October 20th, 2015 | Uncategorized
Student athletes in America quickly learn ways to manage their time with all of the responsibilities that come along with being on scholarship. Managing my time was mandatory but it was often already scheduled. My practices, games, workouts, study sessions, classes, and even when I ate my breakfast, lunch, and dinner was already planned out for me. My new experience here in Northern Ireland with the Sport Changes Life Foundation and the Ulster Elks men’s basketball club has pushed me to find ways to manage my time better. My practices, games, classes, and community work are already scheduled everything else I manage myself.
A few things I am managing right now are:
1. Studying for my master’s classes
2. My daily workout routine
3. Cooking and grocery shopping since there is no cafeteria
4. Calling my family and friends who are hours behind.
5. My daily Prayer and meditation
6. Social time to go out and experience Northern Ireland
Having all of these responsibilities has really gotten me to focus even more on how I spend my time. I have been focusing on balancing my time to the best of my ability. A few things I have started doing to help make sure everything gets done is scheduling my days within my phone and making daily reminders. Focusing on getting enough sleep and waking up early to maximize my time since nothing can get done while I am sleeping. I have even chosen to start using the sleep feature on my iPhone so that the calls and messages won’t interrupt my sleep.
A key component to my time managing strategy is not spending too much time on one thing. I realize that everything cannot be done in a day but if I spend time completing a few tasks each day then everything will see progress. I never want to spend so much time on one thing that three of my other responsibilities suffer or do not get done as a consequence. Last thing I have placed more emphasis on this year is prioritizing. There are a number of responsibilities that must get done so I make sure I start with those and let everything else fall in place where I have them best scheduled. I am sure as the year goes on I will find more ways to better maximize my time and become more efficient. “To God Be The Glory”
Victory Scholar: Jonathan McNair
Present University: Ulster University
US League: East Coast Conference
Club/Community Partner Ulster Elks/ Anderson Town Tigers
Alma Mater: St Thomas Aquinas College
Sponsored By: Teamwear Ireland
