Managing Your time & Distractions

What is your goal at Aims Community College?

This is an important question to answer for yourself and remind yourself of throughout the semester. College is tough and remembering your "why" or your purpose/goals can help you to persist and put the time into your classes. Even if you do not have a specific major or career you're pursuing yet, what will earning your college degree or certificate mean to you? Why did you start this journey for yourself? NOTE: Goals that are internal (e.g. wanting to become smarter and pursue a career that will make a difference) rather than external (e.g. earning a degree to please someone else) will result in higher achievement.

*Strengths Connection: Think about how you can define college success in terms of learning about and building upon your character strengths through your courses and getting involved on campus. This focus on your strengths can help you to become the best version of yourself, which can lead to academic and career success.

Did you know that the name Aims Community College is related to goals?

Here is part of a transcript from a video where the origin of the name of Aims is explained. Click here to watch the full video.

"He (Dr. Ed Beatty, Aims Community College's First President) said I want the college to be called Aims because I want people to have goals. I want people to aim at a goal and I want them to reach it."

"That's where the school got his name. The board said our students have "aims" and they named it Aims Community College."

What is my commitment to my college classes?

How much time should I be spending on my classes?

One challenge for many students is the transition from the structure of high school to the structure of college. In high school, students spend a large portion of their time in class (approximately 30 hours in class per week), while full-time college students may spend only one-third of that time in class (approximately 12 hours in class per week).

If you think of college as a “job” you will understand that it takes work to succeed. Think about learning a sport or playing a game. How do you learn how to play it? With lots of practice and engagement. The more you play, the better you get. The same applies with learning. You need to engage with the course material and concentrate on learning. That takes time.

What is the difference between fixed time and free time?

It helps to take a look at your time and divide it into two areas: fixed time and free time.

• Fixed time is time that you have committed to a certain area. It might be school, work, religion, recreation or family. There is no right or wrong to fixed time and everyone’s is different. Some people will naturally have more fixed time than others. **NOTE: Study hours should be part of your fixed time for your college classes in addition to class time.

• Free time is just that—it is free. It can be used however you want to use it; it’s time you have available for activities you enjoy. Someone might work 9am-2pm, then have class 3pm-4:30pm, then have dinner with family 5pm-6pm, study 6pm-7pm and then have free time from 7pm-9pm.

Take a look at a typical week for yourself. How much fixed time do you have? How much free time? The universal challenge of time is that there are more things that we want to do and not enough time to do them. You have power they have over the decisions your make with your time and how those decisions can affect your ability to accomplish your goals.

TIP: Considering your class time and study time as fixed commitments rather than options can help you not negotiate them off of your priorities. Schedule the time as an "appointment" with yourself. If someone asks you to do something during that time, you can just say "I'm sorry. That time will not work because I have an appointment." Do NOT cancel the time, but reschedule if necessary.

How can you create a system for managing your time?

"The key is not to prioritize what's on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities." -Stephen Covey

Plan Ahead

Even if you prefer weekly over monthly schedules, write reminders for yourself and keep track of any upcoming projects, papers, or exams. You will also want to prepare for these assignments in advance. Most students eventually discover (the hard way) that cramming for exams the night before and waiting till the last minute to start on a term paper is a poor strategy.

Procrastination creates a lot of unnecessary stress, and the resulting final product—whether an exam, lab report, or paper—is rarely your best work. Try simple things to break down large tasks, such as setting aside an hour or so each day to work on them during the weeks leading up to the deadline. If you get stuck, get help from your instructor early, rather than waiting until the day before an assignment is due.

Schedule Study Time According to Your Energy Levels

When are you most productive? Are you a morning person or a night owl? Block out your study times accordingly. You’ll also want to factor in any resources you might need. For instance, if you prefer to study very early or late in the day, and you’re working on a research paper, you might want to check the Aims Learning Commons or local library hours to make sure it’s open when you need it. Leave other tasks for times when you have less energy.

