Time Management

The foundation for success!

Consider that you have a task or a goal you want to accomplish. This could be a single task or a
number of tasks that you need to take care of in a day or over a period of a few days. Without a
structured approach to these tasks you would be like a car spinning its tires on an icy road; there's a
lot of effort being put into reaching a destination, but the vehicle, you, is virtually stuck in the same
spot wasting gas.
To achieve your destination you must take all the known obstacles and conditions into consideration.
Allowances must also be made for the possibility of unknown conditions that will ultimately arise. The
best method or "plan" most successful in accomplishing goals is "time management."
Time management is the appropriate use of and structuring of your time in order for you to maximize
your time. If you learn how to maximize your time, you will have ample time to successfully
accomplish everything you need to and want to accomplish. Accomplishments don't just happen; they
are carefully planned for.
Professionals from all walks of life have written volumes on what are the best approaches to
managing your time. In every author's rendition there is one unanimous absolute rule - you must use
a calendar on which to write a detailed, prioritized schedule. For every author, there are that many
views on what type of calendar you should use. The important issue here is for you to use any kind of
calendar you feel comfortable with, and one that will allow you to view a complete day on one page
and enough room on that page to write concise directions.
Time is like money, once it's spent, it's gone, - you won't have any more until next pay day, or in this
case when the sun comes up. Time Management is a combination of many aspects all of which
revolve around time; the amount of time you spend, when you spend it, where you spend it, and how
you spend it. If you find you are not able to get very far when studying, then maybe you are not
allowing for enough time. If you are spending a lot of time accomplishing very little, maybe you are
day-dreaming too much, and not concentrating on the task at hand. If this is the case, you are wasting
time.
Keep this next statement in the front of your mind: A procrastinator spends twice as much time and
energy accomplishing half as much as someone who organizes his/her time. Does getting organized
involve work? YES! What does it take to get organized? It takes discipline, dedication, drive,
determination, desire, practice, and a lot of patience and consistency. These attributes are the
elements of success that can neither be given to you nor done for you by someone else. To become
an efficient and effective manager of your time, you need to become efficient and effective with the
process. You have the ability to perform all these attributes - you just need to DO IT!
 Having your time and life organized is similar to organizing for a trip. Remember two people can take
different roads and arrive at the same destination at approximately the same time. The differences
between the two trips are the scenery's, the road conditions, and how fast they each had to drive to
reach the same conclusion. Personally I prefer to take a well paved, smooth road, admiring fantastic
scenery, and have planned well enough in advance to take a leisurely trip. What kind of road are you
traveling?

Use Time Management Strategies

Factors To Include in Your Time Plan - There are some basic factors that all schedules need in order for
them to be realistic and effective:

1. PRIORITIZE. Write down all your tasks. Sort them into three groups: 1's, 2's, and 3's. The 1's are
essential: do them first. The lower level priorities can usually wait.

2. WORK TIME. Decide how much time the task requires, and how much energy. You may wish to
include the task's priority level to help make this decision.

3. RELAX. Regularly plan time to relax and get it together. This time may range in units of 10 minutes to
whole days according to your needs. You've earned this time off.

4. EXERCISE. Exercise is essential for superior academic performance. Your brain would not function well
if your body is tired. Stress reduces performance. Workout regularly.

5. FLEXIBILITY. Allow extra time for UnForeseen Obstacles (UFO's) that are bound to arise. Something
almost always comes up to derail your efforts. Allow for it.

6. FLOATING TASKS. Floating tasks can be done anywhere, anytime. Carry around a book that you need
to read, some cards to review, or a letter that you need to write.

7. SURVIVAL. Self-sacrifice and denial are necessary during midterms and finals weeks. Scrap everything
that's not absolutely essential for survival.

