Tutoring and Study Help
Time management
“Time management” is really a misnomer—the challenge is not to manage our time but to manage ourselves. ~ Stephen R. Covey
One of the biggest reasons that students are not academically successful in college is that they don’t know how to manage themselves in the college setting. Our experience with students who would like to improve their performance has shown us that students can become more successful at self-management using the three tools described below:
Weekly Time Schedule (click to download)—At the beginning of each semester, one of the first things you should do is plan your weekly time schedule.
- First, fill in your class times.
- Fill in other required time commitments, such as meal times, getting ready, work hours, important meetings, etc.
- Next, fill in those things that are really important to you to do each week, such as watching a particular TV show, working out, intramurals, emailing, etc.
- Look at what is left. Where are you going to fit in your required hours for studying? Make a plan for studying. Write in one-two hours of study time for each hour you spend in class. For example, if you are taking 12 semester hours, make a plan for studying 12-24 hours each week.
You might be thinking that there’s no way that you will need to study 12-24 hours each week. That may be true in many instances, but there will certainly be some weeks in which you will need to study more. Always give yourself the time to study and do your work during that allotted time. If you find that you have all your work completed in a shorter time frame than you had allotted, you can reward yourself.
Keep in mind that the most successful students are those students who do their studying during daylight hours. Students who plan to do all their studying in the evenings often find that there are far too many distractions.
Many students find that if they make good use of their daylight hours, their evenings can be leisure time.
The important thing is to be honest with yourself. What is a realistic plan for when you will study? What is a realistic schedule and routine that you can stick to?
Semester Calendar (click to download)—As soon as you have your syllabus for each course, the next thing you should do is plan your semester.
- Using a large wall-size calendar or the calendar provided, write in all the important dates for the semester. Using your syllabi, write in the dates for all mid-term and final exams, quizzes, papers, oral reports, etc.
- Next, write in all the other important dates for your semester, such as breaks, weekends you plan to go out of town, friends’ birthdays, etc. This will help you plan your time accordingly.
- Once you have your semester calendar completed, be sure to hang it up in a very visible place in your room, such as on your closet doors or on the wall. The semester calendar should be a visible, visual reminder to you of things that are coming up.
Daily Planners and “To Do” Lists—Your daily “to do” list should list all the important things you need to do that day.
- List the date at the top of the page, and write down all the important things that you need to do that day.
- Once you have made your list, place an asterisk * next to the important items. Give those items priority over the less important ones.
- Carry your daily planner/to do list with you at all times so that you may add things as they come up.