Select the Right Study Location(s) for You

If a researcher walked up to you right now and asked you to identify your favorite place to study, what would your immediate response be? Would it be your home—perhaps your sunny kitchen? Maybe your bedroom—a relaxed space you can call your own? Maybe it would be a busy café in the heart of town or a remote log cabin, if you have access to one. What are your preferences for your physical surroundings when you study? What are the attributes of your most conducive study environment?

It’s not surprising to find that there are some recurring student favorites when it comes to good study environments. The following locations are all-time winners:

• A tutoring center (learning commons)

• A library (on campus or in the community)

• A coffee shop

• A park

• A classroom

• A study partner’s house

In order to study successfully, students must learn to concentrate at a high level. It is important to know where you study best. Some students study well at home. Other students study well at a library or coffee shop.

Your best environment is based on you, your preferences and where you can be the most productive.

Consider studying at the Aims Community College Learning Commons

As you can see in the pictures below of the Greeley Campus Learning Commons, there are quiet study areas, collaboration spaces, lounge spaces and a variety of comfortable seating options. Students report that they get more accomplished studying on campus than at home.

For hours and locations on each campus, go to Aims Learning Commons.

"Eat That Frog:" Do the Biggest or Most Unpleasant Task First

“Your ability to select your most important task at each moment, and then to get started on that task and to get it done both quickly and well, will probably have more of an impact on your success than any other quality or skill you can develop.”

– Brian Tracy, Author of "Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time"

Eat the frog comes from a famous quote, attributed to Mark Twain: “Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.” How this applies to time and task management is based on the concept that if a person takes care of the biggest or most unpleasant task first, everything else will be easier after that.

Although stated in a humorous way, there is a good deal of truth in this.

• First, we greatly underestimate how much worry can impact our performance. If you are continually distracted by anxiety over a task you are dreading, it can affect the task you are working on at the time.

• Second, not only will you have a sense of accomplishment and relief when the task you are concerned with is finished and out of the way, but other tasks will seem lighter and not as difficult.

Make eating the frog a habit. Each morning, think of the task you're most likely to procrastinate on. Do it first!!!

Avoid Multitasking

“Multitasking”—doing several things at the same time—has become a common word for describing what many of us do every day in the modern world. Our busy lifestyles and our ever-present devices suggest that many of us have become multitasking experts.

But is multitasking real? Is it possible to do several things at the same time? Can we actually check Facebook, watch television, read a textbook, and write a paper at roughly the same time...productively?

Switch Tasks = Lose Productivity

Evidence suggests that multitasking is not, in fact, possible. Psychology research shows that we can attend to only one cognitive task at a time.[2] What we call multitasking is actually just switching back and forth between tasks quickly. This isn’t necessarily a problem, but we lose time with each switch. The loss may only be one-tenth of a second, but the time adds up. Think about your own experience.

Researchers have found that multitasking increases production of the stress hormone, cortisol, and the fight-or-flight hormone, adrenaline.[3] These hormone-level increases can cause the brain to literally overheat, which leads to foggy mental processing. So multitasking while studying for a final exam might not be a good idea.

Multitasking also taxes the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain that integrates information. Your capacity for problem-solving decreases with the number of tasks you try to perform at the same time.

Information Overload and Distraction from Technology

The perceived need to multitask is driven largely by the technology takeover of recent years. Smartphones, email, social networking, Instagram, Twitter . . . all make multitasking seem both necessary and possible. They all require switching in and out of a line of thinking. With these technologies, we face constant information overload and distraction.

How do I manage distractions?

Even when we find the best place and time to study, we also have to be aware of distractions. Distractions can be the greatest threat to our productivity. When studying, it may take 20 minutes to reach a high level of concentration. When we are interrupted, it takes on average another 23 minutes to get back to the level of concentration that we were at prior to the disruption.[4] If a student is studying for an hour and is interrupted twice, the consequence to study efficiency is devastating.

Types of Distractions

• Internal Distractions: An internal distraction includes thought processes, self-esteem, or confidence. It’s something that interrupts you from what you’re doing. It might also be a computer or cell phone – something that is controlled by you. Many students intend to study but easily get distracted with surfing the Internet, checking social media, watching YouTube videos, or receiving a text message. If you don’t absolutely need your computer or cell phone for your study, it is my suggestion to not bring them or turn them off. If you do study with your phone or computer, it is best to have all potential alerts turned off. Notifications of text messages, emails, or social media updates all can serve as a major distraction to your studying.

