Time Management - 16 Tips For Efficient Time Management

Every day has just 24 hours - and this applies to all people. Some people are constantly pursuit and pushed by time. This article is about how we can learn to manage our valuable time more effectively.

In reality we cannot manage time, we can only manage ourselves and our relationship with time. After all, how we use (or utilize) our time is largely a matter of habit. And habits are not that easy to change.

To organize and manage our time - and generally our life- we need to clarify what are our objectives, this means we need to identify what to organize and make sure we know where we want to be and be ready to accept the possible 'cost'. In order for us to be able to change how we operate, we first need to 'consider' and understand how we use our time now.

How do you usually spend your time:

* Interruptions from others (telephone calls - visits)

* Doing work that should be assigned to others

* Indecision

* Lack of adequate information about what you have undertaken to do

* Unclear priorities

* Lack of planning

* Stress and tiredness

* Inability to say «no»

* Lack of organization in your surroundings, and that also disrupt you

* Lack of flexibility - very tight, rigid and unrealistic planning, etc. are some factors that have the ability to swallow your time!

In addition, disorganization and misuse of our time is supported and maintained by the following perceptions:

* 'Leave it for one more day', never mind we will do everything tomorrow

* I perform better under pressure

* Others are delayed, why not me?

* I cannot start something if I do not know exactly how to finish it

* I cannot be under pressure, I want to be free

* I cannot deny to others my help

* Better to do everything myself, I have to be in control

* I do not have time to deal with the organization and management of my time

The «chaos» and the disruption may mean lack of motivation or even avoid lack of accountability.

In these cases the problem is not as «obvious» as one - small or large-difficulty in organizing and managing time, so you may need to locate and review your perceptions about the responsibilities, incentives and priorities and wonder who is the one who «loses» besides you by this attitude.

If you are resisting the idea of time management because you prefer to be more free and spontaneous, it might help to think that the effort is not aimed at making us 'slaves' to one more schedule, but rather to liberate us from stress and inconvenience created from the bad management of our time. What you can do to manage your time better?

The skills needed for time management are planning, organization, self-control and delegation (delegating responsibilities to others). In that respect the following 16 tips can be useful:

1. Log your activities

Keep a weekly log of activities in which you will record for 2 -3 weeks everything you do per hour when you're awake, how much time you allocated for everyone, how much time you did nothing special or important, how much time you rest, sleep etc.

2. Clear out what are your obligations

Locate the points on which you could make some changes and clear out which of these are actually your obligations and responsibilities or if they are obligations you undertook without having enough time either by habit or because you did not say no.

3. Identify your deadlines

Record in an initial list what you should do and when it must be completed, divide the activities per day / week and long-term goals, to get a clear picture of what you have to do and when.

4. Do you forget personal and social activities

The activities and objectives should not only include professional activities or other obligations, but also personal and social activities, so your program should cover all your needs.

5. Organize your goals

Organize your goals based on two criteria: degree of urgency and importance:

a) Should be done today - tomorrow, etc., b) Should be done at 'that date'. Set a date, c) Can postpone it for so many days, d) Can ask someone else to do it

Start from the most important and urgent

6. Delegation

When you delegate something to someone else, you need to decide what is it, who is best qualified to undertake it, what information you would pass, but mainly you have to undertake the responsibility together and accept the fact that it will not be executed as exactly you would have done it.

7. Identify your priorities

Locate deadlines, expire items, etc. These should be in the top of your list!

8. Clean up your list

Make a list of everything you think that they are not helping / benefiting you and do not do them!

9. Focus

Concentrate only on one goal at a time. Otherwise, if while dealing with something you think everything you can do after (tomorrow, the rest of week, next month, the rest of your life), most likely you will get bored and disappointed. It is like every time you eat you think all meals you must eat in your life! The bored-ness is guaranteed only with the thought!

10. Work environment

Create a suitable environment to work, one that fits your way.

11. Be realistic

Make sure that your objectives are realistic and do not try for the impossible.

12. Plan for the unpredictable

Include in your programme (schedule) unpredictable items and situations (e.g. problems with the computer): allow an extra time gap to adjust your program if necessary.

13. Motivate your self

Do not let boredom to discourage you if what you have to complete is boring, find motivation: consider the advantages when you finish, like the feeling of satisfaction, relief and freedom that will get when you complete this obligation, and that you can have your self under control! Do not underestimate the boring obligations (eg home cleaning and other tasks related to running your home). When neglected they tend to become a mountain!

