The Benefits Of Time Management
"What’s your major?"
"I'm studying to be an accountant."
The other person looks at you funny. "That's a really technical field. How did you pick it?"
You shrug and smile politely before taking another sip of your coffee. "Well, I really enjoyed learning about how companies make money so I thought accounting would be the most interesting for me to study." It sounds lame, but it is true. Time management is not just about turning in homework on time or managing your social life; it's also about being aware of what you enjoy doing and then doing those things more often. True time management is being able to balance your interests and your passions while still accomplishing all of the things that you need to accomplish.
You could be an accountant for a company that makes medical supplies for cancer patients or you could be a lawyer who works exclusively with divorced couples or a teacher at an all boys school. The point is that there are many different career choices out there, so make sure you know why you chose each one before picking it.
"Why don't you just pick a profession that you like?" your friend asks.
"Well, when I look at my schedule and think about all of the things that I have to do, it seems impossible. If I spend all of my free time on activities I enjoy and work twenty hours a week, it feels like I'm only going to be able to accomplish half of what my friends are doing." You may sound good in theory but when you look at your school schedule or your friends' schedules it seems impossible because you don't have enough free time to do everything that your peers are doing.
"Why don't you try being happy with what you're doing right now?" your friend suggests.
"That sounds great in theory but I have no idea how I'm going to fit time management into my life at this point." Your friend looks at you curiously and then shakes her head when she realizes that you're still not answering her question.
"Which one is your favorite subject?" she asks.
"I'm not sure. What do you mean 'which one'?" You don't like the topic and it's always the same thing: reading, art or choir class. "I guess I like all of them equally. They're interesting and I learn a lot from them."
"Cool, but what about if you only had time to major in one of them?"
"Well, if I could only major in one thing then I would have to pick the choir class because it's my favorite." Your friends nods her head and takes another sip of her coffee. "I think all jobs are important; otherwise they wouldn't exist. To me it doesn't matter whether I'm an accountant or a lawyer or a teacher. What matters is that everyone has a place in society. I believe that we are all going to be working in the future and we all benefit from the things that we do. I enjoy studying accounting so I want to help people learn how to use their money wisely."
"I guess you're right, but what if you don't have a strong passion for your job?" It's a valid question because there are many people who are genuinely passionate about their jobs but they're not good at balancing their interests with the things that they need to accomplish.
"Well, if I'm not interested then I'm probably not going to do my best at it. I think that if you're interested in something then you should do everything possible to be good at it because it's going to make your life better."
"Well, what if you want to do something else?"
"What does this have to do with time management?"
"Do you want to do another language?" You tell her about your Japanese friends and how they continue to learn the language long after they've been in America for ten years. "Maybe you should try a new language." You don't look like the type of person who enjoys learning languages so she is probably just trying to encourage you.
"I don't know. I never learned another language in school and I don't want to take five years to learn Spanish when all of my friends are learning it in high school." You are not motivated enough by that, but your friend nods her head.
"Well, maybe you should try a new subject?" She looks at you with a glint in her eye. "What about studying something interesting, like fashion or art?" You shrug and look around the coffee shop for no particular reason before taking another sip of your coffee. "I know that you love choir class because you told me that the other day, but it's not a real major so maybe you should look into fashion."
"That wouldn't make any sense. I'm not going to design clothes for women when I could be designing them for men." You don't like art and fashion; those are your friends' majors. "Besides, what if I studied fashion and then decided that I didn't want to do that?" She shrugs her shoulders. "If I study something new and then decide that it's not for me then I'll have wasted two years of my life."
"There are lots of things in between being an accountant and studying art. You could do something with biology or chemistry, like forensic science or bioengineering." You can't even pronounce bioengineering and the only thing you know about it is that it has something to do with the future.
"Are you going to study that?" You ask her because you haven't really seen her in any of those classes.
"No," she says, waving her hand in front of her face as if she were wiping away a bad smell. "I'm going to study fashion design." She looks down at the table and then pushes her long brown hair behind her ear. "It's not really what I want to do but I'm very good at sewing so…" She trails off into silence and smiles apologetically.
"Why did you take a class in fashion design when you're going to study fashion design?" You ask.
"I guess it's just something that I'm good at." She shrugs her shoulders and takes another sip of her coffee. "It's okay, though, I like it." Your friends knows what she likes and what she doesn't like and that's important; this way, you don't have to try to figure out where she stands on every topic before opening your mouth about it. The fact that she likes fashion design more than science means that you don't have to worry about pissing her off by asking her about forensics or bioengineering.
Conclusion: you like Jessica, but you don't know her well enough to ask her what she likes.
You spend the rest of the afternoon talking to Jessica about your interests and then leave for the afternoon. On your way home, you stop by a used book store and pick up a few books. You sit on your bed reading one of them: Designing Your Own Future by David R. Montgomery. I don't really like this book because it's about forensics and bioengineering but it's better than not reading it at all; you need to learn what job options are available in the future because there aren't going to be any jobs in accounting or accounting-related fields in ten years.