Strategies for Success: Using Charts and Diagrams to Keep Your Life/School Balance
Many college students deal with trying to keep a life balance on an hourly, daily, monthly, and yearly basis. In fact, most people never really master the art of balancing their lives. It isn’t easy. Sometimes, finding the right life balance involves finding a balance between your physical, mental, social, and spiritual self. Sometimes, finding the right balance is more about managing the hours in your day.
This post provides you with some diagrams and charts that will help you create and compare your ideal and realistic life balance.
Look at the two example diagrams above and think about what your circles would look like in comparison. Are your circles balanced? Do you spend enough time with your family? Are you making enough time for school? Be honest with yourself as you complete your life balance diagram, see what areas of your life are in need of attention, and look at where your circles overlap. Where would you like your circles to be?
Click on the image above to download the diagram to fill out on your own. Fill out the diagram with your ideal balanced life circles. Print it off and hang it next to your bathroom mirror, put it on your refrigerator, or tape it over a light switch you use often. Look at it each time and think about where you and your life circles are at that moment, where you would like to be, and what you need to change in order to get there.
Quality Rating Chart
Click on the image above to download a quality rating chart that you can fill out to help you track your life balance while you’re going to school. Each week, think about the “Quality Ratings” and indicate where you are for that week. Track the changes and your progress and think about where things might be for you if you made changes. Think about where you would like them to be and what your life would look like if it were balanced the way you’d like it to be. Come up with a few things that you can work on or positive habits you can start to exercise in order to help balance your life.
Weekly Student Calendar
So you’ve probably heard your success coach mention the importance of time management on more than one occasion. There is a very good reason for that—it works! Time management is the key to a balanced life. Learning to prioritize your goals, activities, and commitments and how to factor those things into your week is one of the most important and useful things you learn from being a student. These life skills aren’t always taught in a classroom, but as any one of your fellow students at Ivy Bridge will tell you, time management skills are a must!
Click on the image above to download a basic student calendar you can use with Microsoft Excel. It’s a nice tool to use in order to check off what has been accomplished and it makes it easy for you to see what the rest of the week and month brings. And remember, it’s OK to make mistakes or forget something sometimes. No one is perfect, but learning from your mistakes is part of growing and progressing as a student and a person.
Goals and Objectives Chart
It is so very important to set personal goals. You’ve probably already worked quite a bit on setting goals with your coach, and there’s a good reason for it—there are as many types of goals as there are people in the world. It’s an invaluable exercise and challenge. And here’s one more tool to help you get started. Download the chart above and fill out your goals.
1. Goal and/or Objective: Briefly describe your goals and objectives and when the they should be met or accomplished.
2. Measurement: Describe how the goal or objective will be evaluated. (Use quantitative measures such as % or time.)
3. Importance: Rank the goal in importance as essential, important, or desirable so that it follows the following criteria:
Essential – required for life performance
Important – helpful for life performance
Desirable – asset for life performance
Using charts and diagrams can be a great way to write down your goals and think about them in a very visual way. Try using them to manage your time this week, and if it works for you keep it up! It can be a tool you use throughout your time in school.
This post provides you with some diagrams and charts that will help you create and compare your ideal and realistic life balance.
Ideal Balance:
Realistic Balance:
Look at the two example diagrams above and think about what your circles would look like in comparison. Are your circles balanced? Do you spend enough time with your family? Are you making enough time for school? Be honest with yourself as you complete your life balance diagram, see what areas of your life are in need of attention, and look at where your circles overlap. Where would you like your circles to be?
Click on the image above to download the diagram to fill out on your own. Fill out the diagram with your ideal balanced life circles. Print it off and hang it next to your bathroom mirror, put it on your refrigerator, or tape it over a light switch you use often. Look at it each time and think about where you and your life circles are at that moment, where you would like to be, and what you need to change in order to get there.
Quality Rating Chart
Click on the image above to download a quality rating chart that you can fill out to help you track your life balance while you’re going to school. Each week, think about the “Quality Ratings” and indicate where you are for that week. Track the changes and your progress and think about where things might be for you if you made changes. Think about where you would like them to be and what your life would look like if it were balanced the way you’d like it to be. Come up with a few things that you can work on or positive habits you can start to exercise in order to help balance your life.
Weekly Student Calendar
So you’ve probably heard your success coach mention the importance of time management on more than one occasion. There is a very good reason for that—it works! Time management is the key to a balanced life. Learning to prioritize your goals, activities, and commitments and how to factor those things into your week is one of the most important and useful things you learn from being a student. These life skills aren’t always taught in a classroom, but as any one of your fellow students at Ivy Bridge will tell you, time management skills are a must!
Click on the image above to download a basic student calendar you can use with Microsoft Excel. It’s a nice tool to use in order to check off what has been accomplished and it makes it easy for you to see what the rest of the week and month brings. And remember, it’s OK to make mistakes or forget something sometimes. No one is perfect, but learning from your mistakes is part of growing and progressing as a student and a person.
Goals and Objectives Chart
It is so very important to set personal goals. You’ve probably already worked quite a bit on setting goals with your coach, and there’s a good reason for it—there are as many types of goals as there are people in the world. It’s an invaluable exercise and challenge. And here’s one more tool to help you get started. Download the chart above and fill out your goals.
1. Goal and/or Objective: Briefly describe your goals and objectives and when the they should be met or accomplished.
2. Measurement: Describe how the goal or objective will be evaluated. (Use quantitative measures such as % or time.)
3. Importance: Rank the goal in importance as essential, important, or desirable so that it follows the following criteria:
Essential – required for life performance
Important – helpful for life performance
Desirable – asset for life performance
Using charts and diagrams can be a great way to write down your goals and think about them in a very visual way. Try using them to manage your time this week, and if it works for you keep it up! It can be a tool you use throughout your time in school.
Ellie is a success coach with Ivy Bridge College, and contributes to the weekly Strategies for Success column for The Bridge Blog.
