Time is up!
Have you ever experienced study depression? I have (joke). Have you ever caught the sweet ambrosia of a two-hour dream? I have (no joke). Have you ever stopped to wonder why your precious time disappeared so quickly, yet you still haven’t made any progress? The reason is simple — you don’t know how to plan your time well. Hence, you find yourself swimming in an ocean of deadlines. Surely you too would agree that you cannot afford to get many reworks or do last minute preparations anymore. Don’t give up. I know how to help you. What you need is to master the skill of good time-management. It may sound very simple, but trust me; it is not easy at all.
How is it that some people succeed in making progress? Let’s find out how from them.
Anna Serkova, 5th year-course. Clinical psychology, the leader of mass culture way of The student unity, the leader of the volunteer squad “Motive”:
– In order to make progress, first of all, you need to like what you do as well as understand what you need. I’m talking about intrinsic motivation, of course. We all have the time. However, what is more important is the skill to get your priorities right. Don’t be afraid to take on a responsibility that really interests you. The university is not just about education but also a platform for the development of your organizational skills, ethics of business communication, team-building and so on. So, why don’t you make use of the many resources you have at your disposal, for your own personal development and additional skills? Only in this way you can achieve something more than the usual “sheepskin” of your diploma :)
Yulia Chalich, 3rd year-course. Physician department, vice-chairwoman of coordinate student unity, member of organizational board of VI open charity Viennese ball of KSMU, curator of “Смотрите, кто пришёл”, worker of The Center of creative development and additional education:
– “How can a medical student make progress?” is a question I always ask myself. I believe that in our profession, we constantly find ourselves short of time due to our desire to aid as many people as we possibly can. In my opinion, the one thing that can benefit a medical student is the great desire to help, to be needed and to be important to someone. As long as you have this fire inside yourself, you can do anything. It needs to be with you in everything that you do. Thus, for a medical student to progress, he/ she needs to love his/her profession and respect it this way.
Anton Gokin, 5th year-course. Physician department, the chairman of student science unity of KSMU:
— I will share all my advice, whether simple and difficult, in the same way. They may sound neat and wonderful, but great strength and will is needed to follow them. They are:
1. Long-term planning;
2. Prioritization;
3. The skill to conduct multiple deals at the same time;
4. Proper daily planning (work and rest);
5. Ability to enjoy your education and work.
Furthermore, Gleb Archangelsky gives a lot of great advice in the book “Time-management: How to balance life and work” (тайм драйв: как успевать жить и работать)”. This book was a recommendation to me, and it has helped me manage many deadlines. It is proven to work. Some advices from the book are such as:
- Make plans. Once, I attended a cool master-class about time-management. In the class, one particular phrase had really resonated in my mind and never left me. The phrase is: “It is better to lose years while planning, rather than to live out an aimless life.” We all have one important gun for fighting annoying deadlines — a diary. In it you can make a list of events and deals, and refer to it when necessary. It works. This is the first step in the journey to achieving a healthy or almost healthy dream. Personally, I like to use stickers and memos instead of a diary. I type and put all my deadlines on my desktop. This way, every time I sit down at my desk, I can look at the bright green messengers of devils (deals) and collectors of dreams.
- Maximize every free minute as usefully as possible. Every morning at breakfast, rather than mindlessly scrolling though vines on Instagram, I prefer to repeat the material for the next class. Sometimes life can give you troubles such as: getting stuck in a traffic jam or elevator, computer lags and so on. It is important is to remember not to lose control.
- The saying: “Mondays start from Saturdays” is very popular among medical students. On Saturday, your only half day of relaxation, you already need to start working for the next week. Essays, reports, anything. In the next week, you will surely thank yourself very very much. However, don’t go to extremes, take everything in moderation.
- Don’t take on more responsibilities than you can handle! Every person has a limit of how much they can do: some can handle more, some less. Your task is to determine your own limit rationally. With this knowledge, you can start to fully apply yourself. Just don’t forget to notice what is happening around you. Come on, life is beautiful, and you should not, I cannot stress this more strongly, you should not forget about it!
P.S. Don’t forget to thank your lovely self! For every time you pass an anatomy major or any credit, it costs a lot. So, don’t forget to reward yourself and go ahead to the canteen for bread (even if you are on a diet). You deserve it. Motivation can be a very cool thing.
Omnia aliena sunt, tempus tantum nostrum est. Nothing is ours, except time. So, take care of it.
Let’s go, my friend.
text Ekatherina Lyakhova
editor Veronika Olievskaya
edition in english by Reshma Durai, Law Yi Wan
