I began figure skating when I was 10 years old. Every year from October to April on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I was on ice after school into the wee hours of the night. By the time I reached high school that practice time was also matched with 7 am practices during the off-seasons in various locations across New York City. I did skating because it was fun and it gave me an outlet to express myself, but it taught me some super important time management skills along the way. Any skater is used to these erratic practice times and the task of figuring out how to get work done on top of that. So here are the top three things being a figure skater have taught me:
1) Use a planner of some sort
You’ve heard it before and I’ll tell you again—planners are lifesavers. Think about all of the tasks you have to complete on a daily basis aside from just homework and studying. You probably have gym sessions, club meetings, events on campus you want to attend on top of hanging out with friends, and setting aside me time. For skaters, our schedules revolve around ice availability so someway somehow you learn to set aside time to figure out what exactly what you need to do. Even if you don’t like planers, taking an extra couple minutes every once in awhile to orient yourself in terms of everyday tasks is super important.
2) Make it work!
This is my life motto, and it came from all of time on ice. Whether it was a costume malfunction, a spin that wasn’t quite centered, or a time slot that wasn’t all too convenient, you learn to make it work. Approach all of your tasks with a can do attitude and you’re golden. Even though it sounds cheesy, it truly makes all of the difference.
3) Focus your energy on the task at hand!
As I stated previously, ice time was precious for me growing up, especially in New York. Although talking to my friends by the boarders was generally more appealing than tiring out my feet, I eventually learned to focus my energy on whatever goal I had for the session. Whether it was improving my edge, speeding up my spin, or jumping a little bit higher, setting up mini-checkpoints for myself made it easy to take advantage of the time I had. Now I apply the same ideas to my school work, if I’m working on an assignment I try my hardest (and occasionally fail) to avoid going on social media or texting because it takes my focus away from my assignment and makes it take twice as long to complete. Even when I’m having lunch with my friend, I try to be present rather than multitasking.
There you have it Collegiettes™, foolproof techniques and ideas for making the most of your time. Even I don’t have time management perfectly mastered, but the more you work on it, the more time and energy you have to put into what you love.
Photo Sources:
http://blog.cengage.com/top_blog/activity-using-a-planner-as-a-tool-for-student-success/