8 answers
Antonio
Student
Irwin, Pennsylvania
1
Question
8 answers
Kim Igleheart
Career Counselor | Police Officer
1664
Answers
San Antonio, Texas
Updated
Kim’s Answer
Antonio,
The first step will be to get to know yourself! Look at your HS classes. Were there classes you did better in? Worse? Is there a time of day that your brain really isn't up and running? First thing in the morning? After lunch? Plan your class schedule around your biorhythms! If you must take a class during a time of day that your brain isn't quite engaged, make it a subject that is easy for you! Be careful scheduling too many classes back to back. Being at your peak during class time will make studying for exams that much easier.
Next, factor in the things you have to do. If you have a job from 5-9 pm., block out that time. Then, the things you will probably end up doing, even if it is supposed to be study time. So, if you are a partier, and you go out Friday night, don't plan on studying Saturday morning! I recommend you go out either Friday or Saturday, but not both! Next comes Football. Are you going to go to the school games? Watch NFL all day Sunday? As you can see, available study times on the weekends are disappearing! I am pointing this out because it is nice to keep your weekends free. That means, you do your school work during the week! (If you don't get into partying and football, you of course will have more study time on the weekend).
When I was in college, I saw fellow students waste a LOT of time during the day, when the they had no classes scheduled. They hung out, went to the student center, etc. While you can't be studying all the time, you can take advantage of the down-time during the day. Schedule your classes in such a way that you can use this time. For example, let's say you have 5 classes, and take classes every day. If you schedule class #1 on MWF from 9-10, class #2 on MWF from 10-11, then nothing from 11-2, and class #3 from 2-3 on MWF, you then have 11-2 free. There is time to relax, eat lunch, and do some studying! This is just an example. Perhaps you want your study period first thing in the morning. You could do that too! One thing that eats up your time is if you have only a one-class break between two classes. Say, a break from 10-11, and one from 12-1. That's only enough time to relax or eat, and not a lot of time to be able to go to the library. That is why I liked my breaks to be at least 2 hours long.
Once you make a schedule, try very hard to stick to it. If after 2-3 weeks you see it isn't quite working, make some modifications!
The other things that are important for school success. Get some sleep. Eat right. Get some exercise. And. . . .stay on top of your studies! Keep up with all the reading assignments! Try to get them read prior to lecture. Review readings and class notes after lecture. Take advantage of professors' office hours and whatever study assistance your school offers. Don't fall behind!
Hope this helps!
Good luck to you!
Kim
The first step will be to get to know yourself! Look at your HS classes. Were there classes you did better in? Worse? Is there a time of day that your brain really isn't up and running? First thing in the morning? After lunch? Plan your class schedule around your biorhythms! If you must take a class during a time of day that your brain isn't quite engaged, make it a subject that is easy for you! Be careful scheduling too many classes back to back. Being at your peak during class time will make studying for exams that much easier.
Next, factor in the things you have to do. If you have a job from 5-9 pm., block out that time. Then, the things you will probably end up doing, even if it is supposed to be study time. So, if you are a partier, and you go out Friday night, don't plan on studying Saturday morning! I recommend you go out either Friday or Saturday, but not both! Next comes Football. Are you going to go to the school games? Watch NFL all day Sunday? As you can see, available study times on the weekends are disappearing! I am pointing this out because it is nice to keep your weekends free. That means, you do your school work during the week! (If you don't get into partying and football, you of course will have more study time on the weekend).
When I was in college, I saw fellow students waste a LOT of time during the day, when the they had no classes scheduled. They hung out, went to the student center, etc. While you can't be studying all the time, you can take advantage of the down-time during the day. Schedule your classes in such a way that you can use this time. For example, let's say you have 5 classes, and take classes every day. If you schedule class #1 on MWF from 9-10, class #2 on MWF from 10-11, then nothing from 11-2, and class #3 from 2-3 on MWF, you then have 11-2 free. There is time to relax, eat lunch, and do some studying! This is just an example. Perhaps you want your study period first thing in the morning. You could do that too! One thing that eats up your time is if you have only a one-class break between two classes. Say, a break from 10-11, and one from 12-1. That's only enough time to relax or eat, and not a lot of time to be able to go to the library. That is why I liked my breaks to be at least 2 hours long.
Once you make a schedule, try very hard to stick to it. If after 2-3 weeks you see it isn't quite working, make some modifications!
The other things that are important for school success. Get some sleep. Eat right. Get some exercise. And. . . .stay on top of your studies! Keep up with all the reading assignments! Try to get them read prior to lecture. Review readings and class notes after lecture. Take advantage of professors' office hours and whatever study assistance your school offers. Don't fall behind!
Hope this helps!
Good luck to you!
Kim
Cindie Horton
Sr. Manager - Data Privacy
29
Answers
Dallas, Texas
Updated
Cindie’s Answer
Hi Antonio.
I love questions about managing time. To be honest with you, it's not about managing time but managing yourself. Time is like any resource. It's not about the resource itself, but about the person utilizing the resource. For example, in regard to money, I can fritter it away on foolish stuff or I can discipline myself to put a plan in place for ensuring that money covers my expenses and I have savings for tough times. In short, time management is really all about "self" management.
So, the best thing you can do right now is look at the 24-hour day and decide how *you* want to allocate the time. For example:
Rest = 8 hours
Class time = 2.5 hours
Study time = 5 hours
Exercise = .5 hours
Self Care (grooming, exercise, meal prep/eating) = 3 hours
Work = 4 hours
Travel time = 1 hour
Total = 24 hours (if I counted correctly)
Once you know how you want to budget your time for success, you *execute* your plan. This is simply a sample plan. You'll be able to make adjustments based on your goals, but, in the end, if you do not plan on how you will manage you, everything else will manage you and you'll be left scratching your head as to what went wrong.
