Manage your time to meet your deadlines Dr Michelle Reid Study Advice, University of Reading

To meet your deadlines, you need to… …fit the tasks you have to do into the time you have to do them in. Sounds easy, BUT – “What should I do first?” “I don’t have enough time!” “I know what I need to do, but I can’t make myself do it!” “Why can’t I stay focused?”

But we can’t do everything... It’s not about working harder or faster...it’s about spending more time on the right things Prioritising Knowing how you work best

“What should I do first?” Deciding on priorities What is due first? What will count for more marks? What is “added value” and can be left till later? What can I get done quickly? What do I need to take more time to understand? What do I need more help with? - What are the consequences if I don’t do this?

Which is most urgent / important? How would you prioritise these? Rewriting lecture notes Background reading Writing end of term essay Reading for a seminar Weekly maths / translation exercise Project for the end of next term Revision for an exam in middle of next term

What are my priorities? 1) List everything you have to do 2) Order them into doing Now / Soon / Later 3) Explain to the person next to you why you have ordered them this way - Why did you decide to do them in this order?

Prioritising and setting goals Know what you are aiming to achieve - Be selective – you can’t do everything - Break down into smaller tasks - Have deadlines for starting as well as finishing - What do you want to achieve today? This week? - Don’t make inflexible plans - Make your plans visible / visual

“Why can’t I stay focused?” Identify how you work best Work at your best time of day Have achievable goals Keep changing your study mode Be aware of what distracts you!

Dealing with distractions What distracts you from study and how could you deal with it? 1) Write one thing that distracts you from studying, then pass it on 2) Suggest a way to avoid the distraction you’ve been given – pass it to someone different this time

The 5 step plan A quick fix for when you are feeling overwhelmed List everything you need to do Break down big tasks into smaller steps Put in three columns – Now / Soon / Later Do something from the Now column and tick it off the list – getting one task done will make you feel calmer Now put the rest in order and plan to tackle them

LearnHigher: www.learnhigher.ac.uk Time management pages with excellent practical advice plus downloadable planner grids and activities ASK – Assignment Survival Kit: www.kent.ac.uk/uelt/ai/ask/index.php Put in your deadline and it will break your assignment into stages and calculate how long you should spend on each stage LeechBlock: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/4476 For the Firefox web browser – block those websites that drain away your time!

michelle.reid@reading.ac.uk