Time Management

Time Management

What we’ll be covering:

advantages to good time management
assess your time management skills
create your ultimate schedule
making to-do lists
 Time Management
 Why is time management important?
 one of the most important skills for college
students in being able to accomplish your
goals depends, in part, on your ability to
make the most efficient use of the time
that you have good time management
skills can actually save you time
 In class assignment: Assess your
time management skills
 Complete the ‘
Are You Using Your Time Wisely’
assessment
 Check to see what your
answers to the assessment should be.
 Time Management Tips
 Monitor your time
 If you feel like you don’t have enough
time, spend a few days monitoring your
time to see exactly how it is spent.
 Time Management Tips
 Make a daily to-do list
 Steps to making to-do lists
 Write a list of activities that you want or
need to accomplish today
 Remember to prioritize and list the most
important tasks first
 Check to see if there are any activities that
you can accomplish at the same time
 Steps to making to-do lists
 Write down how long you anticipate it will
take you to get the task done
 Write down when you will start each
activity
 Making to-do lists: Know your
options
 Use a planner
 a planner can be an effective and easy way to help
you organize your time
 look at a number of different kinds of planners before
you select one- some will help you more than others
 choose one that is easy to carry with you
 commit to checking/updating it daily
 try to include your daily to-do list in your planner
 Practice making a to-do list
 Think of the things that you would like to
accomplish for tomorrow
 Use the steps we discussed as a guide in
creating your list
 Time Management Tips
 Use a planner
 a planner can be an effective and easy way to
help you organize your time
 look at a number of different kinds of
planners before you select one- some will help
you more than others
 choose one that is easy to carry with you
 commit to checking/updating it daily
 try to include your daily to-do list in your plan
 Time Management Tips
 Make a long-term calendar
Make a long-term calendar
 write in important dates like exams and due
dates
 post it where you can see it, like by the phone
or on the refrigerator
 Time Management Tips
 be flexible
 Always leave some free-time for some
last-minute additions
 Time Management Tips
 Avoid marathon study sessions
 a couple of hours each day will help you to
remember more than eight hours at once
 scheduling study time will help you to avoid
procrastination and reduce stress
 schedule study time over 5-7 days instead of
packing it all into one or two days
 Time Management Tips
 Use waiting time
 Waiting time is any time you spend between
meetings, classes, events, etc.
 How to effectively use ‘wait time’

 One of the best ways to get more out of

your day is to use ‘waiting’ time
 Create a list of 5 things that you can do in
10 minutes
 Create a list of 5 things that you can do in
20 minutes
 Time Management Tips
 Learn to say ‘no’
 Examples of good ways to say “no”
 Instead of: “I really should study”, say “You
caught me in the middle of something
important, I’ll call you later.”
 “I can’t go the movies tonight, but I can go
on Saturday.”
 “Before I say yes, let me check my planner
and get back to you.”
 Understanding procrastination
 When do you procrastinate?
 low interest or motivation
 large tasks
 What happens when you procrastinate
 increase stress
 poorer performance
 Reducing procrastination
 Break tasks into smaller, more manageable tasks
 for example, writing a paper can be broken
down into getting references, reading reference,
writing an outline, creating a rough draft and
completing the final copy
 When given an assignment, do some work on it
right away
 Spend some time studying each day
 Reward yourself along the way
 The Ultimate Schedule
 First, block off time for your FIXED
activities
 class
 work
 meetings
 The Ultimate Schedule
 Second, block off time for your RITUAL
activities
 meals
 travel/commute
 sleep
 grooming
 The Ultimate Schedule
 Third, block off time for your PRIORITY
activities
 studying
 try to schedule 2 hours of study time for
each hour spent in class
 exercising
 The Ultimate Schedule
 Your FREE time is the time that remains,
use it for:
 watching television
 shopping
 Socializing
 Summary
 As time management skills develop, your
stress and anxiety levels will go down and
productivity will go up Time management
tools which include day planners, to-do
lists, weekly and long-term calendars will
increase organization and help eliminate
procrastination
 Apply what you’ve learned
 Using the steps for creating the Ultimate
Schedule, design your ultimate schedule

University Learning Center University of Arizona