Efficient Use of Time

More and more I realize that efficiently using my time is a key focus of mine. That's not to say I don't waste time, but I want to use my time efficiently so I can be the one who determines how my time is "wasted". I really don't care to hear someone blabber on about all their problems. Unless it relates to my task at hand, leave me alone. When I finish everything I have to do, THEN I can decide what to do with any leftover time.....whether to spend it with my family, reading, doing sudoku puzzles, napping, whatever. It bugs me to no end when people are not considerate of your time. It's like they are saying, "I am more important than you, so I can going to decide for you, how you should spend this precious, irreplaceable commodity." They do this by talking to you when you'd rather be left alone, by showing up late, by saying things over and over (either because they love to hear themselves talk or just have to because of their own insecurities).

Going to law school has made me see how truly important time management is. I have my own little system down. I spend my mornings doing my reading, briefing and studying, my afternoons in class, and my evenings updating my outlines. Of course, sometimes real life interferes (ie., having to take my son to the doctor, for example), and then I have to squeeze things in somewhere else.

When I hear about the way some study groups work, I can't even believe it! I can't imagine sitting around as a group and briefing cases! What a horrible waste of time! Who cares about any one case? The professors tell us the important things pull from each one, so why waste time talking about it? All you need to do is read it and brief it in whatever manner will give you a shot at sounding like you at least read it prior to class if you happen to get called on to discuss it in class.

Our study group has been very efficient. I can't say that going into it any of us probably had any idea of how we'd use our 2 hours together each week. But we've ended up using that time for creating master outlines (that ROCK!) and doing practice tests. In the end, aren't your grades on the tests what matters? That is what is going to keep you in school after all. Preparing for the tests really is the top priority.

Last semester, we did much of that outline construction towards the end. Now, we are a little wiser and working on it as we go. Thank goodness for email, as we end up doing a lot of our joint work individually, and then send out, compare, revise, etc. as a group. It really works well. It kind of amazes me, because like I said, going into it, we had no idea what to do with our time.

Two hours a week might not seem like a not (especially when I remember hearing in the orientation about study groups that spent 8 hours a day together on Saturdays AND Sundays!), but maybe we've just gotten the efficient use of time thing down.

And now, since I've finished my tasks for the morning, and have some free time, I think I shall decide to do a little "wasting"......ah, time for celebrity gossip blog reading! :)