In this essay I will talk about my academic skills journey. To achieve my goals I must develop my strengths and know my weaknesses. Furthermore, I will focus on an important skill that every student, who wants to build a career in the field of criminology and criminal justice, will need to realize; time management skills. Self-learning is necessary to work in the criminal justice system. All research must be done with self-discipline. Becoming overworked and stressed due to deadline leads to distraction and failure. For this reason, planning your time wisely means being a good criminology professional (Fink and Fafinski, 2012). Therefore, this essay is about my path that I intend to follow in the coming years to improve my future professional skills. First, this essay will examine the importance of developing time management skills. Secondly, it will focus on my previous experiences and why I need to address this concern. Time management skill was an area I struggled to succeed in at the beginning of my academic year. The essay will explain the steps I took to use my time effectively. I will also reflect on the effectiveness of the actions I have taken. Additionally, it will also review the additional actions I need to take to address these issues and meet the SMART criteria. Time is a resource that everyone has in common when it comes to college, the workplace or social life. Everyone struggles to acquire everything in a timely manner from time to time. Whether it is paperwork, assignments or dates to demonstrate professionalism in everyday life, time management skills must be met...... middle of paper ......all attempts to address my concern on time management skills. Now, in the end, I feel like I have received so much support from so many people and I will be ashamed if I can't show a big improvement in my ability to manage time. However, I believe the only way to be successful is to keep practicing. I have learned that I always need a well-structured action plan to be able to be calculated and solve problems calmly and seriously. Furthermore, I constantly need to reflect on my mistakes in order to avoid them in the future. The world of work requires capable people who can use transferable and erudite skills to persuade employers. The road to meeting the employer's expectations is long and is not possible without professionalism in your work. Some people waste their chances of finding a job because they don't plan their time effectively (Burns and Sinfield, 2012).