Reflective essay

1.) Time management

Without having a planned out and well detailed schedule, it is quite impossible to manage time well.
During my period of childhood, I did not have any need for time management because I actually did not
have too many things to do. However, growing has taught me to value time and with each day, the value
for time increases due to the ever changing and increasing activities that characterize each day. I have
learnt and I am learning new ways and methods to make sure that I actualize every activity stipulated
for each day without causing too much stress on my body. Although no one is born with the innate
ability to manage and maximize time, I believe time management can be learnt through diligence and
intentionality especially as someone 2ho loves to take up new challenges.

Prior to my enrollment and the beginning of the first semester I have been able to build myself to plan
my day according to all I had to do which included family life work and my social life. Although my
planning wasn't necessarily effective but it helped me to have a mindset that that was quite different
from that which I grew up with. Following my initial time management plan which was before
enrollment I was able to get only a little done due to the lack of structuring, lack of diligence and
intentionality and also lack of motivation and drive. I as a person who loves challenges, I love to push
myself to the edge to achieve all that I need to achieve and as a result of this it became quite impossible
for me to go about my day without having to acquire more knowledge and understanding about how to
plan my day and schedule all that I have to do within the time frame of 24 hours. A lot of people believe
that the 24-hour time frame is not enough to achieve what needs to be achieved but having acquired
more knowledge about scheduling, planning, structuring and organizing, I have discovered that anything
can actually be achieved within a stipulated time no matter how big the task is.

According to Kolb (1984), reflecting on the past while using it as an indication for future development is
key and I will be using this approach to have a quick reflection on my time management skills and the
development I have made while making plans and anticipating better developments over time.

One of the scenarios that stand out memorably for me as an indication for a change and upgrade to my
pre-existing time management skill is from a particular day when I was unable to eat any food because
of the cumbersome and hectic activities of the day. Waking up a bit late that beautiful morning after a
previously long day, I had to take care of my family, head to work, study, fix my assignments and meet
up with some other deadlines. I remember thinking to myself how all those could be achieved I a day.
Although I was unable to achieve everything, a handful was done but much more than that, I was able to
learn from the scenario and I as well made a decision to make adequate plans ahead of time.

The issue that arose with my previous skill was premised on the fact that there are no written and laid
down time bound scope highlighting all the plans of the day. I basically just process the whole day in my
head and try to mix everything together but then I discovered I actually end up forgetting most of the
most important parts of the day. This was so frustrating and it became disturbing when it began to
cause stress to my body and It became impossible to function properly. This was my push to venture
into an adventurous study time on time management and I found out my preferred method on time
management. (Cockerell 2016). Although, there are no hard fast rules and there is no one way when it
has to do with methods toward time management (Burris et. al 2017), I have been able to develop
myself using what I gathered from my study on time management and there has been a very clear
difference in comparison to my previous approach. I discovered that the easily negligible parts of time
management such as planning, prioritization, goal setting, time allocation, motivation and rest play the
most important role for me.

For instance, planning is majorly a mental appraisal of all that needs to get done and when they need to
be get done. While planning, I make use of a note pad to analyze and prioritize all the activities in terms
of importance, deadline and how long it will take to get them done. I set my personal goals which are
most of the time set to make me finish up prior to the deadline and thereby also having time to do a
thorough check of the job done. I set the time needed for each activity and find the right source of
motivation. I discovered that lack of motivation was a major blow to my face during my previous skill
approach. Without an inspirational drive, the activities will not be enjoyed and therefore, they will be
left undone or even forgotten. I now have time to rest even in between the activities and tight
schedules. Although as we go bout daily activities, there could be certain things that need to be done
but with this approach, when there is an emergency activity, it is easier to include it into the structured
and organized plan without it having to invade too much into the time allocated for other activities.

With the increasing level of activity that are coming forth each day, there is no better decision I could
have made within my first semester than that on time management. This skill is so important that it can
actually be improved upon and transferred into usage either in the school or in the clinical setting. It is
also very useful in family and social life as well. Everything hinges on proper time management and I
recommend that everyone either student or worker, should get some knowledge about time
management and improve their skills. It keeps an individual perpetually ahead and able to function well
without anything being a surprise or left undone.

2.) Preparation for study

There is a common saying that prior preparation prevents poor performance. Nothing can ever get truer
than that because over time, this saying has been tested and seen to span through every sphere of
human endeavor. When it comes to studying, the preparation for the study is as important as the study
itself. I made a personal discovery recently and I discovered that what separates the students who
perform better than the other is not majorly the studying but the preparation for the study. I have been
at the phase of just studying without preparation to study and there has been no change. Putting in so
much work into the studying but neglecting the most important part of the equation - preparation for
study.

