As usual, we did our monthly meeting with all of our volunteers. This meeting in my opinion worked out successfully for the team! We could get to know some infos about time management with some super tips and in one piece, we had a great time with each other.

Apples, Bananas and Oranges.

First, we did a little energizer game called Banana, Apple, Orange (or in another sequence…) and it put a smile on everyone’s face. The game’s point is: that the person who stands in the middle of the circle, has to find a free chair, but there is one chair less than the number of people playing.

9 Dates in a day!

After, we played a longer ice-breaker game, which made the meeting so successful! Everyone had to draw a clock on a paper and had to plan a ’meeting’ or date with all the people for one hour, so that the meetings don’t collide. We got different topics to discuss, from ,,Do you prefer summer and beach or winter and mountains?” to more profound discussions. For example ,,Say an honest compliment to the other person.” This exercise really brought us together, as we had the chance to talk with every each of us on different interesting topics.

Time management.

Then, the main theme of the meeting was time management. First, we were just talking about it, describing it, and guessing what is it actually good for. Later, we were asked to fill out sheets regarding this subject. Personally, it helped me to see how I should plan my daily routine, so I can get to be my most productive self. Also, it showed how well we are doing with time management, and what areas should we improve.

The Eisenhower decision Matrix:

We got a chart about four sections to divide our tasks into, and in my opinion, it is extremely helpful, cause if we divide our tasks for different times to deal with them, then we don’t have to stress about all of them at the same time. It makes the process more see-through and keeps our mind clear.

Diagram – The Eisenhower decision Matrix
  • 1: Important and urgent; these are the things that should be done as soon as possible!
  • 2: Important but not urgent; these are the tasks that you can give time to, but definitely plan to deal with them in the future.
  • 3: Urgent but not important; it’s good if you can solve these tasks as soon as you can, or ask someone else for help with it.
  • 4: Not important and not urgent; these are probably things that you should eliminate from your routine.
Altogether this event was genuinely helpful in learning about time management, and to be more mindful of it, so it helps our process. As well for our group, it brought us closer than ever.

Article by Fanni Budavári,
European Solidarity Corps Volunteer.
Thursday meeting with European Solidarity Corps volunteers, from 25. 01. 2024.