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Try It! Essay - Keeping Track

There’s an old saying that you can’t put your foot in the same river twice. Like a river, time is always moving on. Is it leaving you behind? Is it racing on while you shuffle? Keep forgetting what you need to do? Hold on! One way to keep track of your schedule is to tame it. Put it in a box—or several boxes—otherwise known as a calendar. The benefit of marking your scheduled activities on a calendar is that you can then free your mind to remember other things. As a result, you’ll be less likely to forget important meetings, classes, appointments, assignments, etc.

A. Making a List and Checking it Twice

If you don’t already have a calendar that you can easily write on, carry with you, or access online, the following two sites will give you two options. In the basic online calendar site, you choose the style and type of calendar you want and print it out to carry with you. The calendar generator is an online tool that allows you to add your events, assignments, and appointments directly online, and will save the information for the time you specify. It’s not hard to use but can be a little complicated, so be sure to read the Help section first and follow the directions.

http://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/
Basic online calendar with functions to change style and type of calendar

http://gallery.uunet.be/luxil/cal31-eng.htm#begintab
Calendar generator for the more technically savvy

B. When You Hate Making Lists

Keeping extensive lists of things to do could drive some people nuts! But can you be organized without charting every minute of every day? Sure! The key is to have some method of planning and remembering what you have to do. Try some of these ideas:

  • Visualize the items you need to do in a day. The basic things will take care of themselves; focus, rather, on the major activities of the day and picture yourself doing them. When you’re finished, mentally erase them.
  • One way to translate this concept onto paper is to put the activities into their own boxes and then picture what else would go in the box with them. Try creating your own memory boxes by filling in the blanks in the following diagrams. Start by focusing on the most important activities of the day, and list them in the large boxes below. Then, add the things you need to do in conjunction with each activity in the spaces provided.
Memory Box: Activity 1

Memory Box: Activity 2

Memory Box: Activity 3

 

  • Think ahead to the day’s plan and jot down a NOT to do list. In other words, mentally assess the priorities of the day, and then think of other things you might do that would interfere with accomplishing these priorities. Try it now using the list provided below. In the spirit of David Letterman, determine the “Top Ten Things” you should avoid doing tomorrow, starting with Number 10 as the least important to avoid. Some suggestions might include watching a late movie on television when you have a test the next day, playing video games when a paper is due in two days, or going shopping when you really need to clean your room.
Ten Things I Should Avoid Doing Tomorrow:
10.
9.
8.
7.
6.
5.
4.
3.
2.
1.

 

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