14. Say "NO"

Learn to say «no» in other activities, requests, people who eat (utilize) your time (unless indeed that very moment is necessary for your to help them). Turn off your phone and lock the door, to avoid unnecessary interruptions from others.

15. Utilize your capabilities

Use your biological rhythms to guide you: locate and utilize the hours of the day you're most active and fruitful.

16. Compromise

Give yourself the right and excuse that in some days you may not be productive. If nothing else, you will have the change to be more productive in other days!

Time management is a skill that needs time to know, master and begin to work! Ultimately, time management will give you the extra time you need to be able to enjoy what is most important for you!

Effective Time Management can considerably help you to find the time to change your life

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Menelaos_Christophi

10 Words You Didn’t Know Were Eponyms

http://havemacwillblog.com/2009/05/02/10-words-you-didnt-know-were-eponyms/

Posted on May 2nd, 2009 by Robin Bloor in A Day In The Life, R&R

Pyrrhic is an odd word - an adjective that only ever applies to one noun; victory. It is an eponym, as you probably know, referring to Pyrrhus of Epirus. Pyrrhus, a Greek king, fought the Romans on several occasions, most famously at the battle of Asculum. He won the battle, but at the cost of 3,500 dead. No matter that 6000 Romans also died on the field, Pyrrhus was heard to say after the battle that he could not afford another such victory.

The English language contains many eponyms, including “proprietary eponyms” like xerox, hoover, aspirin and google. To my knowledge there’s only one half-eponym. It is a gerrymander, the portmanteau word combining Gerry (after American politician and Governor of Massachusetts, Elbridge Gerry: 1744-1814 ) and salamander (as in lizard). The term refers to fixing an election by fixing the boundaries of the voting area so that it includes a high percentage of people who are likely to vote for you. The voting district foisted on Massachusetts by Elbridge Gerry, gave rise to a voting district shaped like a salamander.

In many cases we may know the origin of an eponym or at least we sense that the word is an eponym even if we’re not exactly sure who the word is named for. We’d probably suspect that maverick was an eponym, for example, even if we didn’t know anything of Samuel Augustus Maverick, the American pioneer rancher, who never put brands on his cows.

What I’ve tried to assemble here is a list of surprising eponyms:

