Learn how to manage your time with Zack

Things were tough for Zack when Coronavirus hit. In this video he talks about how he got through it by effectively managing his time and not giving up hope for the future.

Instructions

Do the preparation task first. Then watch the video and do the exercises. Remember you can read the transcript at any time.

Transcript

For me, I see education and knowledge to be more important than property and wealth. Because the world keeps on changing, keeps on changing every day. So if you discover knowledge, you can do something to help yourself in the near future. If you have knowledge, you have everything in this world.

I'm from Ghana, West Africa. Sometimes I remember my past, try to make a picture. I came from Ghana to Greece when I was 16 years old. Because I was alone, I didn't have anyone to take care of me. The journey was not easy at all. I remember I slept in the bush for three days and three nights without food and water. And the smuggler told me to board the boats without a life jacket. So, the next morning I was in Greece and I was happy, but I was sad too, because I really escaped death.

Before Coronavirus, all my day was very good. I remember when I had the opportunity to enter the American Community School, I said, 'Now I can achieve my aim, my objectives and my dream too.'

I was worried, because nobody knows how long Coronavirus would exist or go. I thought, I don't have family, I don't have anybody, I'm alone. Now if I got sick, nobody's there to help me. So I have to be extra careful and take extra care of my life, because life is precious.

Sometimes, like, I need someone to share my problem with, someone to talk to. Sometimes I feel like this world has no place for me. So, all these negative thoughts come to my mind. And, so, like, I decided, no, I have to do something to help myself.

So, if I wake up in the morning, like seven, I use, like, 40 minutes to do exercise. Oh, I do push-ups, very hard. Push-ups, plank and donkey kicks. Actually I learned from online, YouTube. If I go to YouTube, I see people exercising, so I do the exact thing.

From nine o'clock to two I have to concentrate on the online classes. I live with three friends. I know that at five o'clock the guys are out, so I can concentrate more. Sometimes I have to wait for them so that they are so deeply asleep. That time may be around 1.30 to 3 a.m. And this time I use to learn. Actually, it's very hard. I don't sleep much. I put on the alarm so that I'll not oversleep to meet the next day.

So it was very hard for me, but I learned how to manage my time. That makes me very happy now. For my advice, try to figure out, make a schedule for your life. And have some specific time that I do certain things. So this helped me to see how important time management is in school.

There's only one thing I want to be. I want to own my organisation to help other kids. To help kids to be self-motivated and to believe in themselves like all hope is not lost. I learned to give and to help people. Not because I have much, because I've known the feeling of not having. So I realised, like, no condition on this earth is permanent. I know this Coronavirus will soon be over and I will continue my education. You have to believe in yourself, that you can do something.

Hello, everyone. Thank you for studying with me in Greece. Now I'm curious about how you motivate yourself during a tough time. Let me know in the comments below.

© UNICEF

Discussion

How do you motivate yourself during a tough time?

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