TIME SAVING TIPS

1. Don't waste time feeling guilty about what you didn't do. It's gone now; move ahead.

2. Try to find a new technique each day that you can use to help gain time.

3. Eat a light lunch so that you don't get sleepy in the afternoon.

4. Examine old habits for possible elimination or streamlining.

5. Carry blank 3 x 5 index cards in your pocket to jot down notes and ideas.

6. Plan activities first thing in the morning and set priorities for the day.
7. Keep a list of specific items to be done each day, arrange them in priority order, and then do your best
to get the important ones done as soon as possible.

8. Give yourself time off and special rewards when you complete the important tasks.

9. Once on campus, stay on campus. Avoid useless trips back to your home or apartment unless you
have a definite purpose to accomplish.

10. Give yourself enough time to concentrate on high priority items.

11. Concentrate on one task at a time.

12. Keep pushing and be persistent when you sense you can be a winner.

13. Train yourself to go down your "To Do List" without skipping over the difficult items.

14. Set deadlines for yourself and others.

15. Find a place for everything (so you waste as little time as possible looking for things).

16. Try not to think of work on weekends.

17. Frequently ask yourself: "What is the best use of my time right now?"

Tips for Setting Up a Study Schedule

1. Find a good place to study and organize it.

2. Have all of the necessary study equipment (textbooks, pencils, notes, etc.)

3. Make your study periods fit the length of time you can concentrate effectively. Plan for definite
periods of study, rest and relaxation. A short, active break (taking a 10-minute walk, for example) every
hour or so will keep you alert and relaxed.

4. Use a schedule to achieve your goals. Revise your schedule when your goals change.

5. Eliminate dead hours - odd bits of time in which little is accomplished.

6. List academic tasks according to priorities.

7. Avoid making extremely detailed schedules. It usually just wastes more time.

8. Go to sleep each night and get up every morning about the same time. You'll be more alert.
 Time Management

 Intermediate Schedules  Short Term Schedules  Long Term Schedules

Please Note: Schedules may fail to help if they are not created in the correct sequence, or if they lack
sufficient detail.

Create the Weekly Schedule first, then use a Daily Schedule for day-to-day work. Update the Master
Schedule on an ongoing basis.

Intermediate Schedules - The Weekly Schedule

An intermediate schedule is a weekly, bimonthly or monthly calendar which lists all your regular
activities. Example: sleeping, eating, commuting, classes, studying, exercising, shopping, attending
meetings, and work are all relatively fixed activities.
The Weekly Calendar gives you a perspective of what your day, week or month usually looks like. By
completing the Weekly Calendar, you can prepare for tasks that are not part of your routine. As a
diagnostic tool, it tells you how and on what you spend your time. As a strategy tool, the Weekly
Calendar can guide you through the quarter week by week.

To create a Weekly Schedule, it is most important that you record all your obligations during a typical
week. Do the following:

1. Write down your class schedule, including labs, and your work hours if any.

2. Every day of the week, show when you go to sleep and arise. Get the sleep you need.

3. Allow an hour for lunch and two hours for dinner. These are times you can use to relax.

4. List clubs, meetings, activities that you attend on a regular basis - including weekends.

5. Plan to exercise three or four times a week. This is most important for good studies.

6. Allow for free-time on Friday or Saturday nights. Show any TV time.

7. Schedule time for naps if you tire readily. (Thomas Edison used naps most effectively.)

8. The remaining time could be study time. Use a high lighter to mark blocks of time where you are
willing to make a study commitment. Now, count your study hours. If they fit the 2:1 ratio, your Weekly
Schedule is probably on track. If it's low, add more study time.

9. Follow the schedule for a week, and revise it as needed. Make the schedule fit your needs.

Comments on Scheduling Study Hours

 The Four-Day Week - Students are sometimes unwittingly their own worst enemy. For example, a day
with no classes they imagine as a time to get everything caught up. Unfortunately, it's can become a
wasted time because it seems like there is so much time. If you have a day off, make yourself start
studying first thing in the morning.

 The One Hour Block - The pervasive feeling is "What can I do in an hour?" The answer is quite a bit,
but only if you plan it. It's a good time for low-level priority tasks, light review, floating tasks, short naps,
quick trips, a snack; almost anything! Just plan it.

