Time
Management

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Principles of Effective Time Management

  1. Plan from the longest time span to the shortest. Start with a semester calendar which shows all the months of the semester at one glance. Fill in all major events, exams, assignments, presentations, special lectures, holidays and breaks, etc. at the beginning of the semester so you will know when you can and can't schedule all the other things that tend to come up during the course of a semester. This will keep you from saying "yes" to a weekend away several weeks ahead of time, just to realize, too late that you have a presentation on that Monday.

  2. The next time span you should plan for is your weekly calendar. Usually, if you do a good job creating it the first time, you only have to make your weekly calendar once. Since your classes, work schedule, meetings, practice times, study sessions and most of your other activities all tend to happen on the same day, at the same time each week, one general weekly schedule is all you will need. This time management tool will call for some flexibility on your part, since every week brings with it some minor changes for which you will need to make room. Planning one hour of time for contingencies every day is a good way to make room for the unexpected.

  3. Finally, a daily TO DO list can help you to meet all your comittments even if your schedule is tight. Write down everything you think you need to do. The best time to work on that list is at night before you go to bed. Then you can look at the list from that day and decide what needs to be copied over to the next day. ( If you have copied something over more than two times, delete it -- it is not high priority). The best part comes when you cross off the items as they are completed.

  4. In all daily TO DO lists is a built in 80/20 rule. In any list of ten items, there are two that will yield 80% of the completion value -- do those two and leave the rest of the eight to be done if there is time. In other words, don't waste time and effort on low value items.

  5. Know your energy zones. Are you a morning person, or do you come awake after dinner at night? Schedule difficult tasks for when you are most efficient and creative and save the less demanding tasks for when your energy levels are decreasing. Allow yourself more time than you think you will need to accomodate transitions: commuting and waiting can be the best time for you to plan, think, orally prepare or listen to audio tapes that you have made of your notes from classes or readings.

  6. Plan time to take care of your needs. You can not be efficient without the proper sleep, diet and exercise. Even if you are feeling energized, planning marathon study sessions will quickly rob you of your concentration. When planning a study session schedule two blocks of approximately 50 minutes of study time followed by a ten minute break. If you are studying for an exam, space these study sessions over the several days leading up to the test.

    Dinner Guests

    Values Clarification Exercise

    You have a once in a lifetime chance to spend an evening with anyone you choose.You are giving a dinner party and you may invite five people; living or dead, fictional or non-fictional, famous or infamous -- anyone! Write the name of the person in the blank on the left and why you would invite him/her to your dinner party on the right.

    ______________________________ ________________________________
    ______________________________ ________________________________
    ______________________________ ________________________________
    ______________________________ ________________________________
    ______________________________ ________________________________
    ______________________________ ________________________________
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    ______________________________ ________________________________
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    If you study the reasons you gave for why you invited these people, you will begin to get a picture of what you find important. For example, if you chose Donald Trump and your reason for inviting him was to find out how he got started and how he made his millions, then you would know that money or making money is important to you. When you can decipher what you find important, your values will become clearer, for what you value is usually what becomes important in your life.

    Think about how your values can and should impact on your plans for how you spend your time. Look over the record you kept for how you spent your time. Are you able to spot the times that you spend on what is important to you? Are you spending enough time doing what you think is important? How can you increase the time you spend on things that are important? In other words, does how you spend your time reflect what you value?

    No doubt, you have stated that your goal is to get a high GPA. Since goals are usually based on values, you can assume thatyou value education. Looking at your time record, you should be able to see that the number of hours you spent on schoolwork reflects this value and will help you to reach your goal. If this is not the case, you need to look at both how you spend your time and what you say your goals and values are. If they do not correspond, you need to study both more closely, make adjustments where you need to and try again to plan your schedule.This is a trial and error process and may take a few tries.

    Ten Hints to Follow When Developing Your Weekly Schedule

    1. Schedule time (15 -20 minutes) after a lecture class to sit with your notebook while the lecture is still fresh in your memory and fill in information that you could not get down in class.Check again the assignment that is due for the next class and write it more completely, putting in any helpful hints that weregiven in class.
    2. Plan to arrive at your classroom 15 minutes before a discussion class. Use this time to read over your notes from the last class as well as the notes you took on your readings for this class.This helps to refresh your memory and make it more likely that you will participate in the class discussion.
    3. Make a large calendar of the whole semester and hang in a prominent place. You should be able to spot the whole semester without having to turn any pages. All the weeks should be visible at a glance. Fill in all the major projects, papers or exams, using your course outlines for this information. This will help you to plan ahead for assignments that may seem a long way off, but are actually only one or two weeks away.
    4. Using this semester calendar, break up the big tasks. Decide what you need to do to get started; ie: choose topics, find sources, check with instructor and write in the dates that you will accomplish each of these smaller tasks.
    5. Try to study for the same course at the same time and day each week. If you set aside one and a half hours on Monday and Wednesday evenings to study or complete assignments for a class that meets on Wednesday and Friday, you will have enough time to study more completely or proofread and rewrite assignments.
    6. Plan short breaks in your schedule every 20 to 30 minutes.Concentration falls off rapidly after a certain amount of time and you will get the most from your study time if you get up, walk around, stretch and breathe before going back to your studying.
    7. Plan longer breaks with rewards built in after a completed study session. Write a list of things you enjoy doing, ex: calling home, writing a letter, playing a video game, watching a favorite TV show, etc. Use these to motivate you to finish an assignment or complete astudy session. Do not allow yourself to enjoy these until you have earned them. This will help you to finish what you had planned in the time allotted and the rewards will seem that much sweeter.
    8. Realize that there are fixed comittments over which you have little or no control. Write them in first (classes, labs, meetings, jobs, practices, etc.). Arrange the rest of your week around these.
    9. Living takes time. Schedule all the things you need to doin order to function. Showering, eating, cleaning, shopping, laundry, dressing -- all need time allotments if you are to be true to your schedule.
    10. All work and no play... You need to block off the times you will allow for recreation. Watching movies, shopping at the mall, going out with friends, etc., need to be planned ahead. It is usually easier to get through several days of school work and classes, when you know that you have something fun to look forward to on the weekends. It will be easier to say NO to last minute, unplanned time-wasters, if you know that something better is coming up.
    Developed at Marist College, Academic Learning Center by Victoria Sarkisian, Marianne Toscano, and Karen Tomkins-Tinch. Updated April 10, 2003 by Kerry Casey