1. Panic: This derives directly from the Greek god Pan, whose domain was nature, fertility, the woods, shepherds and the flocks they minded. Pan liked to party. He spent a good deal of time dancing with nymphs and playing on his pipes. Nevertheless, he was dreaded and feared by those who traveled through the woods by night. Sudden fright without any visible cause was ascribed to Pan, giving us the word “panic.” There are many other eponyms from Ancient Greece, including; morphine (from Morpheus, Greek god of dreams), erotic (from Eros, Greek god of love), tantalize (from Tantalus, mythical king of Phrygia) and lesbian (from the Greek poetess, Sappho of Lesbos). From the Roman we get; volcano, vulcanise (from Vulcan, Roman god of fire), fauna (from Faunus, Roman god of pastures), flora (from Flora, Roman goddess of flowers) and venereal (from Venus, Roman goddess of love).
2. Lynch: There’s genuine competition for this word, as there are many possible originators. We can start with James Fitzstephen Lynch, mayor of Galway in 1493, who hung his own son for killing the nephew of a Spanish friend - an action that displeased the people of Galway. Lynch may be have been his name, but technically that wasn’t a lynching, just a common or garden hanging, so his claim to eponymity is thin. There was an Englishman named Lynch, who was sent to the colonies in 1687 to deal with piracy. Not being much of a bureaucrat, Lynch had a habit of hanging pirates without the rigmarole of a trial. Then there was that unfortunate incident near Lynch Creek in Franklin County, North Carolina (around 1778) when Major Beard, a Tory, was hung by a group of American patriots led by Major John Drake. Lynch Creek was surely named after some Lynch or other, but no-one is sure who, so there’s no-one directly claiming the eponym from that. Nevertheless, we know that a hanging without trial took place there once. Then there was the Virginian magistrate, Charles Lynch (1736-96), who presided over an informal court during the American Revolution and, last but not least, there is William Lynch (1742-1820), a Virginian plantation owner and vigilante, who was also keen on summary justice.
3. Nicotine: Nicotine is an alkaloid found in tobacco leaves, which is primarily responsible for the common addiction to cigarettes. Tobacco, as we know, was first brought to Europe by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1586 from “the colonies”, part of which Raleigh named Virginia after the “Virgin Queen”, Elizabeth I. But in truth, that isn’t the truth. Tobacco came to Europe well ahead of Raleigh’s adventures. Jean Nicot was the French ambassador to Portugal, residing in Lisbon from 1559 to 1561. He was sent there to arrange the marriage of six-year-old Princess Marguerite de Valois to five-year-old King Sebastian of Portugal and when he returned he brought tobacco seeds and powdered leaves to France. He introduced snuff to the French court, which immediately gained the favor of Catherine de Medici. The fashionistas of the day took to the drug, which made Nicot a celebrity. That in turn caused the tobacco plant to be named nicotiana tabacum after Nicot, and the alkaloid to be named for the plant.
4. Zany: This word comes directly from Zanni which is an Italian nickname for Giovanni (the Italian John). It connects directly to the Commedia dell’arte, a kind of street theater that was popular in Italy from the 16th to 18th century. Zanni is the name of one of the comedic characters of the Commedia dell’arte (a servant), but the name is also used to collectively describe all the characters which include; Arlechino (the Harlequin), Pedrolino (the Pierrot), Il Capitano (the Captain), Pulcinella (Punch), Colombina, Sacaramuccia (or Scaramouche) and Pantalone. Zanni by name, zany by nature.
5. Dunce. How are the mighty fallen! The eminent John Duns Scotus (1266-1308) is deemed to be among the most important theologians and philosophers of the High Middle Ages. He was even nicknamed Doctor Subtilis in celebration of his brilliant and nuanced manner of thought. His work was not so highly prized by the philosophers of the sixteenth century, who accused him of sophistry. Eventually, the word “dunce”, a corruption of his middle name, came to denote someone incapable of scholarship, and the conical and comical dunce cap was invented - to be worn by pupils who disrupted class rooms in schools. So John Duns Scotus became eponymous twice; for his brilliance in founding Scotism, and for his lack of it, in being the original dunce.
6. Silhouette: A silhouette is the shadow cast by the outline of an object, at least that’s how we used the word nowadays. That’s because we now have cameras. Before the camera existed, one way of recording someone’s image (after a fashion) was to cut their profile into a card - usually a dark card. Such images were known as silhouettes, named for Etienne de Silhouette (1709 - 1767) a French finance minister who was no great shakes as an economist, but a whizz with a pair of scissors.
7. Salmonella: Theobald Smith (1859-1934) is best remembered for his work on anaphylaxis, the acquired hypersensitivity against proteins. That’s hardly fair. He also discovered salmonella, which is a hog cholera bacillus. During the study of hog cholera, which was done together with American veterinary surgeon, Elmer Salmon (1850-1914), he made the dramatic discovery that dead bacteria would still provoke an immune system response. Thus it would be possible to immunize animals against living bacteria, using dead bacteria. This became the foundation for the development of a typhus vaccine and, later, Jonas Salk’s polio vaccine. Elmer Salmon, being the senior of the two was able to ensure that he himself was credited with much of the work that was done by Theobald Smith and hence it was Salmon that gave his name to salmonella, which by rights should be called smithella.
8. Comma: It’s nice to hark back to a time when people took punctuation seriously. That was certainly the case when Domenico de Comma invented the comma, a punctuation mark that he hoped would make the Bible more accessible to the reader. Unfortunately, the gentlemen of the Inquisition failed to agree with his bold innovation. Oh, one can only imagine the spirited debate that must have taken place between them. “This house believes that the comma is heresy and an affront to God!” First the debate, then the auto da fe.
9. Algorithm. Prior to the proliferation of computers, few people outside the field of mathematics knew or cared to know what an algorithm was. (It’s an explicit method for solving a problem or doing something useful.) When software companies started to patent the use of algorithms to carry out specific functions, the word slipped into more common usage, because an algorithm was suddenly something that might make you rich. Then, when CBS introduced the TV series Numb3rs in 2005, everyone got to hear the word. That was because the series is based on the absurd idea that the make-believe Math Professor, Charlie Eppes, solves real crimes that stump his brother, FBI agent Don Eppes, by dreaming up mathematical algorithms that somehow have a bearing on the case. I expect that Abu Abdullah Muhammad bin Musa al-Khwarizmi would have been horrified by the TV show. His name means “person from Khwarizm” - a state that most closely approximates to modern day Uzbekistan. He became a mathematician in Baghdad and is considered to be the founder of modern day algebra. His name was translated into Latin as Algoritmi from which the word “algorithm” comes.
10. Wisteria. The wisteria is a genus much beloved by English gardeners as a vine with pendulous flowers, that can climb up the side of a building and fan out in all directions. It is native to America, China, Korea and Japan. It’s possible that it should be written “wistaria”, and that its official spelling is simply an error. If so, Thomas Nuttall made the error. He was an admirer of the noted American physician and anatomist, Caspar Wistar, whose life achievements include publishing the two volume work “A System of Anatomy” and developing a means of preserving human remains by injecting them with wax. The wax idea might not seem like such a big deal now, but in the 19th century it was difficult to teach medicine without having preserved specimens to pore over. So Nuttall misnamed the wisteria after Casper Wistar, according to the Wikipedia (see entry under Caspar Wistar) or possibly not, because the genus was named after the notable Quaker, Daniel Wister, according to the Wikipedia (see entry under Wisteria.)

