This post is going to be unconventional and more of a self-reflection piece than a science and space related entry. As the summer comes to an end, I first felt that it was extremely important to express my gratitude to Dr. Catherine Neish for giving me the opportunity to work in a space-related research job. I am excited to continue working on this project throughout the fall semester in a part-time position. This year, we all had to build up adaptability to learn to live with a pandemic. It was particularly challenging for me for a few different reasons, one being adapting to the online environment in a work setting. Holding myself accountable became extremely important throughout the summer. As I head into a busy third year of undergrad, I thought composing a list of effective time management strategies that work best for me would be a good idea. If I write it all down in this blog post, it will help as I hold myself accountable to employ these strategies in the near future.
Here are a few of the strategies that I will be using this upcoming fall term:
1. Using Sticky Notes for Goals
In the first year of undergrad, I employed a sticky note strategy which worked very well. The strategy was to write down every task that I had to complete for the week on a different sticky note. Each sticky note then got placed on my desk and I could only rip them off once the task written on them was complete. I plan to pick up this strategy again and use it as I head into third year.
2. Eisenhower Decision Matrix
I stumbled upon the Eisenhower Decision Matrix during my search for effective time management strategies and I thought it was a great strategy to include on this list. Each day, goals that I create for myself can be grouped into one of the four categories. This will help me to categorize my goals and think critically about which ones are the most dire to complete immediately. This matrix enables me to think about the importance and urgency of my goals and assess which are the most important ones to complete.
3. Forest App
Recently I found an app called “Forest”, which allows you to set a timer to complete a task. As the timer goes on, a tree is “planted” in your forest. As you complete more tasks, your forest continues to grow. The app also partners with real planting companies to plant real trees as users join the app and earn points. I like using this app because it forces me to keep my phone busy. I am not tempted to check a social media application or go to my messages because the timer is going and a tree is being planted.
4. Distraction Free Environments
In my experience, removing distractions also involves changing my environment. Working in a library helps me to avoid getting distracted as I am surrounded by people working, which motivates me to continue working.
5. Creating To-Do Lists The Night Before
A strategy that I have used throughout the summer is taking a few minutes each night to create a to-do list for the next day. It is effective and allows me to have an immediate focus when I start my workday. I will be continuing to use this strategy in my third year, especially as I balance coursework with research. This strategy will be improved by adding an importance rating to the tasks on my to do list. Very important tasks will be completed first throughout the day, with less important tasks left for the end of the day, or possibly the next day if I wasn’t able to get to them. Personally I have struggled to avoid multitasking. Working online, I can have multiple tabs open with different tasks outlined on each. Seeing all the tasks in front of me is sometimes overwhelming and causes me to try to multitask and get everything done at once. Labelling my tasks in order of importance will shift my focus to the most important tasks only, allowing me to work on one thing at a time. This will allow me to focus on one task at a time and avoid multitasking, which is proven to reduce productivity significantly.
6. SMART Goals
I plan to start modelling my to-do lists each day off of SMART goals:
Specific
Measureable
Achievable
Realistic
Time frame
Each item I write on my to-do list will be thought of in the context of a SMART goal and altered to fit the five criteria if necessary. For example, having a goal of completing an entire 20 page research paper in one day might not be an achievable or realistic goal for one day. Adjusting the time frame to one week, or two weeks, might allow for this goal to be attained realistically. I sometimes find myself setting big goals on a one day scale and getting disappointed when I could not complete the tasks. Reminding myself that goals should be SMART helps me to create better goals for each day, increasing my weekly productivity.
Research Update
Near-future goals I am working on currently:
Classifying the 21 radar images correctly myself and noting the correct r,x,y values for each image
Recruiting more volunteers to test out the zooniverse site and provide feedback
Analyzing results from volunteers in R - building a strategy for data analysis and extraction
Touching up the zooniverse website for the project by adding good imagery, writing the “About” section, adding scale bars to radar images, and implementing any feedback received from volunteers