This document reflects on the author's experience trying to implement a time management plan for one week. While the author started off on track with the plan, unplanned distractions and priorities interfered as the week progressed. The author realized doing coursework first thing in the morning provides the most uninterrupted time. Going forward, the author plans to focus on education and parenting as top priorities by relinquishing other responsibilities when possible. The author concludes that while distractions and competing priorities will always exist, managing them effectively is key to pursuing goals.

1. Running Header: TIME MANAGEMENT REFLECTION 1
Time Management Reflection
Alyce Roark
Post University

2. TIME MANAGEMENT REFLECTION 2
Time Management Reflection
Time Management has never been one of my strong suits. With a busy lifestyle such as
my own it is hard to place anything into a schedule. Most of the time, you just get things done
whenever you can. However, with the Time Management assignment I did attempt to stay on
course. The outcome is plainly seen between my actual plan for week three and the actual course
of events that took place in week three in my Time Management schedule. You can see that in
the beginning I was off to a good start, things were happening mostly in sequence with my
schedule. But, as the week went on, you can see that different priorities and distractions that
were not planned for in advance began to interfere. Though I still seemed to make things work,
my time management plan was not effective for me as I found myself doing things as I have
always done, when I can.
While looking back on my plan vs. the actual events of my day I noticed a large part of
my problem is I have multiple distractions and surprises that occur on a daily basis. I live in a
house where there are technically two family units struggling to coincide and function as one.
There is a total of seven to eight people who live here depending on whether it is the week we
have my step-daughter. Five of those eight people work various schedules and only two of those
five people drive and have vehicles; my mother and myself. Due to the fact that my mom works
a very hectic, call in schedule and multiple doubles I am usually the main source of
transportation for everyone else. Now, add my daughter, step-daughter, and a little brother with
ADHD and you are usually the only adult home at multiple times in the day and you are starting
to see the tip of my ginormous iceburg here. Not to mention the pets that live here and the other
multiple distractions that occur on a daily basis. Looking back on the week, many of these
distractions and issues that came about could have been avoided by simply just saying “no”.

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However, that is much easier said than done. I have come to realize now, that I can eliminate a
number of distractions by doing my coursework first thing after I take my daughter to school in
the morning. Circumstances permitting, my step-daughter is usually still asleep, a few people are
at work, and everyone else is out running errands or sleeping. This provides for a much quieter,
less chaotic, and more adequate work environment and uninterrupted time span. Going forward
with my education this will be my plan.
As for competing priorities, this is a 24/7 internal battle for me as I’m sure it is for
everyone. I frequently ask myself; which priorities should come first and where am I going to
find the time to take care of these priorities and the rest of my life? As any mother will tell you
there are never enough hours in the day. I try to order my priorities by importance and try to take
them on in order by level of importance in attempt to get everything accomplished. Does this
always work? No! Why you might ask? Life, my personal lack of being able to differentiate
between what needs to be a priority and what I want to be a priority, and my inability to handle
everything I need to handle in the time frame I am given to do so. As I advance in this course and
in life as well, I plan to attempt to put fewer priorities on my plate by attempting to relinquish
some of my priorities and responsibilities to others when possible. This will leave me more time
to concentrate on those priorities most important to me. Those priorities for me are my education
and being a good parent. Two aspects in my life where I plan to excel.
Finally it comes time for the age old question; what would you do with more time? In my
everyday life, as I am sure you have figured out by now, time is very much of the essence.
Nonetheless, what could I accomplish with more of it? Well for starters, I could spend a lot more
time on my coursework and achieving my goal of obtaining a degree in Human Services/
Counseling. My education for me is a large goal. One of my main values in life is family and

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adjacent to that is stability. To secure stability you need a substantial income, a job to support
that income, and an education to attain that job. With more time I could work harder to reach this
goal. In connection to my education goals are my parenting goals. To me, being a mom is the
most important job in the world and for me that always has been the main focus in everything I
do. If I had more time on my hands I could be more engaged, attentive, and involved with my
children rather than promoting so much independence as I do now. More time could open up
outlets for anyone with goals. For me I would just be happy to be able to give more attention to
aspects of the goals that are most important to me.
In conclusion, life happens and all you can do is attempt to prepare for it as best as you
can. There will always be distractions, competing priorities, and time management issues as was
shown throughout my time management plan through the course of last week. However, it is
your ability to manage all three of these items that will make you or break you in the pursuit of
your goals. The time management plan assignment, however loosely I followed it, was still
effective for me. It helped me see what I needed to do in a structured setting and even though I
got distracted and had to take on other priorities and responsibilities throughout the week I still
accomplished everything I needed to accomplish because it was right in front of me. The time
management plan for me became more of an extremely rough outline rather than a schedule and
that worked for me. Maybe it can work for others in the same way.