task managment

I have used many task management strategies. Lots of strategies help me to focus better on studying. Among those task management strategies, I have continuously used 'Divide by Four'. Especially for Japanese class, which is my hardest class, this strategy has worked well. This strategy helps me to organize my work. I'm a student who was not used to do work by organizing. For an instance, when I wrote an essay, I just wrote the whole essay at once, without much thinking. This always causes bad results. After using 'Divide by Four', however, I can write an essay more efficiently. Also, it helps me to deter procrastination. I do not think of other things such as doing computer while I'm doing 'Divide by Four', because I have to do my work step by step. For this week, I use 'Divide by Four' for my Japanese essay. The picture below is my 'Divide by Four'.



There are four sections at 'Divide by Four', which are (1) prepare, (2) start, (3) continue and (4) finish. For the (1) prepare, I brainstorm all the ideas that I'm going to write on the essay. Then, I put those ideas and make into sentences for (2) start. For (3) continue, I put more information and make examples to make the sentences longer. For the last step, (4) finish, I write the whole essay with introduction, body and conclusion. I also reread the essay and correct the wrong parts. With this step, I can get much better grade on Japanese essay. I also find it easy to write an essay with this division than just write it. Since I'm a kinesthetic learner, I like to do something like this, which I can do actively. By dividing four sections, I do not feel boring while I'm doing it.

I often use 'Divide by Four' with 'Priority List', which is another task management strategy. I first do the 'Priority List', decide what I need to do first. Then, I do the 'Divide by Four'. For an instance, if I decide to do Japanese essay first, by 'Priority List', I use 'Divide by Four' to write an organized essay. I need to write down all the lists I need to do, and decide the priority thing I need to do. The priority ranking is often decided by the due dates of the task and the importance of the task. For this week, I also make the 'Priority List'. The picture below is my 'Priority List'.



I put down the three things that I need to complete in this week. Then, I put numbers. Number one is the most important thing to do, then the second, then the last one. Then, I draw number of stars, which indicate the importance of the task. After that, I put down the due dates. By doing this strategy, I do not need to remember all the things I need to complete. Before, I used to forget one of my homework. However, after doing this strategy, by looking at the note, I can know what I need to done. Also, I find out that my works are done faster with 'Priority List'. Before, I did the half of the Japanese essay and start to do other homework. This was not helpful and I could not focus well. However, after doing ‘Priority List’, I am able to complete work efficiently.

The two strategies I have been used, 'Divide by Four' and 'Priority List', help me to concentrate on studying and complete the work much better.