Getting Started

100There are only 24 hours in a day, and you can’t create extra time. You can only control your own actions and what you are going to do with the time you have.

200Do you  find yourself  turning in homework  late? Forgetting about quizzes? Feeling as if you could have done a better job had you only had more time? Those are clues that you need to work on your time management skills. 

300National youth speaker Grant Baldwin, who runs a popular workshop for students called So Much to Do, So Little Time, has some advice for starting to manage your time. He suggests choosing three overall priorities that are most important to you. For each priority, list your goals for the next six months to a year and the tasks you’ll need to complete. For example, if you list schoolwork as a priority, perhaps your goal is to earn a 3.5 grade point average for the year. Then you need to list which tasks — doing your homework, turning papers in on time, not waiting until the last minute to start a big project — will help you achieve those goals.

Finding the Right Tools

400OK, so you’ve set your priorities and goals, and you know what you need to do to succeed. Now it’s time to figure out which organizational tools will help you get there. Of course, there is no single, magical tool that will work for everyone — it really depends on your personal preferences and what feels right. You may even have to try a few systems out before you settle on one.

500If the thought of keeping track of your schedule online sounds appealing, you have a lot of options. Evernote (www.evernote.com) is a free service that allows you to access your tasks and to-do lists from any computer or smart phone. If you work on a Mac or have an iPhone, you might like Things, an application that allows you to divide your time according to tasks, projects, and areas of responsibility. And of course, there’s Google Calendar(calendar.google.com), a free online tool you can use to make a schedule, create reminders, and even share your schedule with others. Yahoo’s free calendar service is at calendar.yahoo.com.

600Are you always on the go? Too busy to write down reminders? If your phone has a voice memo feature, use that to set reminders for yourself.

Staying on Track

700There are a lot of distractions out there, and they can undermine even the best organizational system if you let them. Do you try to answer IMs, text your friends, and check your email while you’re doing homework?  If so, your homework is going to take a lot longer than it should, and you won’t do your best. Set aside time for your friends — but not while you’re trying to accomplish another task.

800Chris Ajemian, CEO of a New York-based educational and test prep company, tells his students, “Turn off your phone. ... Everyone has a busy life, but turn it off and focus.” He suggests setting time limits. For example, turn off your phone from 5 to 7 p.m. while you do work, then take a break and check your messages. Then turn the phone off again, and go on to your nexttask. And so on.

900Baldwin adds, “I’m not a big fan of multitasking. If you have five tasksto do, you can’t do any of them well if you try to do them all at once. Focus on one thing at a time.”

(521 words)

1.You can only control your own actions and what you are going to do with the time you have.

你只能用你有的时间来控制自己的行动和你准备做的事情。

句中动词control后有两个宾语：your own actions和what you are goingto do。 what you are going to do的意思相当于things that you are going to do。

2.Feeling as if you could have done a better job had you only had more time?

觉得只要有更多时间就能把事情做得更好吗？

as if后面使用的是虚拟语气，表示所述并非事实。had you only had more  time是倒装形式，也可以说成if you had only had more time。

3.… it really depends on your personal preferences and what  feels right.

……这确实取决于你个人的偏爱和是否觉得合适。

depends on后面有两个宾语：your personal preferences和what feels right 。第二个宾语what feels right相当于anything that feels right。

4.If you work on a Mac or have an  iPhone…

如果你在苹果电脑上工作或有一部苹果手机……

Mac指美国苹果计算机公司出品的苹果电脑。iPhone是苹果公司出品的移动电话。

5.Do you try to answer IMs, text your friends, and check your email while you’re doing homework?

你在做作业时是不是试着回答即时信息传送、给朋友们发短信、查看你的电子邮件？

IM即instant messaging；text作为动词，意思是“发短信”。

* Read the following paragraphs until you have learned them by heart.

OK, so you’ve set your priorities and goals, and you know what you need to do to succeed. Now it’s time to figure out which organizational tools will help you get there. Of course, there is no single, magical tool that will work for everyone — it really depends on your personal preferences and what feels right. You may even have to try a few systems out before you settle on one.

 If the thought of keeping track of your schedule online sounds appealing, you have a lot of options. Evernote(www.evernote.com)is a free service that allows you to access your tasks and to-do lists from any computer or smart phone. If you work on a Mac or have an iPhone, you might like Things, an application that allows you to divide your time according to tasks, projects, and areas of responsibility. And of course, there’s Google Calendar(calendar.google.com), a free online tool you can use to make a schedule, create reminders, and even share your schedule with others. Yahoo’s freecalendar service is at calendar.yahoo.com.