Time Management

Your Academic Calendar

Effective time management is crucial to college success.

You may have gotten through life, and school, without a calendar in the past, but you need a good system to be most effective and successful now and in the future.

Use the information gained from this activity to help you make decisions regarding how many classes to take, how many hours you can work, if you can attend an event, etc.

If nothing else, this will be a useful exercise to examine how much free and obligated time you have.

There are many options for keeping an academic calendar, both electronic and physical. Regardless of the method you choose, the content you add is the same.

What to Add

  • Your class meetings

  • Your work schedule (if you have a job) and any other committed time.

  • Down time: including sleep, exercise, meditation, etc.

  • General Homework / Study time

    • For face to face classes, for every hour the class meets (usually around 3 per week for full semester classes), you should schedule 2-3 hours outside of class for homework and studying.

      • The Federal Regulations definition of a credit hour is "one hour of classroom or direct faculty instruction and a minimum of two hours of out of class student work each week for approximately fifteen weeks for one semester". Source

      • Similarly, ACM and IEEE say, "Students are expected to spend a significant amount of additional time outside of class (approximately two to three times the in-class hours) developing facility with the material presented in class because mastery of some topics requires considerable practice and reflection on their part." Source

    • For each online class, you should schedule:

      • 9-12 hours per week for full semester classes (usually around 16 weeks long)

      • 12-16 hours per week for full summer semester classes (usually around 12 weeks long)

      • 24-32 hours per week for mini semester classes (usually around 6 weeks long).

  • Specific Tasks to be done during Homework / Study Time

    • Based on the Canvas calendar, add additional events for times when you are going to work on assignments leading up to their due dates for all of your classes. The Canvas assignment events are view only but you can copy events from the Canvas calendar view into your academic calendar and then modify them. All assignments for all classes will not necessarily be in Canvas so check your syllabi.

    • For example, if you have discussions due every Tuesday and Thursday night, schedule 30-60 minutes to complete them every Monday and Wednesday. Schedule time for assigned readings. Schedule time to study leading up to tests.

Outlook Calendar

Outlook is the calendar product from Microsoft. The benefit of the Outlook Calendar is that FGCU Eagle accounts are Microsoft accounts and Outlook is integrated with Eagle mail, Skype, and Teams.

From the Eagle mail page, outlook.office.com, click the calendar icon at the bottom left.

To add the Canvas Calendar in Outlook, click Add calendar -> Subscribe from web

Outlook integrates with Microsoft To Do for tasks. Click the checkmark icon at the bottom left.

Add the Outlook app and Tasks app to your phone.

Integrate the Canvas Calendar

Subscribe (one time only)

Conveniently, Canvas automatically makes a calendar entry for each assignment within Canvas. You only need to do this one time and it will sync for all of your classes for the rest of your time at FGCU.

It may take a few minutes for the Canvas events to appear.

Copy Events

Once integrated in Outlook, you can use Ctrl+C to copy events on the Canvas calendar and then switch to your personal calendar and use Ctrl+V to paste them so you can move them around to schedule when you will work on them.

Integrate your Calendar with Windows

Google Calendar

Log in to Google Calendar. You need a free Google Account.

You can use different calendars for academic and personal events if you want to share different things with different people. Instructions.

There are three categories of items you can add to your calendar: events, reminders, and tasks.

First add events.

Add your classes.

  • Click the + at the bottom right of the screen

  • In the "Add title" box, enter your class name, like COP 1500. You could also add your room number in the title so you can quickly see it.

  • Click the arrow next to "Does not repeat" and click "Custom".

    • Under "Repeat on", click the days your class meets.

    • Under "Ends", choose "On" and enter the last day of classes from the Academic Calendar (the exact date isn't important for now).

  • In the "Add location" box, if you put the street address the Google app on your phone can let you know when to leave to arrive on time based on current traffic conditions.

  • Next to the bell icon, set notifications. Think about where you are likely to be before the event so you get the notification in time to make it there.

If you haven't already, add the Canvas Calendar to your Google Calendar. Instructions.

Now, add Tasks.

  • Make sure Tasks is checked on the left under My calendars. Click the icon with the blue circle and white line at the top right. Add tasks for assignments as described above.

You can also add Reminders.

  • Reminders are like a combination of events and to-do lists. You add reminders on specific days and they stay on your calendar until you mark them "done". Instructions

Sharing your calendar is another benefit of electronic calendars. It can be very useful to share calendars with friends, family members, co-workers, etc. You can also add calendars shared by other people or organizations.

Add your Google Account in the Settings on your phone / mobile device if you haven't already so you can sync your calendar.

Add the Google Calendar app and widget. You may need to go into the settings and check a box to show the Canvas calendar. Check your calendar on your phone daily. By doing this, you can also use your voice to quickly add reminders and calendar items.

Add the Google Tasks app.