Of Reflection and Time-Management
something I've been learning throughout the year so far has been reflecting on my work and managing my time more appropriately. questions I've been asking myself a lot now have been things such as: What am I going to work on today? what did I do yesterday and what can I do to make it better? what have I learned from my progress so far?
these kind of questions are things I've found quite helpful in considering my options and being aware of myself compared to the time I have. as I write this, Thursday at 11:21am, I'm still thinking back on what work I still must do and remind myself that I can go to playing games and relaxing once it is all done.
managing my time as I am right now however can also be rather taxing. I find myself being much more tired and stressed as I constantly play the things I need to work on through my head while doing said work. this can lead to difficulty doing any future work that may suddenly appear as one concentrates on managing the pre-existing work.
just yesterday, I was asked to work on a new blog discussing what I have learned over the past 8 weeks of BCT and I have difficulty remembering it. not only due to a lack of proper care to record and reflect on the lessons, but due to focusing more on the present work to be done, writing other posts, finishing my 2nd programming assignment, beginning work on my final project (a dnd character creator) and working to design my final studio project (a friend making app).
as such I think I need to re-orient myself and come up with a better way to manage time. as it currently stands, I have done so by simply remembering, but I'm seeing how much that taxes me. I think a better option would be to set reminders on my Calender and taking more notes, that way I can focus on the project soonest to be due and have everything I need to remember hints and tools to remember my other work between the weeks.
this is a lot to read but the "too long; didn't read" of all of this is, looking back and reflecting on my current way of handling my time, I see it has flaws that need solving and I may have a possible solution. I'm sure it's not the best solution, but that is why we have the internet. to help get information!
this brings us to the topic of reflection rather well. reflection is a rather useful tool in most parts of life. it lets us consider alternative actions and solutions to our mistakes while giving us a chance to congratulate our successes big or small. it gives us a moment of respite from the present that troubles us and lets us consider the past and future. and it helps us to act with hindsight.
I've found that reflecting on one's actions can be very useful, and very powerful, but one may find themselves using such a power dangerously, be it against others or themselves. reflect on your actions incorrectly and one may go about making excuses. reflect too often and one may find themselves either becoming arrogant or self-defeating. never consider your reflections in future choices and actions and one may find it useless as they continue life never fixing their mistakes.
Reflection is a tool we have learnt as we have grown but it can be abused or wrong. even I find myself using it in ways that lead to being critical of myself or simply making excuses for my actions. something we can do to strengthen our ability to reflect however is to learn from others.
Everyone has a different background and life. this changes how we see ourselves or consider the world. this can help us to better ourselves by learning from their beliefs and considering them alongside our own. we often can be very critical of ourselves, getting the opinions of others can help us in reflecting by giving us an outsider's look at our actions and a less biased understanding of our situation. do not consider another's opinion any more important than yours, however, as it can lead to many insecurities and a feeling of incompetence. this is something I can also say from experience.
Overall, we must remember something important in regards to both reflecting on our actions and managing our time. these are both tools that we use to better ourselves and make our lives easier. they have no say in how they are used and can be used for better or worse. they can be used too often or too little and we choose how we use them.
all I can do is give my understanding and give the advice I was taught and try to live by.
"Everything in moderation."