Time Management

Sara Steinke

POSTGRADUATE ORIENTATION 2012

Aims of the sessionThis session helps you to consider how to prioritise tasks and to make the most of your limited time. We will identify key organisational and time management skills.

Prioritisation Procrastination

Planning Perfectionism

Importance of time management

Poor organisational skills prevents students fromachieving their best

"Time management is the skill which above all others can make the difference between graduating and drop out.”

Ruth Pickford and Sally Brown, Assessing Skills and Practice (London: Routledge, 2006), page 47

What is time management?

• Time management is about organising your competing priorities in the limited time available

• Time management often has very little to do with time

• It is about organising your life around what’s important to you, dealing with and confronting more emotional issues like fear, inadequacy and other people’s demands on you

Consider the following

1. What current pressures are there on your time?

2. Have you thought about how you are going to fit studying into your wider schedule?

3. Can you foresee any problems which may arise?

Prioritisation

1. The Quadrant of Necessities2. The Quadrant of Quality 3. The Quadrant of Deception4. The Quadrant of Waste

List of things to do

AImportance

Need to do

scale 6 (unimportant)

to 10 (essential)

BUrgency

Do now

scale 1 (must be done at once)

to 5 (it can wait)

CSubtract the

score in column B

from column A.

The higher scores in

column C are priorities.

DOrder of priority/

When to do

Number the order of priorities

1. Essay –deadline today

10 1 9

2.Presentation –next week

8 4 4

How well do I use my time? Yes No

1. I use small pockets of time effectively.

2. I do enough rather than aiming at perfection.3. I say ‘NO’ when I lack time.

4. I use a diary to prioritise my activities.

5. I am able to work on my own, and set my own goals.

1. Small pockets of time – around 45 minutes – are more productive; short portions of time soon add up; take frequent breaks

1. Recognise and deal with procrastination; set goals; identify your time wasters (self-inflicted and given)

2. Pareto Principle – roughly 80% of results/effects come from 20% of effort/causes; 20% effort delivers an acceptable result, not perfect, but good enough

3. L’Oreal principal – ‘because you’re worth it’; educate your family, friends and colleagues to respect your study space/time

4. Use one diary to create a ‘to-do list’; prioritise tasks; note deadlines; write down dates you must begin working towards the deadlines, establish study timetable

• Procrastination• Perfectionism• Lack of self discipline• Worrying• Personal disorganisation• Lack of priorities• Inability to say ‘no’• Indecisiveness• Socialising (too much)• Intrusions (visitors, calls)• Not finding resources• Excessive family demands• Not able to contact people

1. Which of these time wasters apply to you?

2. How are you going to deal with these time wasters?

Time saving suggestions: study skills• Effective note-taking – mind maps, linear notes• Reading for academic purposes – SQ3R (survey,

question, read, recite, review)• Dedicated study space and equipment • Goal setting – s.m.a.r.t. (specific, measurable,

achievable, relevant, time-bound) • Follow 7 point procedure for writing essays –

1. clarify the task 2. collect/record information 3. organise/plan 4. engage/reflect/evaluation 5. write plan/first draft 6. work on first draft 7. final draft

New (academic) year resolutions

Psychologists (at the University of Hertfordshire) have identified 5 success factors for individuals who managed to achieve their New Years’ Resolutions.

1. Breaking down goals into small steps2. Rewarding achievement3. Telling other people what you’re trying to achieve4. Focussing on the benefits of success5. Keeping a progress diary

Recap of the session• Study skills audit of how well you use your time

– What are you doing well – What action do you need to take to organise your

time – Difference between under and post graduate

study

• Identified techniques to maximise prioritisation and planning

• Recognised how to void procrastination and perfectionism

Cottrell, S. (2008) The Study Skills Handbook, 3rd Edition (London, Palgrave) chapter 4 ‘The C.R.E.A.M. Strategy for learning’ pp.70-79

http://www.palgrave.com/skills4study/studyskills/learning/time.asp

(relevant tips and activity related to the above book)

http://www.bbk.ac.uk/mybirkbeck/services/facilities/support/time-management

(online resources available on the Birkbeck Library website)

http://www.bbk.ac.uk/mybirkbeck/get-ahead-stay-ahead/skills/organisational-skills

(a 20 minute interactive tutorial supporting this Get Ahead programme)