Time Management for Academic Success
Things students should know:
1) Post secondary semesters are condensed to 14 weeks as opposed to 5 months in secondary school.
2) Post secondary content is more complex and requires a deeper understanding of concepts requiring more time to learn than secondary school.
3) Poor time management negatively impacts success in post secondary, increasing stress.
4) Time management takes discipline. Some students have it, some students have to develop it.
Full-time students and jobs
Full-time students typically have 12-15 hours or more of classes per week. Students are expected to work 2 hours outside of the class for every hour in class. This means that the school work week is 36 to 45 hours long or more. If students are working at a job outside of school, they should work no more than 15 hours per week - 9 hours is ideal. After 15 hours, marks start to plummet. Time management skills and discipline will be key factors if students are full-time and have a time-consuming job outside of school.
To find balance, students who need a full-time job should consider part-time studies. However, if they want their degree or diploma now, then they should cut back on their hours at work. As well, time for family and friends is an important consideration for balancing their lives.
Set goals:
Set academic goals for the semester. Make them concrete, clear and important. Keep goals in sight by placing them at the beginning of the binder or pinning them to the wall where they will be seen daily.
Attention span:
The average person's attention span is approximately 20 minutes. Therefore, study periods should be broken up into 30-minute blocks, then take a short break or change to another subject. If students are reading full chapters in textbooks, they should change the subject every hour as concentration and motivation go down when doing one thing for long periods of time. Therefore, four hours of reading a day may cover four subject areas; or, take longer breaks between hour-long readings of the same material.
Estimate time for assignments:
Time blindness is one of the most common reasons for missing deadlines. Cure time blindness by breaking down tasks and assigning a completion time to each task. For example:
Essay assignment due in 3 weeks:
1) What do you need to do? Break the assignment down, for example:
a) understand the assignment, ask instructor if you have questions,
b) book any necessary equipment from the library,
c) collect information,
d) write an outline,
e) write a draft,
f) see English tutor in OLC to go over draft,
g) write a final draft,
h) edit, and
i) hand in final paper by due date.
2) Under each of the tasks, itemize what you will do and the amount of time required to do it.
For example, collect information:
a) read textbook, lecture notes and articles = 2 hours
b) go to library for additional resources = 1 hour
3) Add up the hours for all tasks and add 50% for unknowns, i.e. 10 hours + 50% = 15 hours.
4) Divide the number of hours by the weeks or days that you have left to complete the assignment, i.e. 15 hours /3 weeks = 5 hours.
5) Schedule 5 hours per week for the next 3 weeks to complete the assignment, listing specific tasks and checking them off as completed.
Weekly schedule:
Make a weekly schedule using timetables, agendas, phone, calendars, etc. Record fixed activities, such as classtime, labs, meals, meetings, gym, work, etc. This provides a graphic view of where time is spent and shows how much time you really have. Now you can see what time you have for studying, assignments, fun, etc. Begin to fill in blocks of time for assignments, review, class preparation and study, but keep some flex time in case something out of the ordinary occurs. Work backwards from deadline dates and schedule time for completing assignments. Handle tasks or decisions that come in immediately. Putting them off could result in procrastination.
Once you establish a routine, when someone asks you to do something different you will stop to think about it because it is your habit to do something else.
Prioritize by using to-do lists:
Daily to-do lists will help organize your day. Look at your daily list each morning to familiaze yourself with what needs to get done. List activities according to priorities. Get the important things completed on time. Cross off each task when it's completed.
Activities such as watching TV, playing computer games, reading social media sites, texting, etc. can be real time wasters. Make sure that the activities you choose to do fulfill you. Schedule activities that you enjoy somewhere in your week if you feel they are important or they contribute to balance in your life. Consider taking something off of your list when you add something new to it.
Source: Covey, S.R., 2006. The 7 habits of highly effective people
1) Post secondary semesters are condensed to 14 weeks as opposed to 5 months in secondary school.
2) Post secondary content is more complex and requires a deeper understanding of concepts requiring more time to learn than secondary school.
3) Poor time management negatively impacts success in post secondary, increasing stress.
4) Time management takes discipline. Some students have it, some students have to develop it.
Full-time students and jobs
Full-time students typically have 12-15 hours or more of classes per week. Students are expected to work 2 hours outside of the class for every hour in class. This means that the school work week is 36 to 45 hours long or more. If students are working at a job outside of school, they should work no more than 15 hours per week - 9 hours is ideal. After 15 hours, marks start to plummet. Time management skills and discipline will be key factors if students are full-time and have a time-consuming job outside of school.
To find balance, students who need a full-time job should consider part-time studies. However, if they want their degree or diploma now, then they should cut back on their hours at work. As well, time for family and friends is an important consideration for balancing their lives.
Set goals:
Set academic goals for the semester. Make them concrete, clear and important. Keep goals in sight by placing them at the beginning of the binder or pinning them to the wall where they will be seen daily.
