Growing up as a student-athlete, I’ve learned a lot of time management skills and have continuously worked on them throughout the years, especially in college. I have always shown up early no matter if it’s practice, class or meetings. My concept of time in softball has trickled into my everyday life, even during instances where it’s okay be early. Lately, however, I have been working on closing the gap just the tiniest bit so that I can fit in more things in my day, rather than pushing them off because I feel the need to be super early to my next task. I have been using my breaks to do things that otherwise wouldn’t be done until later in the day or week. This week, I took some time to make some healthy snacks rather than go to class super early, and I still managed to be in class 15 minutes before start time. Afterwards, I didn’t have to worry about making that food since I took advantage of the time I had earlier in the day, rather than anxiously arrive at my next endeavor where I would’ve sat and waited for it to start. Don’t get me wrong, some people really need to work on showing up to things on time and don’t really have a problem being early (if anything, it’s a problem being late). However, being too early can also become a problem. If you’re like me and just want to get to the next thing in your day, try to take a step back and see if there is something else you can mark off of your checklist rather than waiting around for half an hour at the spot of your later event.
I have been working on this a lot lately in the last few weeks, and not only has it kept me busy, but it has also started to train my brain to not freak out when I’m not super early. I get to keep both my punctuality and my sanity, so I think that’s a win-win. Whether you show up early or slide in right on time, you can always work on your time management skills. Even if you can’t physically do anything differently, start trying to understand your mentality when dealing with time. See what works for you and your everyday life. You might find a spot where you can ease some stress that you didn’t even know was there.