Time management

• Time management really means managing yourself. Start by thinking through your different roles (e.g. student, employee, parent, carer, friend). What demands do these different roles place on you and how much time do they occupy?

• Assess your attitude to time; do you need to give it more respect? Time is a scarce resource but probably your biggest asset.

• Now analyse how you spend time. What are your time wasting habits? Decide what needs to change and commit to it.

• Replacing bad habits with good ones is hard work. Make it easier by establishing routines (e.g. studying in the library, meeting a study group, going to the gym at set times)

• Planning your time is essential to good time management. For it to work, you need to have the discipline to stick to your plans.

Tips for planning:

• Break coursework up into smaller manageable steps and create a timetable to plan when you will work on each step.

• Map out your time on a weekly basis. Create a weekly timetable and add all your classes, appointments, caring commitments and routine activities. Then allocate times to coursework and study. 

• Be realistic and build in contingency time; don’t set yourself up for failure by having unrealistic expectations.

• Don’t spend too long creating fancy planners; the approaches to time management that work the best are the simplest ones.

• Position your planners somewhere obvious so that you are constantly reminded of them.

• Use a diary to keep on track of daily tasks. Online calendars, accessible on smartphones make this really easy. You can set daily reminders to ensure that you complete all tasks.

• Procrastination (putting work that needs done off) affects everyone but only robs you of precious time. To avoid, get rid of distractions and start with the tasks that you dread the most.

• Make a deal with yourself to work for 40-50 minutes and then reward yourself with a 10-15 minute break.

• Time management takes practice and discipline but the rewards are massive. Start now for an easier life and better grades.

Getting in control of your time - guide

Time management - weekly timetable

Time management - assignment planner

Time management - trimester planner 

This video from the University of Leeds (opens in a new tab) demonstrates how to break-down an assignment into time-bound objectives. It is 7 minutes long.