TIME MANAGEMENT
Time management is a personal matter, however, the decisions you make about your time-use
will have implications for your work, recreation, family life, community involvement and, of
course, how you experience your university studies.
What every student should know
Time audit
Taking time to plan
Managing your study time
Time management tools
Assignment planning
What every student should know
You have 168 hours in a week and need:
0056 hours of sleep (7-8 hours each night are usually adequate)
008 - 10 hours of independent study for each enrolled subject
10 out of every 24 hours are hours in which you'll have to make decisions
about what to do
In principle, when deciding how to allocate your precious time:
00Plan regularly, say once each week
00Allow adequate chunks of time for learning new material, understanding theories and
concepts, or drafting an assignment
00Break large tasks into a number of sub-tasks
00Remember that 20-30 minutes is the average concentration span
00Use short periods (15 minutes) when beginning or ending a scheduled study session to
review previous learning
00Arise 15 minutes earlier and retire 15 minutes later each day
00Reward yourself for achieving daily and/or weekly study goals
00Timetable more challenging tasks for when you are most alert and able to concentrate
00Study regularly - daily if possible
00Be task orientated. Rather than just allocating 2 hours study each night, be specific
about the study tasks to be done within the time available
00Set achievable study goals
Time audit
You may benefit from conducting a survey of how you currently use your time. Completing
the table below can give you a more accurate estimate of the time you spend in typical
activities and your time wasters each week.
Calculate:
1. Number of hours of sleep each night _________ x7 = ____________
2. Number of hours of personal grooming _________ x7 = ____________
3. Number of hours travelling
_________ x7 = ____________
4. Number of hours for regular functions
(e.g. sport, community, clubs)
_________ x7 = ____________
5. Number of hours of work
_________ x7 = ____________
6. Number of hours socialising
_________ x7 = ___________
7. Other
_________ x7 = ___________
Add up the totals: _____________
Subtract the total from 168 hours: ____________ = _____________
The hours remaining are the hours you have allowed for study.
What did you learn about your time-use? Are you satisfied that you have sufficient time to
dedicate to study? Do you need to lighten your load? Learn how to say no? More clearly
identify your priorities?
Taking time to plan
Your time is limited and valuable so it makes sense to use the available time wisely. This is
where a schedule/timetable can be useful. Creating a timetable can assist you by:
00lessening any worrying about whether you have enough time
00increasing your sense of control and flexibility
00enabling you to align your time-use choices with your priorities
00providing you with a basis for measuring your progress towards goals and priorities
00allowing you to reflect on your time management and adjust according to insights.
Managing your study time
When developing your timetable for independent study consider the following:
For each subject you are enrolled in allocate 8 - 10 hours study each week
Begin major projects ahead of time - break the task into a number of sub-tasks
Be realistic - for example if you are a 'night owl' planning to study in the early morning may
be unrealistic
Generally organise your timetable into 50 minutes study periods with 10 minutes breaks
Be specific about what you want to achieve in each study period
Be familiar with flexible reading techniques, such as surveying, for efficient study
Tools to help you plan:
Here are some planning sheets for use when you are developing your timetable.
A weekly sheet
A five weekly sheet
A semester sheet
Start with the semester timetable and list every due date for all assessment tasks for all your
subjects and any important personal and/or work commitments occurring during the semester.
Then take the five week sheet and, from the semester sheet, list any assessment due dates
occurring during the first five weeks of semester. Finally, on the weekly sheet list the time
and tasks for study during the week relevant to the first group of assessment tasks.
Assignment planning
To meet an assignment deadline, some backward planning can be helpful. Backward
planning requires you to identify the stages involved in assignment preparation and to allocate
each stage appropriate times and tasks in your semester, five week and weekly schedules.
Commonly these stages involve:
Preparation
00identifying what you already know
00determining what is required
00analysing the question
Research
00deciding what information you need
00locating relevant information sources
00gathering source material
00reading, digesting and recording the information
Organising your response
00grouping information and identifying key issues
00deciding what information to include
00creating a assignment plan
Writing drafts
00developing a first draft
00refining the draft
00editing the final draft
Polishing for presentation
00writing a reference list and checking citations for accuracy, completeness and
correctness
00printing a final copy
00Reward yourself!
For each main stage of the process ask yourself how long will it take? When will I do it?
Then incorporate these tasks into your study timetable.
An extensive collection of downloadable handouts on time management, procrastination and
effective strategies
http://counseling.uchicago.edu/resources/virtual pamphlets/time_management.shtml
Time scheduling
http://www.utexas.edu/student/utlc/handouts/1441.html
Useful time management suggestions
http://www.csbsju.edu/academicadvising/help/23tmt.html
How to manage time and workload over an semester
http://www.lc.unsw.edu.au/onlib/time.html
Forms for conducting a time audit
http://www.d.umn.edu/student/loon/acad/strat/time_audit.html
Practice developing a schedule
http://www.iss.stthomas.edu/studyguides/timman.htm
Time management principles
http://www.d.umn.edu/student/loon/acad/strat/time_manage.html
Time management problem resolution guide
http://members.aol.com/rslts/tmmap.html
Time scheduling suggestions
http://www.ucc.vt.edu/stdysk/htimesug.html
Take a test to assess how well you plan
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~acskills/success/time. html
Time management
http://www.utexas.edu/student/utlc/handouts/1441.html
Time management
http://www.adm.uwaterloo.ca/infocs/Study/time.html
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