Where do you want to put your time and energy?
What we give our time to and to whom we give our time and energy is something each of us has the power to create and change. Each of us has a finite amount of time and energy at our disposal each day. Yet many of us tap out both our reserves of time and energy on a regular basis — and we don’t even realize we are doing so!
If we regularly exceed our time and energy capacity this may lead to increased negative stress on our bodies, minds, and spirits. When we are negatively stressed, we also tend to forget to build in time for our day for self-care, spirit-care, and reflection. As a result, many of us walk through our daily routines without much thought to the purpose or usefulness of these self-created routines and habits. No wonder many of us wonder “Where does the time go?!”
Journal entries (PSMJ) are also considered a place for informal, conversational style writing. Students are encouraged to write as if speaking in person and to use this private space to explore what they are learning. Grading will be based upon the student’s thorough and detailed coverage of each prompt. There is not a word count for the PSMJ entries. This journal activity is an informal awareness building activity. You are simply to log at least one day or more of what you spend your time on and reflect upon what you learn by doing so. In this journal entry, I’d like you to complete a small, casual exercise to raise your awareness about yourself and how you use your time. Remember, everyone has the same amount of days/times. It is how you use it and what we value that is in our day that matters!
PART 1:
1) First, download the attached file that contains all 3 parts of this assignment. —>Time awareness Assignment 
2) Second, print or download the time tracking diary on page one from the document in step one above. This is just a simple time tool built-in word — timetable with 30-minute increments so track every 30 minutes of your day. You are welcome to use any type of time tracking log system you wish as long as it is comparable to the one given and the results can be pasted within the word document in step 1 below. If you would rather print it out and write directly onto the worksheet, feel free! You will not have to type it all up if you handwrote it all but rather take a picture and paste it into the Word document in place of the other chart. If you happen to find an app that does this, just make sure you can transfer the data or screenshot/paste it into page 1 of the assignment.
3) Keep track in the diary of one day or more days of how you use your time by writing your activities into the chart. (page 1 of assignment). Make adjustments to the chart as needed. Try to record what you are doing in segments of 1/2 hour and round up. For example, if you eat lunch in 15 minutes — log a full 30 minutes for this activity instead. Make sure to log phone time too which some phones can log your total time for you too! Using your phone’s screen time ability can help make tracking your time use on your phone easy! Try to log as detailed as you can. This can be a shower, restroom, phone breaks, etc. So instead of just putting, “worked for 8 hours…put details such as did you not use the restroom or get on your phone at all?) These little time takers can add up so we want to look at as much as we can.
PART 2:
4) Reflect upon the percentage of time you spend doing various activities by highlighting the chart given common categories (page 2 of assignment). Each hour of the day is 4% of your time. You do NOT need to complete the chart but just use it to help you figure out the big-time consumers of your day. I do want to see your calculations of those big items such as sleep percentage of your day, work/school/phone use, etc?
PART 3:
5) Then answer the reflection questions. Reflection answer’s to each question need to be at least 5 sentences or more. Really think about it as a researcher of yourself looking at a distance of the results you produced. Sometimes it can even help get an outside perspective by showing a trusted friend to see their perspectives. You are welcome to do this portion in video format following the same guidelines outlined for the assignment and answering length and details explained in the Discussion Board Protocol about videos. This includes, but not limited to, options on answering in an interview-style or not, expectations on video quality, etc.
- What did you learn by tracking your time? Where is your time going? (Use the log and calculation chart in the previous steps to refer to and reference.
- How do you feel about “seeing your time” on the chart? Any insights into where your stress is coming from?
- How balanced is your day with things that cause stress versus help you de-stress?
- What changes do you think you could make in order to use your time better or incorporate de-stressors? What could be let go of what you are doing and/or reduced in time to allow more time for de-stress techniques?
- Do you notice any connections between your day and/or previous day as well and your moods/energy? How so?
- Has this exercise given you any insight into where you need to or want to make changes in your life?
PART 4:
6. Turn in the worksheet given and linked again Time awareness Assignment SP 21-2.docx here with all completed requirement here by the due date. Remember, as stated on the syllabus, the only formats accepted are work, pdf, jpeg. If you have a mac, I suggest checking your upload from another computer source to make sure. I often get a “pages” extension which is not one that I can open. Upload ONE worksheet document and not each thing individual. So this means paste your results into the worksheet along with your other parts too.
Have fun with this — this is designed to raise your awareness!