This leaves me with a few words that never made it onto the list of 10, either because they were too well known or becasue the story behind them never sparked my interest. It’s likely that some of these will also be a surprise to you:

• bigot: named for an intolerant English Puritan teacher Nathaniel Bigot (1575-1660),
• bluetooth: the wireless protocol named for Viking King, Harald Blatand (c. 910-987) whose name translates to bluetooth.
• bloomers: named for American feminist, Amelia Jenkins Bloomer (1818-94), who never invented but did advocate the wearing of bloomers.
• diesel: named for German mechanical engineer Rudolf Diesel (1858-1913), who designed and built the first diesel engine.
• doggerel: named for English poet, Matthew Doggerel (1330-1405), who had some unappreciated poems published by Chaucer.
• hooligan: named for London based Irish criminal, Patrick Hooligan, a thief and ruffian.
• marmalade: named for Joao Marmalado from Portugal (1450-1510), who learned to boil oranges with sugar and water.
• syphilis: a character in the poem Syphilis seve Morbus Gallicus by Girolamo Fracastro (1483-1553), both the name of a shepherd and the disease he suffered from.

10 Words You Don’t Know (with Limericks)
10 IT Words That You Don’t Know
10 Short Words You Don’t Know
10 Words Whose Etymology You Don’t Know
10 Collective Nouns That You Don’t Know
Click here for the full list: Words You Dont Know

by Meg on June 10, 2009, stumbleupon.com

Kittehs can sleep ANYWHERE.

Here is proof.

This striking bright green snake, commonly known as Gumprecht's green pit viper, is found in the Southeast Asian region of Greater Mekong.
The serpent, which has the formal name Trimeresurus gumprechti, was first described by scientists in 2002, although he doesn't look like he appreciates having been discovered.

2.Snakefish

In 2002, the snakefish (or Channidae) was described as “something from a bad horror movie” by US Interior Secretary Gale Norton. Some describe snakefish as having ”a voracious appetite, often consuming all other fish in a lake or pond and even eating its young. It can slither across land, staying out of water for up to three days, to find new sources of food.” Norton also warns that once on land ”snakeheads can eat almost any small animal in its path…. They have even attacked people in China who got too close to snakeheads’ egg nesting areas.” According to Wikipedia, snakefish can be up to over a metre in length and over 6 kilograms in weight. Most snakefish are 2-3 feet long. They’re also fast reproducers with no natural enemies outside of their native environments. Within their native environments, small snakefish are preyed upon by bigger fish, while full-grown snakefish are consumed by crocodiles and alligators. Because of their ability to move into new habitats and wipe out local ecosystems (and to then hop out of the water and mosey on over to another body of water and repeat the process) snakefish have been prohibited in 13 American states and other countries (e.g., Australia).

3.Giant Isopod

This Predator look-alike is a Giant Isopod (Bathynomus giganteus), a carnivorous crustacean that spends its time scavenging the deep ocean floor, up to 6,000ft down on the seabed where there is no light. In the pitch black and cold, they survive by feasting on dead and decaying fish and other marine animals.

4.Aye-aye

Considered by locals as a harbinger of misfortune, the Aye-aye is one of the world’s most rare and bizarre looking primates. To the Malagasy people, the aye-aye is magical, and believed to bring death to the village it appears in; therefore they’re often killed on sight. The aye-aye is the world’s largest nocturnal primate with an average head and body length of 16 inches (40 centimeters), a long bushy tail of 2 feet (61 centimeters) long, and weighs about 4 pounds (2 kilos). The Aye-aye has large beady eyes, black hair, and large spoon-shaped ears. It has 5-fingered hands with flat nails, with a middle finger up to 3 times the length of the others.

