Workin’ Nine to Five: Managing Your Schedule and Your Productivity

This post was written by Lauren Masters ’19

On Friday, November 30^th it finally clicked. I need to stick to a standard 9-to-5 work schedule in order properly manage my time. Steve Gagner, the co-founder of 14^th Star Brewery spoke to our Family Business class and told us there’s no such thing as not enough time in the day, just poor time management skills. Even though we have over 20 credits of classes, that’s only 20 hours a week spent in class. The rest of the 40 hours allocated for a standard work schedule can be spent studying, reading and completing assignments. Since the majority of our classes take place between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., the time not spent in class can be used for completing classwork. That still allows me before 9 a.m. and after 5 p.m. to accomplish my personal daily goals. It wasn’t until Steve framed it in this way that it finally clicked.

It seems simple and cliché, which it is, but keeping a schedule and routine will make a world of difference and dramatically increase one’s productivity.

It has been almost two weeks since then and I can already see the difference of thinking in the 9-to-5 mentality. Even if we don’t have class until afternoon I open my computer or books at 9 and begin the workday. Or, if we only have morning classes I keep working until 5 in the evening. This alleviates so much stress and allows me to feel accomplished before dinner time. Before, I would feel so unproductive during the day because I would sleep in or hang out with my cat during prime work hours. When 7 pm rolled around I would be a stressed-out mess, not eat a proper dinner and cram until I was falling asleep over my computer. That routine is simply not sustainable. It seems simple and cliché, which it is, but keeping a schedule and routine will make a world of difference and dramatically increase one’s productivity.

With the semester coming to an end and reflecting back on the last few months I wish I figured this “routine thing” out earlier. Since this program is so accelerated it is hard to maintain any consistency, but keeping yourself on a schedule that works for you amongst all the chaos is critical. I am excited for some time off where I don’t need to keep a strict schedule, but now I know what I need to do when we return in January to hit the ground running.

Photo by Seth Macey on Unsplash