OFFICE FOR ACADEMIC SKILLS

GRADUATE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

LESSON 3:

TIME MANAGEMENT: MANAGING EXPECTATIONS

& GOAL SETTING
Questions to Ponder
❑ How do you prioritize tasks?
❑ How do you limit distractions?
❑ What are the key differences between Time
Management and Procrastination?
 Managing Expectations
❑ You need to manage your academic
expectations - make sure that it is healthy and
realistic.
❑ If we have healthy and realistic expectations,
this will eliminate ambiguity and confusion.
❑ It is therefore essential that as a student you
are aware of your learning outcomes for each
module and also know the due date of all
assessments.
❑ ASK QUESTIONS…..you have your Lecturers,
Coordinators, GDP facilitators and Peers to
guide and support you through your academic
journey.
Goal Setting
Ask yourself, what are my goals for the
2023 academic year? What do I want to
achieve?
It will be useful if you divide your goals
into time frames (immediate goals,
short term goals and long term goals).
By doing this, your goals become more
manageable to achieve.

Make sure that your goals are ‘SMART’

Setting Your Goals
Why You Should Manage Your Time
❑ Less stress/pressure
❑ Better work-life balance
❑ More free time – you are able to do more
❑ Greater focus on scheduled tasks
❑ Higher levels of productivity
❑ Less procrastination
❑ Things are simpler and easier
❑ Less distraction
❑ More energy
❑ Time to think
In essence, the better you do, the better you feel.
How to Prioritize
A useful tool to use when
needing to prioritize is a
decision-making matrix called
the Eisenhower Matrix. This
tool allows you to evaluate
and prioritize a list of options.
Time Management Techniques
The Pomodoro Technique
Eat the Frog
The 1-3-5 Method
Time Blocking
Pomodoro Technique
Eat the Frog
The 1-3-5 Method
The 1-3-5 method makes your daily task more
doable and leads to an increase in productivity. So
what does this mean? You need to commit to
accomplish:

1 – Doing 1 Big thing

3 – Doing 3 Medium things
5 – Doing 5 Small things

We refer to ‘things’, to create a balance as not

everything you do for the day is task related or
related to your studies.
Time Blocking
❑ This is a time management method which assist students with organising their day into
specific blocks of time. Each time block is dedicated to complete a specific task to
ensure that you only focus on one task at a time.
❑ Make sure that you create a task list before blocking your time (refer to the 1-3-5
method). Using this as a basis, you are now able to assign a ‘thing’/task to a to a specific
time block.
❑ It is essential that you block out some time for eating, breaks
and also family time.
❑ Effective time blocking leads to more focus and
less procrastination.
How to Manage Procrastination
Useful Apps to Beat Procrastination

Clockwork Focus
Forest
Tomato

Minimalist Focus-to-do Pomotodo

How to Contact Us
For emergency counselling-related matters, please contact 0800222333 (Free
call).

Alternatively, you may email Student Support Services at csss@uwc.ac.za to book

an academic coaching or counselling session.

You may send an email to your GDP facilitator for specific learning support needs
you may have, that we have not covered in our GDP session
References
Accelus. (2017). Time Management Quiz. Available at: https://www.acceluspartners.com/wp-
content/uploads/2017/03/Accelus-Time-Management-Quiz-Fillable.pdf

Cross, C. (2020). Working and Learning from Home During the COVID-19 Outbreak. Available at:
https://www.healthychildren.org/English/health-issues/conditions/COVID-19/Pages/Working-and-Learning-from-
Home-COVID-19.aspx

Dager, K. (2021). Time Blocking Method: A Step-by Step Guide for Busy Leaders. Available at:
https://fellow.app/blog/productivity/time-blocking-method-step-by-step-guide/

Learning Skills Services. (2019). University Time Management. York University. Available at:
http://lss.info.yorku.ca/resources/university-time-management/

Oakley, B. (2018). Learning How to Learn: Powerful mental tools to help you master tough subjects. Available at:
https://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-to-learn

Pettit. M. (2020). The Top 10 Benefits of Time Management. May 8, 2020. Accessed on 17 February 2023 from
https://markdpettit.medium.com/10-simple-but-effective-time-management-tips-9fe82d11723c

Post it. (2022). Prioritize and complete task using the 1-3-5 rule. Available at: https://www.post-
it.com/3M/en_US/post-it/ideas/articles/the-1-3-5-rule/

Wong. D. (2020). 45 Time Management Tips for Students (Advice From a Lifelong Straight-A Student). Accessed on
17 February 2023 from https://www.daniel-wong.com/2017/07/17/time-management-tips-for-students/