A
female
age
26-29,
*ilpepper
writes:This is not a dating problem, but I really think that you guys can help me with this. At least read it... I'd really appreciate it.The thing is – my mother is going away for 10 days tomorrow. She’s leaving me ( 15), my sister ( 10) and our Dad. I’m very close with her and I’m really going to miss her, but the thing that worries me the most are my responsibilities. Dad is away a lot, because he works in another town, so he can’t be with us as much as Mum does when she’s around and I have so many things to do around the house – to water the flowers, feed our dog, pack my sister’s lunch, help her with homework, go to Grandma’s house every day to check on her flowers and water them ( because Grandma’s going with Mum) and on top of all that I have to study regularly because I’m a freshman in a most difficult school in town and I can’t put studying off, not even for a week. Can you give me a few tips on organizing my time, getting everything done? I’m really puzzled right now because I know that Mum trusts me and I really don’t want to let her down.By the way, I don't live in an English speaking country and I really sound confusing, I know. :(
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female
reader, Blod  +, writes (5 September 2011):
 Actually, I didn't notice. Your English is very good.
To your question anyway. I think you've hit the nail on the head. You need to write out a plan and stick to it, because then you'll know that if you follow it, you're sorted.
I'd say to maybe do as many jobs as possible in one run. Unless you have to do a certain job at a particular time, make a slot in your timetable where you can do all your jobs in one go. Then you'll know that that's done with.
Then choose a time for studying. So maybe consider what time of day you'd get the most out of studying. If you can work more efficiently at a certain time of day, then you might not need to work for as long.
You might find that you end up with a plan that gives you very little free time, but just remember that this is temporary. You could even ask a friend to help you with something if it's possible. Fix a plan that suits you as much as possible and follow it strictly. You should be fine. Good luck.
A
female
reader, anonymous, writes (5 September 2011): First off, don't panic! Your mother believes you can do it, so have some faith in your abilities! Secondly, it is only for 10 days, I know that seems like a long time, but it is not forever, it is managable, and I'm sure time will go by quickly. Think of it as a challenge. And even if not everything goes perfectly, as long as you do your best, it should be fine for 10 days.The best thing to do in this situation is to organise your time, write yourself a list in a notebook of everything that needs to be done each day, even the little things and tick it off as you go. That way you won't forget anything.Also make a daily timetable, so that you know at what time you need to do each thing. The important thing is to make sure you put aside an hour or two that is just for study, that is very important so don't let anything get in the way of that. It may not be quite as much time as you are used to, but it is better than nothing at all. You can also try getting up in the morning a little bit earlier, or going to bed a little bit later, to give yourself some more time (but don't tire youself out!)If you do not have much time in the morning, it is best to get lunches ready the night before, as well as getting school bags packed, uniforms laid out, anything that you can organise before the morning. Also see if you can get your sister to help out with any small tasks, if she is able to. It might make all the difference to helping you stay organised and get things done. Goodluck!I hope it goes well for you!
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A
male
reader, empty-1  +, writes (5 September 2011):
First - le me say that you don't sound confusing. For a second language speaker your age, your english is superb. In fact, it is much better than many Americans' english at your age.Were the truth to be told, you certainly have a great deal of work ahead of you. IT doesn't sound insurmountable, but you are certainly going to have to have your act together. Organization and proactivity will be needed in spades to see you through!Start by breaking your day down into time blocks. From XX:XX in the morning through XX:XX in the afternoon, you're at school anyway, and can't do much about the rest of your responsibilities. I would then suggest that you add your responsibilities in time blocks based on the order of priority. If keeping up with your studies is your next top priority, then add sufficient time for that to your list.For example - let's suppose you spend 7 hours away from home, from when you leave for school, until you arrive home from school. That's 7 hours out of a 24 hour day. Next, you will NEED sufficient sleep if you're going to be on top of your game. I would budget no less than 8 hours for sleep. This means that 15 hours of your 24 hour day are claimed. You have 9 hours left to fit everything else in. Next, let's suppose you can study adequately given 2 hours a day. (purely an example, it may be more or less). It is very likely that you and your sister can do your homework together, so you are on hand to be helpful with hers if she needs it, however, she, too, will need to be as independant as possible. Thus, you can fit that extra job right in with something you're budgeting time for anyway.OK - so now (purely in our hypothetical example) you have taken another 2 hours off the available time. There's 7 hours left. If you wake early, you can have 2 hours between waking and going to school. (that will, of course, mean going to bed similarly early). In that 2 hours, the first half hour or so will be purely getting your own head on straight, maybe having a spot of breakfast, etc. Then, you can spend the remaining hour and a half or so packing lunches for the school day and feeding the dog - that adds up to another 2 hours. You've got 5 hours left.Can you realistically water your flowers, and go check on Granny's flowers in that 5 hours?If you break the day up into blocks of time, and put the ones you can't control (like school) into their time slots for a typical day, then you have a certain amount of freedom to shuffle the remaining blocks around in such a way as to put tasks in a sensible order that you can manage relatively easily.Also - don't forget two factors. Transit time - going to and from your grandmother's house takes a certain amount of time. Moving from one area of the house to another, or to walk the dog, or go outside for watering flowers, etc. For any actual travel, make sure to build the transit time into the appropriate time blocks. Also - Plan on 5 minutes between time blocks, regardless of the fact that it will likely not take a full 5 minutes to transition from one task to another. That extra 5 minutes transition time will help keep you from feeling in a hurry, overworked, and over stressed.If, after you organize all of your priorities, you've empty time left - GREAT! you can devote the remainder of the time to treating yourself for being so in control and on the ball!
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A
reader, anonymous, writes (5 September 2011): why not get your little sister involved? She could feed the dog and water the flowers. Why not make it into a game? You could offer to take her out at the weekend if she helps?
You could try listing everything you have to do, and setting aside a specific time for it, then you know what needs done and when. In relation to packing your sisters lunch - pack it and put it in the fridge the night before, just before you get into bed!
Hope all goes well for you! x
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