Time Management

Jessica McMullin

Taking a College Learning Strategy has been extremely helpful for me this semester. For me, stress occurs from being unorganized, procrastinating, and leaving my work to the last minute. A course to teach students about time management should be a requirement for any major. Too many college students struggle with managing their time and getting their work done while balancing everything else in their life.

Time management is something I greatly struggled with throughout my freshman year. I could get distracted by just about any television show or computer game. When I was coming back to school as a sophomore, I knew I needed to improve my time management strategies. The text book, It’s All About Choices, has been especially useful to me this semester. I have been using a planner that I’ve been keeping extremely organized (I am usually a messy person so this is very hard for me). I have a weekly planner for all of my classes, where I write down all my upcoming assignments and meetings on the dates that they are due. I color coordinate the planner, writing assignments for specific classes in the same color every week, and I use a highlighter to highlight important upcoming assignments.

My HST 308 class has about eight books I’m required to read throughout the semester, plus nightly readings from the text book. To avoid falling behind in my reading, I made a monthly calendar with the pages I have to read every night, each book in a different color. Its a calendar devoted only to my HST readings, and nothing else. This could be most helpful to a visual learner, so they can focus on the one subject, instead of being overwhelmed by any work for another class. I also find that for a class like HST 308, where there is a lot of notes and a lot of information in each class, that using the 20-Minute Test Prep can be very helpful to keep from falling behind in your work or getting stressed when a big test comes up. I review my notes for 20 minutes after every class, writing potential test questions in the margins and highlighting key points. Its a great way to organize everything you just heard in class. This makes it easier to create weekly questions that could be on the test or potential essay questions.

Trying to Manage my TIme

Using time management techniques are helpful if we are used to them. I tried to use some of the techniques such as, writing down what time I have a meeting or when should I do something (assignments, work, GYM, Landry, ext.); however, when I am relying on my time schedule I will miss some appointments or assignments because when I am using one of the time management strategies, some times I will write down a specific time to do something and it takes me more time than I thought it would take.

I am trying to manage all my time but I like to do my assignments and work before the day it is due, so I do not forget doing them. I think when I am doing my works earlier, is better than planning to do them or putting a specific time for doing them. I guess I did not think that when managing my time is helpful because I do not really do what is scheduled, may be the reason is I never tried to plan my time.

Sometimes I try to make a To-Do-List, but I do not look at it every time. Because I am good at memorizing what i need to do or what am I planning to do. A to do list is a helpful way to start managing time, for me, I hope I would be able to manage my time as I plane using a strategy that helps me.

Fritter Finder (Time Management Strategy)

I have never been the type of person to manage my time wisely. Therefore, I decided to explore a couple options that might help me. This week I chose a time management strategy, and put it to the test. The time management strategy that I used is the Fritter Finder. (As shown to the bottom-right)

This strategy is very effective, and I was able to use it for all my courses collectively. I decided to use this strategy because I needed help mapping out "free time" to do homework, study, or review my notes. The Fritter Finder helped me to use my free time effectively, allowing me more time to relax at night.

In addition, to decide how I will spend my free time, I created a “To-Do List” of important assignments that needs to be done. This list can help me not only to remember what assignments I have, but also to gauge in my mind which ones are most important based on their due dates. I simply divided my “To-Do List” into a long-term category (LT) and a short-term category (ST).

From there, I jot down some tasks, how much progress I have made, and the date the task is due. During my mapped out free time I choose a task, and try to complete it.

These are just two simple time-management strategies that can help you manage your time effectively, eliminating stress.