 The Eight or Ten-Hour Marathon -It looks good on the schedule, but in reality, long blocks of time are
usually wasted. This happens because it's difficult to stay focused for long periods of time. Instead, break
it up into two- and three-hour blocks with a break between.

 The Two or Three-Hour Block - This is by far almost everyone's favorite.

Some Comments on Taking Study Breaks

 About every hour, get up and walk around for about ten minutes. This is a short, active break. It gets
the blood circulating again. It provides a transition from one study topic to another. It's not so long that
it will get you out of study mode.

 At the end of the day, take a longer break. Example: if you get out of class at 5 PM, go to the gym for a
workout, go home to relax, eat, talk with friends, read the paper or watch some TV. Around 7 PM, hit
the books again until midnight. After a two-hour break, you'll be really ready to jump into your studies
again

Short Term Schedules - The Daily Schedule

Construct the Daily Schedule each evening just before bedtime. At this point, you'll have a very good
idea of how the next day will go. If you wait until morning, you'll be too rushed to make a plan, and if
you don't have a plan for the day, you'll drift. There goes another day.

Refer to the Weekly Schedule just created. Use a small piece of paper and be very specific about the
task, study location, time, and duration. Allow time for relaxation. Be realistic: are you really going to
start studying at 6:00 AM on Saturday? Break up long periods of study with brief, more pleasant
activities. Plan to study when you are most alert. Do more difficult studying first to get it out of the way.

Wednesday

6:00 – 7:00 Get up. Breakfast. Arrive on campus by 7:30 AM.

Review lecture slides, look over text underlining. (Half hour)
8:00 - 12:00 class.
12:00 – 1:00 Lunch and rest
Consolidate notes from lecture, review lecture and text information
2:00 – 5:00 class
5:00 - 6:30 Dinner, gym, errands
7:00 - 10:30 Library – 2nd floor
Consolidate notes from class, write review questions from main ideas
Make flash cards, charts, graphs, check for understanding
10:30 Head for home.
11:00 In bed
Notice how specific the study plans for the evening are. The tasks themselves are arranged according to
priority, and that's what makes this sort of schedule work.

Another type of short-term schedule is called "Getting Caught Up." Most of us at one time or another,
have fallen behind in a subject. The catch-up schedule shows how to handle this:

1. List all the tasks which need to be done to stay caught up.

2. Label the amount of time needed for each and its priority (It's better to complete the most important
assignments than those of lesser importance. Chances are the test questions will cover the most
important concepts.)

3. Select some tasks off each list, catch-up and current. These will be used to make up your weekly
target list. Be sure to include all high priority tasks.

4. Reevaluate. Eliminate some tasks, postpone others, or scale down what you plan to do.

Term Schedules - The Master Calendar

The Master Calendar is a schedule constructed at the beginning of the course and completed as the
course progresses. It records important events such as tests, quizzes, labs. Because these events can jolt
your routine, prepare for them in advance.

As a diagnostic tool, the Master Calendar gives a total picture of the course and helps you pace your
energy accordingly. At the same time, the Master Calendar can be used as a strategy tool, which will
guide you through the course. Consider altering your Master Calendar by:

1. Adding on completion times of assignments, tests and quizzes to see how these bigger tasks can
be subdivided throughout the course.

2. Color-coding important tasks in red. Circle those activities which can be postponed when the
pressure is on. Upon completion, you will be able to see at a glance the dynamics of a particular
event.

3. Adding in due dates for academic activities during the course. Stick to your start-up dates.

4. Preparing for exams and finals. This means that you must be working on your finals 2 weeks
before.

Academic Skills Center California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo, California ASC Study Skills Library Kennedy Library
112 ~ 805-756-1256 http://sas.calpoly.edu/asc/ssl.html
 Study Schedule Template
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
6 > 7 AM

7 >8

8 >9

9 > 10

10 > 11

11 > 12 PM

12 > 1

1>2

2>3

3>4

4>5

5>6

6>7

7>8

8>9

9 > 10

10 > 11