What’s the most underrated life skill?

View all responses

Time Management. So many people, including myself, often say, “Where did the time go?” Or they say, “I just don’t have time to get all of this done.” The thing is this: If we weren’t glued to our phones, we’d have plenty of time for things. Sure, in adulthood, time flies, but if we manage our time and schedule things, we will find time. I believe this to be an underrated skill because it’s so darn important, but it is lost on many people; especially younger generations.

I have an app on my phone (I can’t remember what it’s called at the moment) that tracks my phone usage, and it tells me which apps I spend the most time on. It tells me every Sunday if I’ve used my phone more or less for the week. The downside is that my day job requires me to use my phone and several apps specifically for my job, so more often than not, I use my phone too much. That said, I can overlook those parts, and focus on what I need to chill on. This allows me to see how much time I waste per day.

Now, here’s an example of poor management of time. I won’t name names or anything, but someone under my roof had two days off in a row and had many things they were supposed to do. They have not done any of those things. This person spent their two days lying around staring at their phone or playing video games. I reminded them yesterday about three of the very important things they needed to get done, and they claimed to have forgotten about one of them, but also didn’t have time to do the others because they got up too late. This person stated they’d do it tomorrow (today). It is now almost 6:30 PM, and this person, once again, failed to do these things. Now, they’ll complain that they didn’t get those handled and claim they don’t have time to do it. Well, when you sleep most of the day away, and then stare at your phone the rest of the time, how could you possibly accomplish anything? I am not perfect, and I still struggle with time management, but I have been trying ever since this person was a teenager to get it through their head that they are wasting their time and life, and I have offered numerous suggestions to help this person work on that… but they do not try.

Some things that help me manage my time better are making “To-Do” lists. I have a tasks app on my phone that will remind me on the day and time the task should be completed, and I can tap the little check box when I complete it. There is something truly satisfying when it comes to completing those tasks and tapping the button. I also make little note cards for myself with little checkboxes. Again, check the box when it’s complete. This has helped me greatly when it comes to not only getting things done, but also in planning out when and how to get them done. I even rate some of them based on time sensitivity, or importance. It helps a lot.

I’ve also learned how to allow time for my writing even though work has been keeping me extremely busy this summer. I set out 25 minutes in a day to do nothing but write. I set a timer for 25 minutes, and I put all my focus into creativity. Sometimes, when the alarm rings, I set it for another 25 minutes and do more.

It really comes down to scheduling, prioritizing, and setting blocks of time to whatever the thing is. For me, though, the visual achievement of checking those boxes is so rewarding. It doesn’t always work out that way, but I couldn’t imagine doing nothing all day and then complaining about not having time to do anything.