Attention span:
The average person's attention span is approximately 20 minutes. Therefore, study periods should be broken up into 30-minute blocks, then take a short break or change to another subject. If students are reading full chapters in textbooks, they should change the subject every hour as concentration and motivation go down when doing one thing for long periods of time. Therefore, four hours of reading a day may cover four subject areas; or, take longer breaks between hour-long readings of the same material.
Estimate time for assignments:
Time blindness is one of the most common reasons for missing deadlines. Cure time blindness by breaking down tasks and assigning a completion time to each task. For example:
Essay assignment due in 3 weeks:
1) What do you need to do? Break the assignment down, for example:
a) understand the assignment, ask instructor if you have questions,
b) book any necessary equipment from the library,
c) collect information,
d) write an outline,
e) write a draft,
f) see English tutor in OLC to go over draft,
g) write a final draft,
h) edit, and
i) hand in final paper by due date.
2) Under each of the tasks, itemize what you will do and the amount of time required to do it.
For example, collect information:
a) read textbook, lecture notes and articles = 2 hours
b) go to library for additional resources = 1 hour
3) Add up the hours for all tasks and add 50% for unknowns, i.e. 10 hours + 50% = 15 hours.
4) Divide the number of hours by the weeks or days that you have left to complete the assignment, i.e. 15 hours /3 weeks = 5 hours.
5) Schedule 5 hours per week for the next 3 weeks to complete the assignment, listing specific tasks and checking them off as completed.
Weekly schedule:
Make a weekly schedule using timetables, agendas, phone, calendars, etc. Record fixed activities, such as classtime, labs, meals, meetings, gym, work, etc. This provides a graphic view of where time is spent and shows how much time you really have. Now you can see what time you have for studying, assignments, fun, etc. Begin to fill in blocks of time for assignments, review, class preparation and study, but keep some flex time in case something out of the ordinary occurs. Work backwards from deadline dates and schedule time for completing assignments. Handle tasks or decisions that come in immediately. Putting them off could result in procrastination.
Once you establish a routine, when someone asks you to do something different you will stop to think about it because it is your habit to do something else.
Prioritize by using to-do lists:
Daily to-do lists will help organize your day. Look at your daily list each morning to familiaze yourself with what needs to get done. List activities according to priorities. Get the important things completed on time. Cross off each task when it's completed.
Activities such as watching TV, playing computer games, reading social media sites, texting, etc. can be real time wasters. Make sure that the activities you choose to do fulfill you. Schedule activities that you enjoy somewhere in your week if you feel they are important or they contribute to balance in your life. Consider taking something off of your list when you add something new to it.
Source: Covey, S.R., 2006. The 7 habits of highly effective people
Prioritizing activites means to decide which activities are more important and more urgent than others. With school in mind, Urgent means it requires immediate attention (deadline approaching fast); Important means that it has to do with results (assignment worth a large percentage of marks). List your activities, then assign them a number (1, 2, 3, or 4) according to the information below.
If an activity is Urgent and Important, assign it I.
If an activity is Important but not Urgent, assign it II.
If an activity is Not Important, but Urgent, assign it III.
If an activity is Not Important or Urgent, assign it a IV.
Activities given I are given the most time and attention.
Activities given II need decision making, you can spend less time, but don't forget about them.
Assignments given III need decision making as you may decide to eliminate them.
Activities given IV may be eliminated if time is really short.
Steven Covey, author of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, suggests that the ideal place to be is II, Important but not Urgent. This means that while the activity is important, there is enough time to complete it without causing stress. If students are disciplined, they will be assigning II to most of their activities. Urgent and Important, I, is not ideal as it results in stress, burnout, and always putting out fires. Not Important but Urgent, III, suggests short-term focus, crisis management, no goals and plans. Not Important or Urgent, IV, suggests irresponsibility as nothing is important or urgent. Students should stay away from #3 and #4.
If an activity is Urgent and Important, assign it I.
If an activity is Important but not Urgent, assign it II.
If an activity is Not Important, but Urgent, assign it III.
If an activity is Not Important or Urgent, assign it a IV.
Activities given I are given the most time and attention.
Activities given II need decision making, you can spend less time, but don't forget about them.
Assignments given III need decision making as you may decide to eliminate them.
Activities given IV may be eliminated if time is really short.
Steven Covey, author of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, suggests that the ideal place to be is II, Important but not Urgent. This means that while the activity is important, there is enough time to complete it without causing stress. If students are disciplined, they will be assigning II to most of their activities. Urgent and Important, I, is not ideal as it results in stress, burnout, and always putting out fires. Not Important but Urgent, III, suggests short-term focus, crisis management, no goals and plans. Not Important or Urgent, IV, suggests irresponsibility as nothing is important or urgent. Students should stay away from #3 and #4.