“The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot." ― Michael Altshuler
All the best! :)
I love questions about managing time. To be honest with you, it's not about managing time but managing yourself. Time is like any resource. It's not about the resource itself, but about the person utilizing the resource. For example, in regard to money, I can fritter it away on foolish stuff or I can discipline myself to put a plan in place for ensuring that money covers my expenses and I have savings for tough times. In short, time management is really all about "self" management.
So, the best thing you can do right now is look at the 24-hour day and decide how *you* want to allocate the time. For example:
Rest = 8 hours
Class time = 2.5 hours
Study time = 5 hours
Exercise = .5 hours
Self Care (grooming, exercise, meal prep/eating) = 3 hours
Work = 4 hours
Travel time = 1 hour
Total = 24 hours (if I counted correctly)
Once you know how you want to budget your time for success, you *execute* your plan. This is simply a sample plan. You'll be able to make adjustments based on your goals, but, in the end, if you do not plan on how you will manage you, everything else will manage you and you'll be left scratching your head as to what went wrong.
“The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot." ― Michael Altshuler
All the best! :)
Nathan He
Student
2
Answers
Berkeley, California
Updated
Nathan’s Answer
make sure you’re always doing something fun or productive. college is probably the only time in life when you have so much opportunity, so make the best out of every second!
Alyssa Horrocks
Software Engineer
4
Answers
Portland, Oregon
Updated
Alyssa’s Answer
I had an amazing planner I used in college that had each day broken down into hours. While I definitely don't recommend plotting *every* hour of your day, I found it very helpful to block out 1-2 hour chunks of time with a clear purpose for what I wanted to work on to keep me focused. I found it easier to sit down and have a goal for the time set ahead of time - without it, I would sit down and procrastinate thinking I "don't know what to work on next" and ended up spending more time getting less done. A tiny bit of planning goes a long way - feeling on top of things lowered my stress levels - I didn't have to worry about "when I was going to get everything done" because I knew, it was in my planner.
For example if I had a paper due on Friday, I'd block out an amount of time (an hour maybe) each day of the week where getting a chunk of that work done was my only focus (this is not to say I have never written a paper the night before, things happen and adaptability is key!). If I had a Tuesday / Thursday class, I would make sure that Monday and Wednesdays I had an hour or two set aside to get assignments done for those classes. In the evenings, I'd go through all of the assignments I'd been given in classes that day, prioritize them by when they were due and how long I expected them to take, and then plot them in the upcoming week.
For example if I had a paper due on Friday, I'd block out an amount of time (an hour maybe) each day of the week where getting a chunk of that work done was my only focus (this is not to say I have never written a paper the night before, things happen and adaptability is key!). If I had a Tuesday / Thursday class, I would make sure that Monday and Wednesdays I had an hour or two set aside to get assignments done for those classes. In the evenings, I'd go through all of the assignments I'd been given in classes that day, prioritize them by when they were due and how long I expected them to take, and then plot them in the upcoming week.
Tiffany Brettmann
Operations Analyst
8
Answers
Omaha, Nebraska
Updated
Tiffany’s Answer
It's important to find your balance and to not take on more than you can handle. Balance work hours with classes and take what you can to balance it out and be effective, for both work and school. Look at part-time job in your future field that could give you a competitive edge once you graduate and the on-job experience will be a plus.
Abhishek Lad
Solutions Architect
5
Answers
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Updated
Abhishek’s Answer
Hi Antonio,
We often get caught doing too many thing at any point in time. End result is, we never have time to actually finish any it. The better way to manage this is through understanding the priorities.
Easy way to approach this is:
1. Look at the action items
2. Review importance on each one of them
3. Assign priority
4 voila!
Good luck!
We often get caught doing too many thing at any point in time. End result is, we never have time to actually finish any it. The better way to manage this is through understanding the priorities.
Easy way to approach this is:
1. Look at the action items
2. Review importance on each one of them
3. Assign priority
4 voila!
Good luck!
Whitney Sadergaski
Auditor
6
Answers
Phoenix, Arizona
Updated
Whitney’s Answer
I suggest either using a planner or google calendar to keep track of all your due dates and exam/quiz dates. This way you are able to manage your time and schedule when you need to work on the assignments so that you don't get stuck cramming all night. I also scheduled free time in my calendar so that I could make sure I gave myself breaks during the week.
Alex Clarkson
Sales
4
Answers
London, England, United Kingdom
Updated
Alex’s Answer
When I was at college I planned my week ahead every Sunday evening. I did this by printing off a calendar and following these steps;
1. break your spare time into 1-2h slots
2. identify what you need to do at the start of the week and allocate accordingly
3. this should not just apply for studying/ reading. Exercise and socialising should be included in your weekly schedules
4. balanced weekly schedules will enable you to be more productive and will push you to complete things in the time you've allocated for it
5. be flexible and work smartly. e.g. if you're tired or had a long day at college then relax/ read a book vs doing a mock exam
Not one week would be the same and when it came to exams I may change the time allocated for studying, which is fine but remember it's not sustainable for long periods of time. Don't burn yourself out too early, build up to it and make sure you exercise!
good luck!
1. break your spare time into 1-2h slots
2. identify what you need to do at the start of the week and allocate accordingly
3. this should not just apply for studying/ reading. Exercise and socialising should be included in your weekly schedules
4. balanced weekly schedules will enable you to be more productive and will push you to complete things in the time you've allocated for it
5. be flexible and work smartly. e.g. if you're tired or had a long day at college then relax/ read a book vs doing a mock exam
Not one week would be the same and when it came to exams I may change the time allocated for studying, which is fine but remember it's not sustainable for long periods of time. Don't burn yourself out too early, build up to it and make sure you exercise!
good luck!
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