• External Distractions: External distractions might be your roommates, family or friends. Even if they are supportive of your study, it may be challenging to concentrate when they are around. Saying “no” is an important skill that may need to be utilized in order for you to have your study time without interruption.

Conquer Distractions with the Pomodoro Technique

The Pomodoro Technique was developed by Francesco Cirillo. The basic concept is to use a timer to set work intervals that are followed by a short break. The intervals are usually about 25 minutes long and are called pomodoros, which comes from the Italian word for tomato because Cirillo used a tomato-shaped kitchen timer to keep track of the intervals.

In the original technique there are six steps:

1. Decide on the task to be done.

2. Set the timer to the desired interval.

3. Work on the task.

4. When the timer goes off, put a check mark on a piece of paper.

5. If you have fewer than four check marks, take a short break (3–5 minutes), then go to Step 1 or 2 (whichever is appropriate).

6. After four pomodoros, take a longer break (15–30 minutes), reset your check mark count to zero, and then go to Step 1 or 2.

There are several reasons this technique is deemed effective for many people.

• One is the benefit that is derived from quick cycles of work and short breaks. This helps reduce mental fatigue and the lack of productivity caused by it.

• Another is that it tends to encourage practitioners to break tasks down to things that can be completed in about 25 minutes, which is something that is usually manageable from the perspective of time available. It is much easier to squeeze in three 25-minute sessions of work time during the day than it is to set aside a 75- minute block of time.

What are ways to save time and stop procrastinating?

There are lots of reasons why we procrastinate, and it seems we do it in all facets of life. If you're interested in learning more, click here to take the Procrastination Style Self Assessment. Below are the six styles of procrastination. You might recognize which one you are just reading the descriptions [9].

• The Perfectionist: You’re overly concerned with not meeting high expectations; you work so hard you never finish (or, sometimes, never start).

• The Dreamer: You’re great at planning and scheming but frustrated by the practical reality of sitting down to do hard work.

• The Worrier: “What ifs” get in the way. You avoid making decisions, resist change, and are fearful about the unfamiliar.

• The Crisis-Maker: You enjoy the last-minute adrenaline rush and tell yourself you work best under pressure.

• The Defier: You rebel against external deadlines and expectations. You might be overt about this, or you might exhibit a more passive-aggressive kind of defiance.

• The Overdoer: There’s too much on your plate because you can’t say no or set appropriate boundaries. As a result, there’s never enough time to do it all.

Time experts point out that people often overlook time opportunities, or those smaller, spare moments of time that normally go to waste, when in fact they can be used productively. For instance, a 30 minute break between classes is enough time to refresh your to do list, organize your paperwork or binder, or identify what sections of the text you will need to start with. While you may not have time to go into depth with any of those tasks, you will be adequately prepared to get started immediately during your study time.

Ways to Become More Productive

How can we become more productive with our time and energy, given our tendency to multitask? Read the tips below:

1. Try “batch processing”

   • Have set times during the day for checking and responding to emails.

2. Use concentrated time

   • Block off time for working on just one task. You may need to turn off your phone.

3. Do what’s most important first

   • Make goals for the day and accomplish them. The sense of achievement can help you resist anxiety-driven multitasking.

Like many of college students, you may find that you do not have large chunks of time to set aside so that you can solely focus on reading, doing homework or studying. Therefore, you will need to become an expert at maximizing your time.

Consider what you would do if you wanted to save money. Would you just set aside $300 a month? Well, sure if you had it, but most of us don't. Instead, you'd scrutinize your budget to see where you can save. A little here and a little there adds up! Just like money, managing your time can be maximized in the same way.

What are additional resources?

Time Management Resources

• HowToStudy.org - Time Management - Time Management: This resource includes tools, websites and articles to help you manage your time.

• HowToStudy.org - Procrastination - Stop Procrastination:

Organization Resources

• HowToStudy.org - Organizational Tools

Study Schedule & Location Strategies

• HowToStudy.org - Study Environment Tips