In this week’s editorial, I decided to take up a topic in the blogosphere that is relatively important with any Anime fan: “How does one fits time to watch shows while juggling with college or work?” Given that I have managed to survive three years and made over 830 posts about Anime, you wonder how the hell I manage that when college gives you a lot of work to do. I’ll share my experiences on how I find free time to watch shows and blog while doing well in college. (Image Source)
With most Anime fans being in some type of educational institution or job, time management is important so we can balance life. Let’s face it, not everyone can stay a NEET forever and dedicate his or her time just on hobbies. For me, I used to have poor time management skills when I was in high school. I usually wing my homework, thus my grades took a slight hit as a result. After I started my freshman year of college, I felt that I should have worked harder and I started managing my time better.
During my first year of college, I had a lot of free time, so I started watching Anime. I usually finish all my homework at school and study before watching anything. As the semesters went on, the courses got harder, thus I have to scale back and use my time wisely. This is the main reason I can only handle a maximum is 5 shows since I also blog what I watch. Furthermore, I only watch one episode a day (with exceptions when college is not in session) with episodic posts taking 1 to 2 hours to write and proofread. For editorials and reviews, the writing process takes longer as I have to organize my thoughts and then type it in a word processor.
In addition to Anime, I hardly play any games when college in session since it takes my attention away from the important stuff. The only exception is handheld gaming consoles. I will occasionally play with them when I’m out. However, if it’s during summer or winter break, I will spend a good amount of time playing games depending on my mood. Otherwise, I spend most of my time lurking on the Internet or doing my homework if any.
Lastly, I have my Japanese Self-Study, which I have started since October of last year. Since I want to learn a second language to benefit myself and to increase the chance of getting a job, it has become important to practice every day. I usually do this on my free time or with my homework so it will stay fresh in my mind. In addition to finishing the worksheets and making out sentences, I study the vocabulary every night through a program called Anki so I can remember them. Hopefully, I will pass the beginning level (N5) of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test this December with all the studying and practicing I’m doing now.
After my blog survived three years without any long periods of inactivity while I maintained a reasonably high GPA, I felt that I have accomplished a lot while keeping myself occupied. In a sense, good time management is closely related to active anime blogs. In turn, the opposite can happen, which is the reason why we see blogs die or frequently going on hiatus. As for me, things might change when I start my master’s degree in 2013. Therefore, I might find myself having less time to blogging than what I have now. Even so, I’m confident that I can adjust when the time comes and continue what I enjoy.
That post picture is cute! You seem to have good study ethics, continually, and moderation in uni is good because there’s far less time when you’re working 9-5. Still, I find it more efficient to “binge watch” where I go through 3-5 episodes in a sitting (but I don’t blog everything). This works well with arc storylines, like Gintama and Nisemonogatari. And when not watching one week, it frees up extra time. It also works well for older, complete series, which I prefer over airing stuff (better sense of discovery and enjoyment imo). TBH, the blogging is what I find to be the time-sink. I spend at least 3 hours on every post, so my watching:blogging ratio is pretty low, but I’m okay with that. It does feel good to watching shows and not blog them sometimes. ^ ^
I didn’t do as well in high school since I have other external factor like bullying, which never got addressed since I’m a minority. Still, I’m not sure what the future holds when I start working because I will have less time blogging. The most likely thing that will happen is a shift to editorial/review blogging with infrequent episodic blogging. When the time comes, I will adjust as I refuse to fade away since it’s already a big part of my life.
Then again, I probably have two more years to prepare, so…
I am amazed you can do it all! And still manage to post episodic reviews, I don’t really go to school or have much of a real job due to physical uses and transportation…anyway I usually draft up a review the following day after the episode airs even that gets to be a bit crazy and reviewing three shows + Covering Nichibros for someone else xD
Keep up the good work! I need to comment more on others blogs.
Since I don’t really do synopsises and take too many screenshots, primarily focusing on my thoughts and what I liked about the episode took most of the burden off from blogging. Still, there are times that I don’t feel like writing, so I write it the following day. But usually, I write about it an hour after writing it since its fresh in my mind.
Your schedule is probably the most “calmest” I had read so far, without burning yourself. For me, this kind of schedule is pretty much a mystery to me D: I think I have too many otaku hobbies for christ sake
Well, my major isn’t really as intensive compared to others since I didn’t major in something more difficult like sciences or engineering. However, there were some instances that some courses took a lot of time such as Intermediate Accounting when I was an accounting major. Homework was pretty troublesome and I spent days studying for the exams, which I end up cooing average on them, which kind of disappointed me. Still, the pressure isn’t so bad since I switched my major to Management Infomation Systems. As for my sister, her courses are more difficult than mine, so she has less free time than me.
Also, I don’t blog and watch over 5 shows, compared to other bloggers, so that is a big difference.
well i have a question so i am in Middle school and i watch anime alot now but then i also am careful of my grades too so in in High school and college we wont have alot of time to watch at lease 3-4 episodes? i am just wondering
(Admin Note: Please use proper grammar when commenting… otherwise I won’t answer your question since I can’t understand what you are saying._