Here is what I knew from high school and the Air Force: all I have to do is go there, sit there until the classes ended, and then go home and do whatever I wanted. I managed to do all of my homework between classes and nothing was left for home. To get a 95 on the test, all I had to do was sit in the class and listen to the teacher. I quickly learned that in college it wouldn't work the way that it had worked in high school and in the Air Force. I needed to make some changes and develop a system to succeed at my new challenges.

The most frustrating thing for me in college was the way that my schedule would be arranged and the time constraints it created. For example, when I had to manage the combination of college and military duty from 8 in the morning, until 9 in the evening, without a break during the day, there was no time left for my family and friends. Additionally, if I

I know it sounds easy, but believe me it's not. I have learned that effective time management takes some practice. The first step that I took was to get a piece of paper, and record all of my daily activities for a couple of days. By doing so, I was surprised at the results. The most surprising thing that I learned was the amount of time that I wasted on the unimportant tasks, interruptions, distractions and other trivia. When I thought I was studying for one hour for my business law test, I found out, that in fact I was only studying for half of that time.

To effectively manage my time I identified the most important tasks and set a well-defined goal. It was important that I have an understanding of individual responsibilities, relationships and priorities. I would prioritize my day, or a "time waster" could steal the day away from me before I realized what had happened. I find it useful to give my tasks for the day some priority rating, and then follow it during the day. I would do the hardest or the most uninteresting tasks first. I was uncomfortable for a short time from having made these changes, but all I had to do was think about all of the time that I would regain into my day and it was worth it.

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Approximate Word count = 1054
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)