Concepts to Help You Manage Your Schedule Time Management Concepts to Help You Manage Your Schedule

An Overview Use a planner. Or use your cell or iPod calendar function. Put aside time for studying. Really. Schedule time for studying. Assume to have 2 to 3 hours of studying for hour you spend in class. This may not be the case for every class, but is a good guideline. Build a routine, find a time that works for you and try not to change it. If you make studying a regular habit it will no longer seem as a chore. Location is important, too. Use small pieces of time. Not all studying has to be done in hour long blocks. Even just fifteen or twenty minutes of focused studying can be very helpful. Consider this…what do you ever do for four hours straight? Shorter, focused, quality studying is better than lengthy, poor quality studying. Do not procrastinate. Deadlines can approach very quickly. Once you fall behind, it generally takes more work to catch up than originally studying would have required. An Overview

Simple Scheduling Exercise Try to keep a DAILY schedule. Should be similar to a “to do” list. Assign priorities to each activity and then make sure that you finish your most important items. Make sure to continue to add to it as new items come up. Directions: Spend some time plotting your day, then your week, then your semester. The goal is to obtain a better understanding of how day-to-day activities relate to semester accomplishments, and vice versa. Use that understanding to PLAN MANAGE your time. With a little panning, you CAN find time to get everything done! MONTHLY Schedule Spread large tasks over multiple study periods. Read 10 pages a night for a week instead of 70 pages all at once! You can visualize when your busiest times will be, and plan accordingly. SEMESTER Schedule Mark down tests and quizzes. All this information should be on COURSE syllabi. Plot out what weeks will be the most demanding. Semester or Holiday Breaks? Refer to this schedule if you are having difficulty prioritizing tasks.

How to Get the Most Out of Your Time Start projects as soon as they are assigned. You should try to start large assignments as soon as possible so you do not have to rush through them as the due date approaches. This approach will be less stressful because it will allow you the time to complete the work to the best of your ability. Divide a large task into smaller, manageable “chunks”. Working a half hour a day on a project for eight days is easier than trying to do it all in a four hour block.

Getting the Most Out of Your Time (cont.) You should attend all your classes. Listening to lectures from a real person is more helpful than simply reading information from the text. Remember, you are paying for lecture time…get what you pay for! Use your time wisely. Try to use breaks in your schedule to accomplish tasks (errands, review notes, relax). Make sure you set aside enough time to finish schoolwork and other tasks. Consider your workload…is working 25 hours a week and taking 16 credits reasonable? What is the best use of your time? What is a poor use of your time?

How to Find Even More Time Examine your preferences and priorities. What you want to do versus what you need to do. You want to achieve a manageable balance between the two. Do not let social activities cut into your class work time. While having a life outside of classes is important, remember that activities are the secondary reason you attend college. If you have trouble finding time to study it might be because you have over-extended yourself. Too many extra-curricular activities.? It might be best to limit the time spent in clubs and groups if you truly cannot find time to study. If possible, take a week off from such activities and see if your newly opened schedule gives you time to study. You can also decrease work hours during finals, midterms or other high stress times. How about a Sunday evening “prep” session? What does your week look like? Can you prepare something now to save time later in the week? Also consider shorter breaks. Would coming back from Spring Break a couple days early help you?

Avoiding the Pitfalls of Procrastination Start assignments NOW. Go to class TODAY…and tomorrow. Don’t wait until “later”. What if something else is happening “later”? Organize projects into simple tasks. Do the harder tasks first while your motivation is high. Easier tasks take less time and energy! Set a deadline for yourself…stick to it. Be specific. “Next week” isn’t good enough. Recruit your friends/family. They’ll ask you about progress.

Resources To Get You Started Weekly Scheduling Grid Take an honest look at how you spend your time. Don’t forget to add Facebook and Xbox time. “HOW TO” create your Microsoft Outlook calendar. Use your laptop to keep you on task. Sample week schedule How does yours compare?

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