TIME MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES

FOR IMPROVING ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

• TRIO Student Support Services Workshop– Fall 2009

                                          

            

                                         

To begin, on a piece of paper make a list of

the top five ways you waste your time.

                                 

                            

                                         

            

                                    

Introduction • Many times college students have not had to manage their time

efficiently  prior to college.  • The situation often changes in college most people who go to college

usually did well in high school but have difficulties adjusting to college.  Some students who received A's and B's in high school are now receiving C's and D's in college. 

• Those receiving lower grades are probably no less capable than those receiving higher grades but often their study skills, including time management, are less effective. 

• If you can identify with any part of the above paragraph, working on improving your time management may be beneficial to you.

• In this workshop, you will be taking a look at where your time goes and make some decisions about changes you would like to implement to use your time more effectively. 

• There is no one right way to manage your time; however, it is important to get to know yourself so you can make good decisions about how to use your time. 

• We all have 168 hours in a week to use as we wish; however, some people make better use of this time than others.  If you perceive that this is an area of your life that needs improvement, this workshop is for you. 

Copyright 2001, Christine Abela, M.Ed. & Thomas Renfro

Time-Management AssessmentAnswer Key

• For statements: 1, 2, 3, 6, 8, 9, 11

Give yourself 1 point for each statement that you said you agree with

• For statements: 4, 5, 7, 10, 12

Give yourself 1 point for each statement that you said you disagree with

Copyright 2001, Christine Abela, M.Ed. & Thomas Renfro

Time-Management Assessment

1. I tend to be on time for classes and appointments.2. I set aside time to study for exams.3. I set aside time to study or read my textbook even if I do not

have an exam to prepare for.4. I regularly take part in social activities despite the fact that I

have studying to do.5. I usually cram for exams. 6. I usually feel prepared on the day of exams.7. With everything I have to do, I find it hard to complete

assignments and projects on time.8. I do not experience “burn out” anytime between midterm and

final exams.9. I write down the things that I need to do.10. I have enough time to get done what I need to, but I still find it

hard to finish everything.11. I hardly ever feel pressured to get things done.12. Dealing with extenuating circumstances such as sorting out

financial aid, getting extra tutoring, or seeing a professor during office hours seriously disrupts my daily or weekly routine.

On a piece of paper, write down if you agree or disagree with each of the 12 statements below:

Copyright 2001, Christine Abela, M.Ed. & Thomas Renfro

Where does your Time-Management clock in?

• If you scored between 9 and 12, congratulations! You are a good time manager.

• If you scored between 5 and 8, you are doing some things right.

• If you scored between 1 and 4, you need to spend extra time working on your skills.

• Regardless of your score, the tips on the following slides can help you improve your time management skills!

Copyright 2001, Christine Abela, M.Ed. & Thomas Renfro

What you can do to enhance your Time-Management skills:

• Be conscious of the amount of time you spend on academic, social, and personal activities.

• The goal of time-management is to find a balance among all the things you need and want to do.

• One of the best ways for college students to manage their time is with a planned weekly schedule.

Managing time more effectively

• There are four steps to improved time management

• They are: – Creating a semester schedule– Assess and plan your workload– Adjust your plan each day– Evaluate your schedule

• Strategies for accomplishing each of these tasks will be discussed on the next few slides.

CREATE A

SEMESTER

SCHEDULE

• Record known class assignments including quizzes, tests, projects and papers– Recording your class assignments from the beginning of

the semester creates a framework for your semester. 

– It lets you know when you are likely to have high academic demands and when you will have more flexibility for scheduling pleasurable activities.

• Record co-curricular activities including work hours,  meetings, social commitments and out-of-town weekends– Recording co-curricular activities allows you to

have a more accurate picture of how full or open your schedule will be throughout the semester. 

– These activities are important for providing balance in your schedule

• It will be important to update you semester schedule regularly. 

• Assignment due dates change, assignments are added and activities are planned. – Keeping an accurate semester schedule facilitates

the next step of this process, assessing and planning your weekly workload.

Copyright 2001, Christine Abela, M.Ed. & Thomas Renfro

The #1 Rule for Schedules

• The most basic and overlooked rule about using a planned schedule is:

A good schedule will not help you unless you stick to it!

• Make sure that the schedule you design is realistic and flexible. Leave enough time open in your schedule to handle things you didn’t think of when you made the schedule or things that take longer than you expected.

ASSESSING AND PLANNING YOUR WEEKLY SCHEDULE

• Make a list of what you have to accomplish during the coming week, including class assignments and class attendance.

• Being inclusive in your list of school work that must be done for the week is essential for making your schedule work.  Everything takes take time, whether it's reading a chapter, working problems, or writing an outline for a research paper.

