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| − | == Robbie Savage back in shop window as Nigel Clough picks him to face Manchester United ==
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| − | Less than three months ago, Robbie Savage was spending time during his loan period at League One side Brighton and Hove Albion mulling over the possibility of a move to Lebanese club Al-Ansar in an attempt to prolong his career.
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| − | Fast forward to the present, and the midfielder is back at Derby County, with the opportunity of assisting the club to the Carling Cup final at Old Trafford on Tuesday night, after their astonishing 1-0 win at Pride Park nearly a fortnight ago.
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| − | But for the arrival of Nigel Clough as new manager of Derby County two weeks ago, Savage would probably have been shopping for a new pair of [http://www.inugg.com/ ugg boots] in Manchester rather than making it into the stadium. As it is, Clough's arrival has brought Savage back in from the cold, an experience he has likened to being pardoned from enforced exile in Siberia. It has saved him some money in the process, he jokes.
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| − | "The gaffer has saved me a lot of dough because I am usually in Manchester shopping, spending my money," Savage said on Monday. "Under the previous manager I knew no matter how hard I trained I wasn't going to play.
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| − | "I thought I would never play for Derby again and I wouldn't have if [Paul] Jewell was still the manager – no matter how well I trained.
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| − | "I would be going out in the street and people were saying, 'Who are you playing for now?' I was made to feel that low on confidence and that bad a player that I was looking an any option possible. I went from Siberia to Beirut."
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| − | What better opportunity for Savage to prove his worth this evening than against the club where he was a trainee, and against former team-mates Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes, who he describes as the "best two Premier League players ever".
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| − | However, while the 34-year-old is restoring his own confidence under Clough, the rest of his team-mates seem to have stalled in their attempts to rebuild their own self-belief.
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| − | Their 2-0 defeat at home to Queens Park Rangers on Saturday was their third in a row in the league, and revealed "the deep-rooted" structural flaws that have caused the side to fall to fifth from bottom in the table, leaving their manager to accept his former side would have performed the basics better.
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| − | "The lads at Burton were better at doing certain things," Clough confessed. "No player in the lower leagues would have made those basic mistakes on Saturday. I have been in a state of shock for the last 48 hours."
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| − | Yet while he accepts that his side's confidence is low, he does believe the fact that they have little pressure or expectations on them to win tonight will only help them.
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| − | "We were expected to beat QPR at home, and in the home match here [against United] we weren't expected to get anything," he said. "With the way the players are at the moment, that almost suits them. I think they would rather be going to Old Trafford than Blackpool or Barnsley." Buy [http://www.inugg.com/ cheap ugg boots].
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| − | == The art of planning ==
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| − | As a student, you may find yourself spending more time planning than doing anything else. A typical day may involve devising a study timetable; thinking that you really ought to ring your parents; emailing friends about where to go for a night out; writing an essay plan; deciding what to do with the rest of your life; going through the TV schedules; and planning to get out of bed.
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| − | One useful way to start is to buy a diary. Creative types worried that planning is for squares might like to buy different coloured pens for different activities. But resist the temptation to buy different diaries for different facets of your life. You will waste too much time trying to decide which bit of your life goes where and remembering where you put the right diary to note it down.
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| − | Then you need to think about goals.
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| − | If you make these too vague, such as wanting to be rich, or too ambitious, such as wanting to be prime minister, you will need to break them down into smaller, more precise goals, such as getting a part-time job or completing a politics assignment. Visualise yourself achieving the goal and then work backwards, visualising each likely step. Think about problems you might face and how to tackle them. Don't be tempted to give up in favour of the TV schedules.
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| − | The next step is to draw up a to-do list. Actually, you may need several. One should focus on long-term goals - a list of things you need to do before you reach No 10, such as joining a political party, delivering leaflets, getting elected. Another could look at what you need to do that term, such as paying the electricity bill, finding out where the library is and cleaning the bathroom.
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| − | Then you should make daily to-do lists. Don't make the list too detailed because the longer it is, the less likely you are to do it, and the more likely you are to feel a failure, and the bigger the chance of descending into despondent chaos.
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| − | Do put the most important things at the top, as you will need to tackle those first. And plan to do the bits first that you really don't want to do.
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| − | Any kind of planning demands a similar approach. When it comes to drawing up a study programme, essay plan or night out, the first thing to do is define what you want to achieve, then think about how you are going to get there, then set yourself precise tasks.
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| − | For example: goal - attend night out in pub without spending entire termly budget, trashing new [http://www.inugg.com/ ugg boots], texting your ex. Route - eat beforehand, avoid drinking spirits, decline offers to dance on tables. Precise task - put on pasta water, delete ex's number from phone.
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| − | Keep reminding yourself of your plans. Don't worry too much if you find yourself veering off course - it is important to be flexible, and your goals may change as your research, or evening, progresses. But do keep track of your achievements. The problem with planning is that it isn't half as difficult as carrying out what you've planned.
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