TIME MANAGEMENT
Do you find that you never seem to have enough time in the day? Do you have a problem with handing in papers on time? Do you notice that you end up having to pull all-nighters to get your assignments in when they are due? Do you do more studying the night before an exam than in the rest of the semester combined? If so, you might need to make some improvements to your time management skills.
Properly managing time is one of the biggest difficulties that most college students have. Students who are able to strengthen this skill often find that their lives have become less stressful, their grades have improved, and that learning has become both easier and more fun.
Think about it: Most students wouldn't want to take a five-hour class at 7 at night. How long do you think you can stay focused and pay attention in that type of situation? One hour? Two? Why then put off studying until the night before the exam so that you have to spend five hours reading just to catch up? How well can anyone really learn like this?
College students need to learn how to plan out in advance their work and study habits and the first step is figuring out what is due and when. Daily and weekly planners are excellent tools for keeping everthing in order and making sure you know what is coming due next week. If you don't have one, you can buy one from the UMM Bookstore or any store which sells office supplies.
At the beginning of the semester every instructor hands out a syllabus listing all the due dates for assignments and exams. This is most likely the most important document which your professor can provide to help you succeed in the class. If your copy has been misplaced or lost, you can ask your professor for another copy or borrow the syllabus from another student. The best way to keep ahead is to write all these due dates in your planner at the very beginning of the semester. This way all your due dates will be in one easy to find locaion, and you will be able to better prepare for tests and quizzes.
Once you know what is due, it is necessary to figure out how you actually use your time. The best way to do this is to print off a weekly schedule (available here) and to faithfully log how you are actually using your time. If you plan to spend an hour studying for a chemistry test and instead spend that hour playing video games or hanging out with friends, be sure to record what you actually did. Completing this activity gives you a sense of how you actually use your time. Many students are surprised to discover that they spend hours and hours on trivial or non-productive activities.
After you know where your time is going you can begin to figure out ways to better use your time. The best way to get started is to print off another copy of the weekly schedule and actually plan out what you will do next week. You can consult your weekly planner to find out what is due and you can determine how much time each task will take. Once you have done this you just need to actually follow your plan and reap the benefits of being in control of your schedule.
Here are a couple of important tips:
- The purpose of this activity is not to schedule every single waking minute with work. You should be leaving room for fun activities and down time. Leave some time unscheduled every day so you can just relax.
- Be sure to start things early. If you have a big exam next week and know you are going to need to spend at least five hours studying, would you rather have to study for an hour a day for five days or for five hours the day before the test? Starting early helps you to finish on time and actually enables you to understand the material faster and better.
- When planning out study periods and homework don't schedule huge blocks of time to deal with a single topic. If you find you start losing your focus after thirty minutes or an hour, be sure to adjust your schedule so that things are broken into segments which fit your pattern of learning.
- Tackle your hardest subject first. This will help you to understand the material better and will give you a sense of accomplishment, thus keeping your motivated for your next subject.
- Take breaks between subjects. If you are working in hour-long periods of time, be sure to stop and give your brain a chance to rest (five or ten minutes) before jumping back into your work.
