Amal Reflection: 3 months and a challenge

As our Amal journey comes to an end I have to reflect on these past three-months of this incredible journey, and the time spent with one of the most incredible and inspiring group of people I have encountered in my life.

There are many instances that I still remember fondly, such as when our AM — Ma’am Alia — had designed a session activity where we had to demonstrate the Do’s and Don’ts of professional clothing by making us gather our stuff and display it in front of the class. Or when our PM — Sir Anis — suggested to play a game to wake us up during one morning session, in which each of us had to contribute a line to makeup a story.

Though there were some down’s as well, which I think has had more of an impact on me and my way of thinking, since we tend to learn more from our greatest adversities.

On May 22nd, I was able to participate in my very first group assessment, and though we completed our task, we made one very crucial error; and that was not managing our time efficiently, which was rightly pointed out to us by our group assessor, Mr. Waqas Faizan, an Amal alumni of Batch-150.

The following week proved to be the one where I messed up the most in regards to my time management skills. I got two sudden interview calls for that week, and I delegated most of my time in preparing for the interviews, which in retrospect I think it could’ve been possible to complete my courses and PW as well as prepare for the interview.

Alas! That wasn’t so and I was unable to submit my PW on time. On Sunday, I felt as though I had let my PM and AM down immensely and there disappointment was plain to see.

The incident made me reflect on my actions, time management is about delegating sufficient time according to the importance of the activity; and though the interviews were important, my Amal course and the sessions were just as important to me, and by not thinking like that I had ended up wasting my time as well as the time of my PM and AM.

Looking back on my journey thus far, I think I’m still miles away from being someone who manages their time efficiently. The Pomodoro Technique and the Eisenhower matrix have been extremely productive tools in managing my time. But I still have to practice it a lot to make a habit of it.

But with the principles of progress (Amal and Khudi), and the motivation and practical techniques Amal, Sir Anis and Ma’am Alia have thought us during this three month career fellowship, makes this shortcoming another challenge for me to overcome!