Q: The semester has begun. I've gotten the course syllabi from my instructors. Now what?

 

A: Planning your time use is a huge plus in setting yourself up for success. Do you have one place on which you can record your assignments from all your classes? Here is a long term planning form you can print out and use for planning.

The Time Traveler Guide is a form you can print out and list the major assignments for a class. If you read through the directions, it gives you some ideas of how to be more precise in time planning. For example, have you ever timed yourself to see how long reading a certain amount of text takes? Knowing that estimate can make you more accurate in setting out when you do your work.

The Project Planning Guide is a form for longer projects, like research papers, that will take more than seven days. You can print it out and use it for your time planning, and keep track of where you are in the process.

Here is a sheet of time management strategies that are compiled from students and study skill experts. If you take some time to read through the list, you may find one or two things you haven't done and would like to try. One action to take that saves time is to make your own checklist next to a "to do" list so you can monitor yourself. This helps cut out rethinking the whole process each time you sit down to study.

Another thing you might do is search under the topic, "Time Management", on the internet, and find a few sources that appeal to your style of learning.

Let me know of any good sites or resources you'd like me to post here so other students can see them.