Managing your time

With a full course load, part/full time jobs, extra curricular activities and a need for some free time it is a challenge to manage everything into the short span of 7 days a week.

Everyone wants to reduce procrastination, have more control over their schedule, limiting stress, complete more tasks, and at the same time enjoy some free time. This all sounds good but how to manage it is not as simple.

Today's Tip of the Day is Time Management Strategies

#1) Let's start off with: Plan your week ahead of time with a daytimer/scheduler. Slot in:

• Committed activities - classes, labs, tutorials, part-time job, meetings
• Well-being activities - exercise, lunches, breaks, social activities
• Academic work - 2-3 hours of study for every hour you spend in lecture

#2) Use a semester planner to keep track of the year. Using your course outlines write down:

• Assignments
• Tests
• Exams

#3) Make a to-do lists. Writing down tasks that you want to complete achieves three important goals:

• You track what has to be done
• It helps you to come up with a more accurate estimate of how long a project will take to complete
• You are making a firm commitment to get the work done

#4) Following through on your goals:

• Stay motivated!
  
  1. Reward yourself!(see entry on Reward yourself)
     
  2. something small after finishing a chapter: (such as a half-hour of guilt-free TV-watching after reading your assigned chapters)
  3. a larger reward after a midterm/submitting an essay (an evening out with friends after handing in a big paper).
     

• Avoid procrastinating
  
  1. Avoiding distractions and procrastination (See blog entry on procrastination and distraction)
     
     
• Evaluate your progress
  
  1. This will give you the information you need to modify your time management strategies