Using the Time Management System
Semester Planning
Review one syllabus at a time:
- Record the due dates of all Quizzes, Tests, Rough Drafts, Papers, and Assignments in each course.
- If no date is provided, use Monday of the week the assignment is mentioned on the syllabus.
- Do this with each course
- Choose a color for each course and highlight the assignments accordingly
- If an assignment is worth a lot of points, indicate this by staring it, or otherwise making a notation you will recognize as meaning "this is worth a large portion of my grade!"
View Samples:
Monthly Planning
Using each of your syllabi, list all of your important due dates for the entire semester for all papers, quizzes, tests, mid-terms, finals and special assignments on the Important Date Sheet. On the left side of the important date sheet, establish a grade goal for each course.
Neatly transfer each of the due dates to the Academic Planning Calendar. Review each of the important due dates from each syllabi and determine the grade value weight of each item in the overall final grade for the course and color code the due dates as:
- RED = Very Important
- BLUE = Important
- YELLOW = Somewhat Important
Post the calendar in the most visibly convenient place in your room. This will increase your conscientiousness of your work for each week of the term and avoid being caught in the proverbial CRUNCH.
Weekly Planning
Plan the estimated time needed to complete the work for each course separately. Using the Weekly Study Time Estimator, list the assignments to be completed for a week, along with a day, and estimate the time needed. (View a PDF version of the document.)
Daily Planning
Using the Daily Study Schedule, insert your classes in the appropriate time slots first. (View a PDF of the document.) Next, transfer the estimated study time from each line of the Weekly Study Time Estimator to the best time slots in your daily study schedule. Next, block out the time needed to fit your work study schedule.
Next, block out the time needed to meet your obligation to any student organization or sports team. Finally, be sure to schedule some time for meals, rest and recreation.
The total combined hours for study and class time should average between 35 and 40 hours.
In a nutshell
- Have a definite place where you study (preferably inaccessible). This should not be the same place you use for bull sessions, for writing letters, or for recreation.
- Have all study materials handy.
- Be ready to study when you sit down at your desk.
- Be firm, let friends and associates know that certain hours are off-limits for idle conversations, etc.
- Clamp down on idle conversation.
- Beware of telephonists.
- Learn to say no.
- Get rid of paper confusions in your workspace.
- Reward oneself for good effort.