While studying primarily involves assimilation of the content of a particular scope of study, preparation
for study involves everything before and after studying. And this is what actually helps to maintain and
retain the information that has been stored during the studying phase. Previously, I try to study almost
every day but then every other day, the information stored are not accessible any more. I devoted more
time to the studying but it was all to no avail. I do well in school but personally, I was not satisfied with
my studying, my grades and myself because I felt there could have been more. Later on, I found out the
secret was in how much I was set and ready for the activity. I discovered I needed to plan to study and
not just do it because I must.

Although I am still transitioning from my old mechanical approach to study to the new fluidic approach, I
have seen Changes both within my mind and with my grades. The changes although were not
instantaneous but there is a development and with more diligence and intentionality, it would only get
better. The new approach I have discovered includes meditation before studying, collection of all
materials needed for the study beforehand, time management, goal setting and more importantly
personal motivation for studying and creation of a study guide. These are all basic requirements that
makes the mind prepared for study. However, there is no hard fast rule to preparation before study but
personally, these have worked for me and have helped me to improve and develop more than ever
before and this furthermore brings to light the conclusion of Vofouri (2017) about the positive effect of
study preparation and techniques towards positive academic excellence. My old approach was also a
crude one which mandated the use of paper and pen but with this new approach, I implore the use of
technology and therefore speed is guaranteed as well as the safety of all my plan. It also offers me a
mobile studying method. Akarsu (2014) also discovered the usage of technology in studying and gave a
recommendation as long as the individual is able to adapt well with the new approach.

Due to other activities of life, either planned or unplanned, I make sure that a set time is fixed for study
and then I have a guide which helps to streamline my study with the stipulated time. I have been able to
work out my use the learning outcomes of each module to prepare study guides to serve as a map for
me when studying as well. With more diligence and exposure, I believe I would improve more and
become better by the day. I would recommend for students to have a set of procedures that they
checklist and adhere to doing before they begin to study so as to help them keep track more with ease
and with a guarantee for retention and success.

In conclusion, going through school, clinical placement and life in general has taught me lessons that will
be difficult to forget in respect to time and studying. Although time seems so fickle and uncontrollable to
the average individual, it is indeed the most valuable piece of the human existence which we all have at
our disposal however, the use of it is what differentiates us from another. The ability to manage, and
use it to one’s advantage in achieving preset objectives makes everything more sublime. Within the
hospital, time management is used in the patient care. Without the proper management of time, the
professional nurse would seem so unprofessional due to time wastage. Due to much time wastage, the
nurse would be unable to bring adequate care to all the patients within the stipulated time and thereby
would be viewed as incompetent by the patient. In the same vein, the nurse within the hospital must
also be skilled in the preparation for study. Especially with the patient notes, folders and drug charts, the
nurse must be skillful in preparing herself to study them in other to retain as much valuable and vital
information as possible regarding the patient. And this also apply to the students who are within the
school system preparing for exams and for the clinical placements

Due to the lack of advanced time management and study preparation sills, the cause of action which I
would take is to majorly focus on personally developing my time management and preparation for study
skills and also to inform, teach and guide my colleagues in every possible way to value and manage their
time well in other to provide well detailed and adequate patient centered care and to make sure they
become more skillful in preparing for study especially during examinations.

References

Akarsu, O. & Darıyemez, T. (2014). The reading habits of university students studying English language
and literature in the digital age . Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies , 10 (2) , 85-99 . Retrieved
from https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/jlls/issue/9939/122964

Burrus, J., Jackson, T., Holtzman, S., Roberts, R.D. and Mandigo, T. (2017), “Teaching high school
students to manage time: the development of an intervention”, Improving Schools, Vol. 20 No. 2, pp.
101-112.

Cockerell, L. (2016), Time Management Magic: How to Get More Done Everyday, Emerge Publishing LLC,
Tulsa, OK.

Karunaratne, P.S.M., Breyer, Y.A. and Wood, L.N. (2016), “Transforming the economics curriculum by
integrating threshold concepts”, Education + Training, Vol. 58 No. 5, pp. 492-509.

Kolb, D.A. (1984). Experiential learning: experience as the source of learning and development.
Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Vofouri, J. (2017). The effect of training studying techniques (planning and time management,
concentration and memory) on academic achievement and achievement motivation among Iranian
students in Tajikistan. Journal of School Psychology, 6(2), 146-163. doi: 10.22098/jsp.2017.572