Tamara talked about how leading your life is
like conducting an orchestra and producing a beautiful song. Are there any
parts of your life that should play louder in the current song you are
conducting? Are there any parts that you should remove from the orchestra to
make your song more beautiful or perfect?
I have been struggling with time management, so I definitely
needed to hear this lecture. It’s been hard to realize that college life is
different than high school in that things that were important before aren’t
necessarily important now. Setting priorities seemed to be so much easier at
home, and it has been a difficult challenge to balance everything here and try
not to drown out certain parts of my song. It may not be the typical freshman
fault, but I have been letting school and homework overtake my life. There are
so many wonderful things BYU has to offer, including service, clubs, extra-curricular
activities, freshman gatherings, and the beautiful campus itself that I feel I
am short-changing myself and not enjoying the whole BYU experience. The social
and spiritual aspects of BYU are being significantly dampened by my need to be
a perfectionist with my schoolwork. Obviously, my purpose for being at BYU is
to gain an education, so studying shouldn’t be removed from my life, but the
song of my life can be more beautiful when I balance academic, spiritual, social,
and physical goals a little more evenly.
There are many things that we need to accomplish
in this life. Tamara talked about how the best way to enjoy life and still get
everything done is through "peacefully hurrying". Why did she suggest
we "peacefully hurry"? What are some actions that will help you to
"peacefully hurry" in your life?
I loved this concept of “peacefully hurrying” because I
believe that is where my greatest happiness and potential can be reached. It
reminded me of Stephen Covey’s idea to spend the majority of time in “quadrant two”
where things are important but not urgent. I am happy when I know I am working
on something important, but if it is down to the last minute, I am too stressed
to enjoy it. Sometimes it is difficult for me to have the motivation to hurry
when things aren’t urgent or there isn’t a deadline, but I know from experience
that peace and happiness come when I “peacefully hurry”. I believe her
definition of hurrying peacefully was that there isn’t time to waste, but it
also isn’t desirable to be so structured and so rushed that life isn’t enjoyable.
God wants us to use our time well, but be at peace in our heart so we are quiet
enough inside to listen to the promptings of the Holy Ghost. This also ties in
with divine-centered leadership because we should never be hurrying so fast
that we don’t have time to stop and help people around us that are in need.
Structuring my time, having a specific plan, and being aware of all deadlines
will help me to peacefully hurry. That way I know what needs to get done each
day and I can enjoy learning rather than rushing through assignments at the
last minute.
Time management can be difficult at times,
especially during school. Make three goals about time management that you would
like to apply to the rest of your semester. Make sure these time management
goals reflect your values. How will you hold yourself accountable to these
three goals?
I have been thinking a lot about my time management goals,
and I really believe they will help my life be more balanced. The first goal I
have is to multi-task as much as possible. For example, I can call home while I
am eating lunch, get exercise as I walk to the temple, and do homework while I
wait for my laundry. If I strive to do this, I can make the most use of my
time. My second goal is to block out my weekly schedule and commit to specific
study times. That way my first priority will always be a regimented part of my
schedule and it won’t be up for compromise. I have eight am classes Monday
through Thursday, but it is difficult to get up early on Fridays and Saturdays
when I don’t have a scheduled appointment. My third goal is to get up earlier
on the weekend mornings so I can make full use of my day. During the weekdays,
I want to get up at 6:45 so I can read my scriptures before I leave my dorm for
the day. An assignment for one of my classes is to track what we do with our
time every thirty minutes, and this is a great way to be accountable for what I
do with my time. Also, I plan on taking a weekly inventory of my goals to see
if I accomplished them or not as an added measure of accountability.
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