Time Management

Time management is paying attention to how you are spending your most
valuable resource (time) and devising a plan to use it more effectively.
 Goals for Today’s
Lesson:
• Assess/examine how you are
currently allocating your time

• Understand the importance of

managing your time

• Understand different strategies on

how to use your time efficiently
 Goal Setting
• In order to know what you should be doing with your
time, it is important to know what you are working
towards

• Long term goals = Life-long goals (usually take a year or

more to accomplish)

• Short-term goals = Stepping stones (less than a year to

accomplish)
 Goal Setting,
Give it a shot!
• Write a short-term and long-term goal

• Your short-term goal should be a ‘stepping stone’

on the path to achieving your long-term goal

• Make sure both goals are:

– Specific
– Measurable

• Volunteers?
 Where does the time go???

• Make a list of 10-15 observable activities

you have participated in during the past
24 hours.

• Estimate how much time you spent on

each activity.
 It is all connected- Goal
Setting & Time Management

• If your goal is to increase your GPA you will need to

be well organized to allocate sufficient time for
study or visit your professors office hours

• Knowing ahead of time what your main priorities are

can help you attend to those tasks first

• Are you allocating the necessary time in achieving

the short-term and long-term goals you set earlier?
 Why is Time Management
Important?
• Prioritize your tasks
• Accomplish short-term and long-term goals
• Increases productivity
• Experience the success of accomplishment (fulfillment)
• Feeling of self-control
• Balance
• Aids in money management
• Reduces stress
• Prepares you for the “real world”
Consider your Values
• You will put more time and energy towards what
you value, enjoy and love.
• How much do you value your education?
• How important is it that you succeed in college
and get your degree?
• If success in college is a high value for your life,
you will make more time for your studies, your
classes and projects.
• We all spend time on what we value!
 What is Time Management?
• Not just about managing your time,
it’s about managing your attention

• Attention Management = ability to

focus on a designated activity

• Without attention management,

time management is pointless
“To manage your time you must manage
yourself: your energy, your behavior, your
attitudes, you”--- Constance Staley
 Get Your Priorities Straight!

Covey, Stephen R. The Seven Habits of Highly Effective

People. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1989.
 Which Quadrant Are You In?
• Go back to your list of Observable
Activities:

– Write each activity into the appropriate

Quadrant on your graph.
– Using the time estimates you wrote for each
activity, circle the Quadrant in which you spent
the most time (you may have a tie!).
Priorities Are Personal

• Sleep may be Quadrant IV for one person and

Quadrant I for another.

• In which Quadrant did you spend the majority of

your time?

• Which quadrant is the best? (for studying?)

• What happens if you spend the majority of your

time in Quadrant I activities?
Performance, health & happiness are grounded in
the skillful management of energy” Jim Loehr and Tony
Schwartz, from the Power of Full Engagement
 How to use time wisely
• Electronic or hard copy day planner or calendar

• Schedule Fixed Blocks of Time First

– Start with class time, work schedule, child
care
• Schedule DO & DUE dates
• Work Backwards
• Use syllabus!

• Schedule study time every day--- at least 2

hours (if you have breaks between your
classes, use it!)
– Some classes require more study time than others
– 10 minute study breaks after studying for 1 hour
 How to use time wisely
Hours you should be spending studying:

Units for less demanding classes:____ x 2 hours=___ hours

Units for typical/average classes:__ X 3 hours = ___ hours

Units for typical/average classes:__ X 4 hours = ___ hours

Expected total study time per week: ____

hours
 How to use time wisely
• Set aside time for the day to day tasks that
will bring you a step closer to reaching your
goals

• Update your schedule everyday

• Break larger assignments into smaller tasks

(exp: final term papers)

• Avoid scheduling marathon study sessions

– Three 3-hour sessions are more productive than 9-
10 hour sessions
 How to use time wisely
• Schedule time to study for tests and to review
notes (set a regular place to study & a
specific subject)

• Schedule time for errands

• Plan for the unplanned

• Double your time estimates (tasks can take

longer than expected)

• Take time for you! Don’t forget yourself and

your needs (sleeping, nutrition, exercise)
 How to use time wisely
• Set priorities

• Be realistic

• Allow for flexibility in your schedule

• Schedule time for fun!

• The final step is to act on the schedule you

wrote down
• When you say “I don’t have time, what
you are really saying is “I have other
priorities.”
 Summary…
• Managing Time = balance
• Allows you put energy towards things you
value
• Short-term and long-term goals
• Reduces stress
“Performance, health and happiness are grounded in the skillful
management of energy” Jim Loehr & Tony Schwartz