5.Star-nosed Mole

One of the most intriguing stars in the universe is right here on Earth: the eleven pairs of pink fleshy appendages ringing the snout of the star-nosed mole (Condylura cristata). From its appearance and location, one would think this star might be a supersensitive olfactory organ, helping the nearly blind mole negotiate its subterranean environment, or an extra hand for grasping prey or manipulating objects. Some researchers have hypothesized that the star detects electric fields, thus acting as a kind of antenna. But in reality, the star is an extraordinary touch organ with more than 25,000 minute sensory receptors, called Eimer’s organs, with which this hamster-sized mole feels its way around.

6.Frilled Lizard

The frilled lizard (Chlamydosaurus kingi) is a yellowish-brown australian lizard has got a large frill of skin to the sides of the neck and throat. It is about 90 cm/35 in long, and when is angry or alarmed, it erects its frill, which may be as much as 25cm/10 in in diameter, thus giving itself the appearance of being larger than it really is. Frilled lizards are generally tree-living but may spend some time on the ground, where they run with their forelimbs in the air.

7.Giant leaf-tailed Gecko

The Giant leaf-tailed gecko (Uroplatus fimbriatus) is endemic to Madagascar and the islands Nosy Bohara and Nosy Mangabe. These geckos live in tropical rain forests and reach a total length of 330 mm. A large nocturnal gecko, by day it plasters it self to a small tree trunk and rests head down. If disturbed it will raise it tail and head, open its mouth and scream... and call his mom.

8.Kerivoula Kachinensis

Another of the species found in one of the world's last scientifically unexplored regions, Asia's Greater Mekong, the Kerivoula Kachinensis is one of the most disturbing bats ever found.

9.Desert Mole Rat

The Desert Mole Rat (Heterocephalus glaber) is a burrowing rodent native to parts of East Africa notable for its eusocial lifestyle, nearly unique among mammals, and for a highly unusual set of physical traits that enables it to thrive in a harsh, underground environment, including a lack of pain sensation in its skin, and a nearly cold-blooded metabolism. Plus, it is horrible.

10.Puss Caterpillar

The puss caterpillar is the most poisonous caterpillar in the United States. Its poison is hidden in hollow spines among its hairs. This hairy caterpillar is found in the southern states, ranging west through most of Texas and north to Maryland and Missouri. It feeds on shade trees such as elm, oak, and sycamore. Puss caterpillars vary in size from 1.2 in.(32 mm) to 1.4 in.(36 mm). Check out the video below:

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1 comments:

Writer to the World, February 7, 2009 5:53 AM

Nice piece. It's amazing how inventive nature is

http://health.yahoo.com/experts/drmao/19035/4-exercises-to-sharpen-your-brain/

4 Exercises to Sharpen Your Brain

By Dr. Maoshing Ni - Posted on Fri, Jun 19, 2009, 1:12 pm PDT

Dr. Mao's Secrets of Longevity
by Dr. Maoshing Ni a Yahoo! Health Expert for Alternative Medicine

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Think of your brain as a muscle: It gets stronger with exercise. Your everyday mental tasks are like walking, but how about a real workout? Try these simple exercises to boost your brain power and clear away the fog of forgetfulness.

1. Use your non-dominant hand
Tackling new tasks improves brain capacity in younger people and has a restorative effect on mental faculties that are declining. Boost your brain power right now by performing everyday activities with your non-dominant hand. If you're right-handed, use your left hand to eat, drink, comb your hair, and brush your teeth. Try writing your name with your non-dominant hand or put your mouse pad on the other side of the keyboard.

Why does this work? The human brain starts declining after the age of 30 especially in women with each successive pregnancy. By exercising your brain through the use of non-dominant hand, you are stimulating the opposite side of the brain and activating blood flow, which slows down the brain aging process and improves mental capacity. Evidence from functional brain imaging shows that the process of neuroplasticity -- the brain's natural ability to form new connections -- can be enhanced by studying new things, especially hand-eye coordinated exercises like developing the use of your non-dominant hand and practicing visualization meditation. For an effective guided visualization that will also increase your years, check out Meditations to Live to Be 100.

Stimulating communication between the two hemispheres even helps physical balance. Mind-body exercises like tai chi coach people to use the right and left side of the body equally. Try switching it up in sports. For instance, in tennis, switch the racquet to your non-dominant side and play.