• Include co-curricular activities, work hours, errands, exercise, meals and time with friends on your list of things to do for the week. Daily living activities and co-curricular activities are important and provide balance in your schedule but take time away from study time.  Preparing dinner and cleaning up afterwards or attending a student organization meeting can take as much time as reading a chapter in a textbook.

• Estimate how long each task will take. This is an essential, but often overlooked step in the time scheduling process.   Activities take different amounts of time so to effectively use your time, it is important to estimate how long a task will take and allow that amount of time for the task.  It's better to estimate conservatively if you don't know how long something will take.  If you finish 30 minutes or an hour early, you can use that time however you would like but if you haven't allowed enough time, you'll have to take time away from another task to complete the one that is taking longer than planned.

• Identify the day on which you will accomplish each task, keeping in mind the amount of time the task will take and other things you must also do that day. This facilitates the next step of this process, making a daily schedule.  By looking at your whole week and realizing everything you need to accomplish during that week, you are more likely to avoid missing deadlines. You can make adjustments throughout the week instead of finding that you have a 6 hour task with only three hours remaining before the deadline. 

• Making your schedule for the next week is a good activity for Friday afternoon or evening, before beginning your weekend.  Weekends provide the largest blocks of time for study so if you will have a very full week ahead, it may be helpful to complete some of the tasks on the weekend to decrease the time crunch during the coming week.  

ADJUST YOUR SCHEDULE EVERY DAY

• Write out a daily schedule at the beginning of each day.  Include uncompleted tasks from the previous day as well as new tasks.

• This should only take a few minutes because you can use your weekly schedule to create it quickly.  Use an index card or a daily planner.

• Carry your schedule with you so you can refer to it as needed and cross items off once they are completed. 

• This last step provides a sense of accomplishment.– As you write out your daily schedule, assess your priorities.

Some activities must be done on a particular day while others may be optional for that day.  

• You can use the A, B, C system of prioritizing your tasks. – A's must be done that day B's are important but not as

important as A's and C's are optional. – .   Try to accomplish all your A tasks before moving on to the

B tasks and finally the C tasks.  This can reduce your stress level.

EVALUATE YOUR SCHEDULE• Evaluate your schedule in the morning.• Ask yourself whether the schedule for

the day is realistic, given the amount of time each of the tasks will take. 

• If it's not, remove some of the B and C priority items from your schedule so the schedule is manageable.

• Evaluate your schedule in the evening. – Did you accomplish everything on your list? 

If not, why not?  – Was the schedule unrealistic or was your

time management ineffective?  – What adjustments can you make in the

future to make your schedule work better for you?

WHAT DO I DO NEXT? • How many hours a week do I need for studying?• Most universities recommend that students study at least two hours

outside of class for every hour spent in class, although some recommend even more. 

• Many students are taking 15 hours per semester, which probably means spending about 15 hours a week in class. 

• Therefore, studying at least 30 hours a week outside of classes would be recommended. Combining the 15 hours a week in class and the 30 study hours outside of class, many students will need to plan to spend about 45 hours a week on school.

• My assessment indicates that I don't have 30 hours a week to study but I need to study this much to make the grades I want to make.

– Can you reduce the amount of time spent on other activities? – If you were going to reduce these hours, what would you have to do to make this

change in your schedule?  – Can you eliminate one or more activities from your schedule?  – What could you eliminate?  I do have 30 or more hours a week to study but I don't

use them effectively.• The next slides discuss several strategies for making your schedule

work more effectively.  As you read the slide, think about which of these strategies might be most helpful for making better use of your study time.

Review

• You have had the opportunity to: – Identify your top five time wasters;– Identify strengths and weaknesses in your time

management practices;– Learn strategies for making a daily, weekly and

semester schedule;– Learn how to evaluate your time schedule;– Assess where your time goes; and,– Learn some strategies for improving your time

management.• The next step is to set one or two goals that you

want to focus on over the next few weeks to further improve your time management skills. The next slides will help you set your goals.

GOAL SETTING

• Of the strategies that have been discussed, you may be doing some of them pretty well but there are probably at least one or two ways you could still improve your skill in this area.  Think about what you've learned, print out this page, and write down the skill(s) you want to work on during the next few weeks.   Keep them in a place where you'll be reminded of your goals frequently and practice them every day.    

Conclusion

• Developing good time management habits takes time and is hard work.

• If you want further information about time management, you may wish to review other Internet pages on the web site related to time management. 

• If you have been trying to improve your time management but the strategies you're trying just don't seem to be helping as much as you would like, please contact us.