Preparing for Crunch Time

With the holiday season having just passed, busy season and exam season is just around the corner. This time of year can be challenging for both PwC employees and all of you students.  With that being said there are a few things that we should all keep in mind when going through this time period to keep healthy and avoid stress.

1. Plan Ahead – Regardless of the task, whether it is a year-end audit or an exam, the deadline for completion is set and is known. To meet these deadlines and ensure you have studied enough or completed all of your audit work you need to ensure that you create a plan. Your plans can be as detailed or brief as you please but as long as you have something to keep you on track and progress towards your goal stress will be avoided later on. It is also important to update your plan and keep it current so that you ensure you are on track to meet your target.

2. Take Breaks – Sometimes you just need to get up and take your mind off work or your exam. Whether it be a walk around the office, school or a longer break to exercise or eat, it’s important to take time to refocus. I find that take short breaks every couple of hours helps to refocus my energy and allows me to think better.

3. Sleep – No matter what anyone says about how little sleep they can function on, it is always important to try and get 8 full hours of sleep. I know this may be tough but you will be more productive, be able to think clearer and get things done properly if you do so.

4. Me-Time – The final tip and it is probably the most important one is to make sure that you take time for yourself. To avoid “burning out” you need to have some “me-time” for yourself. Whether it is simply watching some TV, playing a sport or taking a night off to relax, it is necessary that you keep yourself motivated and relaxed throughout this time period.

Overall, many of you may not look forward to exams or busy season but in the long run going through these periods are the times when we develop ourselves the most. If you keep that in mind along with the tips above you will succeed!

Comments

[Meraj Khan]

This is an awesome post Matthew! I was reading an article on productivity by an entrepreneur named Ilya Pozin earlier and this was actually the "Most read article on LinkedIn in 2011."

Most, if not all of your tips are listed or referenced somehow in the article! Great tips once again!

http://www.inc.com/ilya-pozin/7-things-highly-productive-people-do.html