2. Work out your brain
You have to use it or lose it! You can work out your mind just like you work out your body. Mental exercises that will keep your brain fit include doing crossword puzzles, playing chess, or memorizing names, shopping lists, and phone numbers. When I was a young boy, to keep my brain function strong, my father had me memorize Tang Dynasty poetry. Every day I had to memorize a new poem and recite it back. Learn the words to a poem or a new song and repeat them back from memory. Set aside the calculator and add manually instead. Keep challenging yourself with tasks that are new to you.

Whatever mental exercise you choose, the key to success is to practice every day at the same time; you are developing and activating new neural pathways, and consistent cycles will keep the brain on track.

3. Move your fingers to improve your brain
Many people marvel that Asian children seem so intelligent. It could be because they use their fingers more frequently. They eat with chopsticks and at one time, they used to compute with an abacus in school. In fact, some studies have been done with children who use an abacus daily, and findings show that engaging the fingers stimulates nerve endings that go directly to the brain, increasing circulation. Take advantage of this by practicing motor activities that use your fingertips, like crocheting, knitting, and other arts and crafts where you are manipulating small parts. Try playing the piano or a stringed instrument.

Here is an exercise you can do anywhere, at any time. Put one finger on top of the one next to it, then try to stack the next finger on top of that. Or hold a pencil or pen between your index and middle fingers, roll it over until it's balanced between the middle and ring fingers, then again to between the ring finger and pinky. This exercise has a beneficial impact on brain health for anyone at any age, but especially for people in their 40s, 50s and beyond -- when signs of brain aging starts to set in.

Why does this work? A map of the brain shows that the nerve endings on your fingertips correspond to more areas of the brain than any other body area, except perhaps the tongue and lips. Therefore, finger exercise and movements can be useful in stimulating the neurons in the brain. The National Institute of Mental Health conducted experiments that showed finger exercises enlarged the capacity of the participants' brains, increased connections between neurons, forged new neural pathways, and increased circulation to the brain areas. The researchers concluded that finger exercise contributed significantly to brain plasticity, the ability of the brain to renew itself. Increased circulation means more oxygen and nutrients for the brain cells and decreased waste products that clog up the brain.

4. Stimulate brain acuity with self-massage
To improve concentration and memory try this self-massage that stimulates two easy-to-find acupressure points on your neck at the base of the skull. Cross your hands behind you with the palms cradling the back of your head, your thumbs in the grooves on each side of your neck, and your index fingers crossing one another below the skull, just above the thumbs. Sit in a chair, lean your head back, and let it rest against the pressure of your thumbs and index fingers. Slowly inhale deeply through your nose and exhale through your mouth, letting your whole body relax. Do this for three to five minutes. You'll increase blood flow to the brain and at the same time relax the neck muscles, which often tense up in response to stress, constricting blood vessels in the area.

You can find these, and many other brain boosting tips in my new book, Second Spring. I invite you to visit often and share your own personal health and longevity tips with me.

May you live long, live strong, and live happy!

--Dr. Mao

Two Caps, Two Gowns, But Not Too Busy

By JONATHAN LLOYD and KIM BALDONADO

Chase Abrams graduated from college just weeks after graduating from high school.

The Graduate Wears Two Caps, Gowns

A Chatsworth teen graduates from college a few weeks after graduating from high school.

The next thing he knew, he was attending two graduations.

Abrams was involved in the Accelerated College Enrollment and Pre-Accelerated College Enrollment program (ACE-PACE) at Cal Sate Los Angeles.

"It's for people who just want to get their feet wet and take a couple college classes, and I ended up doing the extreme," Abrams said.

He graduated May 29 from Sierra Canyon High School. He graduated Saturday from Cal State LA with a bachelor's degree.

Abrams was a Radio, TV and Film major, but he also exceled at time management. His typical day began at 5 a.m. with a workout at the gym.

6:30 a.m. - 7:30 a.m.: Take sister to Calabasas.
7:30 a.m. - 8 a.m.: Drive to Chatsworth
8 a.m. to 3 p.m.: Attend high school classes
3:30 p.m. to 4:45 p.m.: Football practice

"Then, I'd go all the way from 4:45 without a shower to Cal State LA," Abrams said.

He finished his college classes at 10 p.m. Abrams used one weekend day to study. He spent the other weekend day with friends.

"I still had the full high school experience all around," he said. "I went to prom, had a girlfriend for 2 1/2 years."

If the radio-TV-film thing doesn't work out, Abrams said he plans to return to school for pre-med studies.