Managing your time to work outside of class is often the biggest challenge! Especially since many students also have other responsibilities (for example, a part-time job). Often they spend the whole night on their assignments. So, how can you make it easier?
Why Do You Need It?
Trying to memorize all the tasks of your busy university schedule will sooner or later lead to the mistakes and oversights. A proper use of time management tools will save you a lot of energy and help you feel more in control. Firstly, use a calendar to provide an overview of your week and month. The planner, schedule and lists of things-to-do will be useful in the organization of the university assignments in your daily life. If there is no place for them in your schedule, you still have a possibility to contact Homeworkneeded.Com
I Make a Schedule, but I Do Not Respect It
Time management must be based on respect for your personal rhythm. If managing your time is a problem for you, you may not know exactly how you spend it. To change it, it may be helpful to start from defining where you are. You need to know what to plan, but also understand what is right for you. Your personal way of working and your needs differ from those of your friends. Building a rigid or overly ideal schedule often leads to discouragement, guilt and, unfortunately, giving up any idea of planning after a few weeks.
Set Study Goals
Setting goals helps you divide your efforts according to the time, support your motivation, and be less dependent on your mood to get started. In a long run, postponing your assignments to the last day can badly influence your academic results. Good goals have the following characteristics:
- specific: what task will be done precisely;
- measurable: it should be possible to know when the goal is reached (important for the feeling of being productive);
- time-oriented: determine when the task will be completed (set a deadline, but with some more time to have);
- acceptable: to be done by you and depend on you;
- realistic: it is better to aim lower and reach your goals than to aim too high and fail.
Check What You Have Done
It is also important to have some time to check the progress of your goals (for example, Sunday night or before starting another week, in the evening, after your day and in the morning, before starting your day). Unexpected events may occur; it is impossible to plan everything at once and for all. Some obstacles may hinder the achievement of the goals set, including the tendency to procrastinate, lack of motivation or a high level of stress.
Establish Your Priorities
How to make a list of priorities? We offer you to divide your tasks into 3 categories:
A = URGENT AND IMPORTANT (must be done this week)
B = URGENT (can wait until the next week)
C = IMPORTANT (to be done soon)
First do the A ones. We tend to do the C first because these tasks cause less anxiety (for example, cleaning the room). Divide the tasks that cause you the most stress into the small tasks (often they have the highest priority). An effective list indicates the priority of what is to be done and includes specific and achievable goals.
Example of a Weekly List of Priorities
Bad List:
- do my statistics homework
- write my lab report
- my reading assignments
- go to the bank
- call Lucie
- buy a present for mom
- clean my room
Good List:
- (A) do stats problems chap. 2, p. 10 to 20, the first 3 numbers
- (A) complete the lab exercises
- (A) overview chap. 3 in physics
- (B) read notes of the last course in chemistry
- (B) go to the bank
- (B) buy a present for mom
- (C) choose a subject for work in economics
- (C) do the washing
- (C) call Lucie
Be Strategic
It is not always possible to do everything that is required in each of your courses. You must use a strategy to make your time profitable without penalizing you in the success of your courses. Here are some examples: do the intellectual activities at the time when you are the most effective ( your energy and concentration at their best), alternate tasks (depending on their complexity and interest), combine some activities (for example, read in a café, review on the bus), start by studying the parts of the material that have the most priority or the ones you have misunderstood. Besides, if you clearly understand that you cannot complete all of the tasks given, you may use an assignment helper and save yourself from exhaustion.
Spend Your Time Wisely
Try to eliminate the influence of the things you spend much time on and exercise control: interruptions (for example, your phone or computer), non-urgent requests from people around you (when you have a difficulty with saying no), wasted time (for example, Internet, TV), unnecessary travel (minimizing round trips), poor study strategy (poor concentration).
Some Small Rules to Succeed
For university studies, calculate a minimum of one hour for individual work (ideally two) for each hour of class. Obviously, some courses will require less time, the other ones - more. Try to limit yourself to 10 hours of school work per day (studying at university and at home included). This is to promote your concentration and motivation for the subsequent days. There should be a maximum of five hours of work on the same task for the same subject on the same day. Do not overload yourself with working on your assignments for a period before bedtime. It is better to get some essay help than sacrifice your rest. Keep yourself a 24-hour period in the week without any school activity or assignments. If possible, limit to 10 to 15 hours per week the time spent on the student job if you are studying full-time. Short study sessions allow a better learning than "marathons." Study breaks allow you to remain more effective. Taking into account all your needs (social needs, physical exercises, sleep) will assure you to have the energy to make the necessary efforts when you have many assignments.
