Research_Strategy

Research Strategy Paper Edward Arias GEN 200 Sue Case July 5, 2010 In my paper I want to discuss my struggle with time management and setting priorities. As a husband, new father, full time worker, and a full time student, I feel like there are times when I lack the discipline to effectively manage my time. It becomes a struggle to try to balance each responsibility. At times it feels like if I give to much attention to one area I’m ignoring another area. My goal in this essay is to create a type of “road map” that I can follow that will help me be a better manager of my time. The first step I believe I should take is organizing what is important in my life, prioritizing. By prioritizing, I will set in order what needs to be done in order of importance. I know that sitting down to watch some TV isn’t as important as finishing up a 700 word essay. I know that going to the gym isn’t more important than spending time with my family. By setting my priorities I will know what comes first and still have time for others things such as watching TV or going to the gym. How does one go about setting priorities and which ones are most important' This is the question I asked myself and here are the answers I came up with. First and foremost my wife and daughter come above all other things. They are the two most important people in my life and I would do anything for them. That is why I made the choice to work full time and be a full time student as well. My wife has been very supportive, and has encouraged my efforts in finishing my college degree. We had a conversation on this exact topic prior to me starting school again and she realized that this was going to be something else to pull time away from her, but we agreed that we would work together to make it work. My daughter, who is only four months old, isn’t aware of the situation. She is our first child and she has been a tremendous joy, even when she wakes up crying at 3 A.M. Work at time has been a battle. I manage a storage facility where I work my 8 hour day and they go on call until I start again the following morning. There are times when it is very relaxed job, and there are times when it can become a huge headache with all the legal aspects that surround some of the procedures we must follow. I know that this is the source of income that puts a roof over our head and food on our table, so this is something that obviously ranks high on my priority list. I must make sure that I’m fully dedicated to my job, because if not it can be easily taken. Combine that with the fact that work is hard to come by in this economy I have to say on top of things! School is a challenge in itself! After coming home from work, there are times where school work is the very last thing on my mind. There are times where I don’t even want to think about the next assignment that’s due, whether it be a discussion question or a 700 word essay. Yet I know that it must be done. One thing that I had done in the past and had gotten away from at the beginning of this class was printing out the class schedule and prioritizing assignments. After attending my first class online, the first thing that stood out to me, was knowing when assignments were due. It allows me to plan ahead and do my best to prioritize, which I have done at times. I can’t lie though, there have been times where I fail to prioritize and there I scramble to finish an assignment hours before its due! This is where the skill of time management and setting priorities comes into play. I don’t think any extensive research needs to be done to resolve this problem. The issue is a lack of discipline on my end at times. I know that when I correctly manage my time and correctly set my priorities I can be successful in all areas of my life. I have done it before and it I tighten down I can do it again!