Last year, I enrolled and got accepted in the Master of Arts in Strategic Communication Design (STCM) at CU Boulder. At the same time, I got an intern offer as a Creative Technology & Digital Production Intern. (It’s a fancy way of saying graphic designer and UI UX designer.) After three months, they offered me a full-time job as a UI UX designer. I decided to take the offer and deferred my enrollment. Just in a year, I learned a lot but that doesn’t mean that I understood all of them.
Anyway, this year, I decided to go back to school. To understand and to clarify what I’ve learned in the work. But that did not mean I’m quitting the job. I like working and learning in a real environment. So I decided that I am going to study full-time and work 20 hours per week.
As the first day of school was approaching, I was nervous and cautious. I wasn’t sure I could do this. Then the first week of school, during the class, I saw myself keep checking on my work email. When I was at work, I kept worrying about classes and assignments that I had to accomplish. I couldn’t finish anything that I want to finish. My thought was juggling around between work and assignments.
The second week of the semester, I accumulated that this is not the right way to manage my time. So I came up with a step:
- Prioritize what’s important / what to accomplish
(is it the work? or is it the assignment?) - Use ‘Reminders’ to organize all the assignments. I write all the assignments and details in the Reminder. Even the things that professors recommended to see or read. I individualize the assignments, so when it’s accomplished, it feels good to be removed from my list.
- Focus on one thing at a time. After I have all my list of things to finish, I try to knock out one at a time.
- Don’t try to finish right before the class. It’s a lot better to start working right after class. It helps me to rephrase what I’ve learned in class.
Now I can manage my time more efficiently in my work and in my class. I know it’s only been four weeks of a semester. But hopefully, these tips might help me and you to get through this semester successfully.
