Time management

Some students are able to study full time while other have to balance work and university. Some students are single and others have family commitments. Whatever your situation you need to manage your time so that you can get the most out of your course and leave time for everything else. In this section, we will learn about the fundamentals of time management.

Objectives

By the time you have completed this section of essential student skills you should be able to:

Describe the three basic elements of time management
Use lists and schedules to manage your time

Man with alarm clock — 'Clock alarm' - Shutterstock

Basics

There are three basic elements to time management:

1. Prioritise

List the tasks you need to complete and rank them in order of importance.

2. Analyse

Discover how and when you study best, what tasks you prefer, and what distracts you.

3. Organise

Create a schedule that fits with your style of studying.

The rest of this section will take you through each of these elements in more detail.

Priorities

Start the process of managing your time by compiling a list of all your outstanding tasks.

The time management matrix opposite can help you to categorise each task according to urgency (whether or not it needs to be completed quickly) and importance (whether or not it is of significance in your life!).

'In-tray' exercise

Complete this ‘in-tray’ exercise

Drag and drop the tasks below in the order that you would complete them. Click ‘check answers’ to reveal if you have the correct order.

Analyse

The time of day that we work is very important. Unfortunately there is nothing you can do about having lectures first thing on a Monday, but if you are most alert in the evenings, perhaps that is when you should schedule the most work?

Find out when you work best - this is your ‘prime time'. Use this for difficult or important tasks
Find out when you can work but not necessarily give tasks your whole concentration. Use this time to do things which are time consuming but do not need your best intellectual endeavours: Download course materials, surf the net or organise your notes
Find out what distracts you and avoid it
Find out what helps you work and replicate it

Think about your work pattern

Take a minute to think about your typical day. What time do you wake up? When do you feel at your most alert? What kind of activity blocks do you naturally work in (e.g. 30 minute bursts, 1 hour bursts, 10 minute bursts?). Jot these thoughts down and refer back to them when you go on to create a schedule.

Organise

Now you are ready to organise yourself so that your work schedule fits your preferred working style, and of course fits around the rest of your life!

Try and group similar activities together – if you repeatedly change activity you will need at least five minutes at the start of each task just to get into the swing of it again.
Try combining tasks – ironing and watching your favourite TV programme for example!
Focus on the best or most effective use of your time right now. Shoddy work will have to be revised, but don’t spend five solid hours creating a draft of a plan of an essay!

Lists

One of the most effective tools for time management is the daily ‘to do’ list:

Write down everything that you have to do that day.
Keep your list with you and check it regularly through the day. At the end of the day, cross out the tasks you have completed and put any outstanding tasks on the list for the next day.
You may prefer to create a weekly rather than a daily list of tasks, but whatever you decide be realistic and don’t give yourself too much to do.
In addition to your daily or weekly list, keep a diary, planner or calendar in which you keep a note of longer term tasks such as when any assessments are due, exam dates, field trips etc.

Today's To Do list showing 4 blanks — Pexels

Daily 'to do' list

Download a daily ‘to do’ list template.

Creating a realistic schedule

For example, your current schedule may look like this (note the wording, especially around the first lecture, and the late finish):

Time	Task
07:00	Wake up
08:10	Drive to college
09:00	First lecture – feel rushed, disorganised and tired, but better after quick coffee break
12:00	Have lunch
17:30	Finish classes for the day and go to the gym/play football
19:30	Have dinner
20:30	Work on essay due the next day
23:30	Finish

With this schedule, it is likely that you will start the day feeling sluggish and finish it with your brain too active to sleep properly. Hence you would then wake feeling tired again and the whole cycle would repeat itself.

With a little planning (and some effort!) it is possible to revise your daily routine to the following:

Time	Task
06:00	Wake up
06:30	Gym / early morning swim, avoiding morning traffic
08:30	Arrive at college – awake and energised - with time to spare to get a coffee and read over the previous lecture notes
12:00	Quick lunch followed by half an hour in library doing background reading
17:30	Finish college and go straight home
18:00	Have dinner
19:00	Complete tasks of the day – practical write ups etc. that you didn’t manage in morning
21:00	Finish and relax, read etc,

With this revised schedule you will have to get up earlier, but you will start the day more alert, get home earlier, eat earlier and finish earlier so you get a better night’s sleep and have more time to relax.

Weekly timetable

Complete the interactive timetable

Here is a blank weekly planner for you to organise. Fill each day of the week by writing in activities into the different parts of the day. We have given you possible options but everyone has different activities and commitments, so there may be other activities in your life that aren't listed as examples.

Note: There is an option to print your completed timetable at the bottom

Possible daily activities

Breakfast	Classes	Work	Dinner
Gym	Visit Family	House chores	Down time
Lunch	Kids activities	Weekly shopping	Study time

	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thurs	Fri	Sat	Sun
Early AM
Mid AM
Late AM
Early PM
Mid PM
Late PM
Early Evening
Late Evening

Fitting study around your life

Dedicate some time most days for reading (e.g. on the bus or after tea)

Have a dedicated place to study or keep all your materials in one place

Use time spent waiting or travelling to read or plan. If you drive or cycle you could download a podcast which is relevant to your course and listen to it as you travel

If you are also working part time, remember that work should always fit round your studies. Explain to your employer at the beginning that you can only work, say, for two nights a week. Stick to this or you may be expected to do it again and your studies will suffer.

Tell friends and colleagues that you are doing your course, and that there will be times when you won't answer the phone, come out etc. When people see that you are serious they are usually considerate.

If you have children, explain to them that you are doing a course, even if they are quite small. This will reinforce the importance of study to them, but do also make time to play with them etc.

Avoid commitment TV such as soaps. Record programmes that you really want to watch and save them up for when your weekly tasks are complete.

Eat properly and rest effectively so that you spend more time performing well.

Organisation

Listen to three students talk about how they organise their week.

Conclusion

This section has highlighted the importance of good time management and introduced you to various techniques that you can use to manage your time effectively.

Time management is one of the cornerstones of being an effective, and happy, student, so do try and use some of the strategies outlined in this section. You will reap the rewards later on!

Library resources

Don’t forget that your partner college library may well have copies of books related to time management. Check the online catalogue to find out; or use MultiSearch to extend your search to eBooks and online journal articles.

Essential Student Skills: Time management