the remainder of the current day or for the next day of work. This is more useful than trying to work through a post-sandwich haze. Schedule small breaks or rewards for yourself upon completion of tasks. Do your best to get a good night’s sleep.Consider beginning your day with a mindful meditation. There are a number of mindfulness apps available for your phone. Plenty of brief meditations are available on YouTube as well. Taking the opportunity to calm your mind down and center yourself in the present moment can help launch you into productive periods quicker.Journal your workday for a week or so. Similar to logging your foods when on a weight-management program, it is much more difficult to make significant changes in your work style if you don’t have a baseline. By auditing your day, you can identify your most productive times, what distractions are most common, and learn to move higher-leverage tasks into your periods of peak productivity.Learn to say NO. If you are already struggling with how much work is on your plate, stand up for yourself. You don’t get a cape for picking up extra projects/tasks that you can’t fit into your schedule. Instead, your work quality as a whole may suffer and your stress levels will skyrocket. If a supervisor requests you assist on a project, clearly state your concerns or set firm boundaries as to what you would be willing to do to assist. 484908899218If you are going on vacation, don’t be afraid to delete the Outlook app from your phone. Your leave time in most circumstances is meant for your recreation. Nothing can zap the fun out of a camping trip or a vacation like a series of emails about food left in the office fridge. Don’t forget to set your auto-response before you leave. ................
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