By Jennifer Conwell

The Feeling Of Overwhelm

Picture it - it’s 9 pm on a Thursday. You’re exhausted and feeling completely overwhelmed; maybe even a little upset at yourself. You’re thinking, “How did I get this far behind in my schoolwork?!” You find yourself spending the rest of the evening trying to figure out how your school week has flown by. It seemed so busy, yet you find you’re still so far behind in classwork. I think I’ve got a solution for you.

Would you believe that the reason you’re feeling so far behind is that you didn’t dedicate specific time in your day to completing class work? You’re probably thinking to yourself, “I attended my live class and got some work done then, doesn’t that count?”

The Impact of Time Management

The University of New South Wales conducted a study that proved that students who practiced time management skills, set goals, and created daily schedules were more likely to have good grades and less stress ((Wilson, Joiner, & Abbasi, 2021). Similarly, the University of Florida Gainesville conducted a study that proved a significant difference in grades for students who used time management skills versus students who did not (Tjaden, Rolando, Doty, & Mortimer, 2019). 

These studies prove a point - effective time management (like creating a daily schedule) eliminates procrastination and stress and allows for a healthy school-work-life balance. Now the challenge is to find time to create a schedule to follow. That can present a whole new overwhelming feeling in itself, can’t it? You have to think about your work schedule, making time to eat, making time for friends and family, and attending class. Is there even any time for fun? What if I told you I have an easy trick to help?

Useful Tool to Create A Realistic Schedule

Welcome to the wonderful world of AI! Your teachers have probably been telling you all about ways to NOT use it. Now here is a way you can! AI is a simple and easy tool to use to create a daily schedule. 

Let me show you an example of how to utilize AI to create a schedule for you:

Me: Can you create a daily schedule that provides me breaks throughout the day knowing I have to do the following: I wake up at 8:30 am, I have a class to attend from 10-11 am and 12-1 pm, I have 4 quizzes to complete for homework that are 10 questions each, I have to write a paragraph essay for class, I have to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and I work from 5-9 pm. My parents also need me to fold a load of laundry and empty the dishwasher. I also have to pick up my sibling from school at 4 pm. I’d like to be asleep by 10:15 pm.

AI: Sure, here's a schedule that accommodates your various tasks and commitments:

• 8:30 am - 9:00 am: Wake Up and Breakfast - Start your day with breakfast and some time to wake up.
• 9:00 am - 9:30 am: Morning Chores - Fold the load of laundry and empty the dishwasher.
• 9:30 am - 10:00 am: Personal Prep and Review - Prepare for your class and review any necessary materials.
• 10:00 am - 11:00 am: Class - Attend your scheduled class.
• 11:00 am - 12:00 pm: Quizzes - Use this time to complete your quizzes.
• 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm: Class - Attend your second class.
• 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm: Lunch Break
• 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm: Essay Writing - Dedicate this time to work on your paragraph essay for class.
• 3:30 pm - 4:00 pm: Pick Up Sibling - Leave to pick up your sibling from school.
• 4:00 pm - 4:30 pm: Sibling Activity - Spend time with your sibling or assist them with tasks.
• 4:30 pm - 5:00 pm: Dinner
• 5:00 pm - 9:00 pm: Work
• 9:00 pm - 9:30 pm: Come home from work and complete unfinished tasks
• 9:30 pm 10:00 pm: Wind Down - Prepare for bed, wind down, and engage in a relaxing activity.
• 10:15 pm: Bedtime

This schedule includes dedicated time slots for each task and allows for breaks throughout the day. Adjust the timings as needed based on how long each task takes you. Remember, maintaining flexibility is essential in accommodating unforeseen events or variations in task completion times.

You can provide an array of details in your prompt to AI. The more specific, the better. As you can see above, I didn’t explain the types of assignments I had to complete or the classes I needed to attend, and it still provided me with a schedule I could easily follow and feel comfortable about. I don’t have to follow this exactly, especially knowing that I need to travel to and from work and that didn’t fit into this schedule, but it’s a great place to start.

Feeling Crushed to In Control

So instead of feeling overwhelmed at 9 pm on a Thursday, now you can be relaxing with a good book, or video game, or finishing up a work shift knowing you can just go straight to bed when you get home. Sounds like a much better evening. 

Citations:

Tjaden, J., Rolando, D., Doty, J., & Mortimer, J. T. (2019). The Long-Term Effects of Time Use during High School on Positive Development. Longitudinal and life course studies: international journal, 10(1), 51–85. https://doi.org/10.1332/175795919X15468755933371

Wilson, Robert; Joiner, Keith; and Abbasi, Alireza, Improving students’ performance with time management skills, Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice, 18(4), 2021. Available at:https://ro.uow.edu.au/jutlp/vol18/iss4/16