MATH TIME MANAGEMENT

Time Management Schedule

Creating a time management schedule is the first step to becoming organized in college and in your life.

Use the link below to create your own schedule. In the schedule you want to include EVERYTHING you complete in a day. Include the time you spend studying, watching TV, hanging out with friends/family, eating, etc.

http://de.lbcc.edu/resources_tools/files/time-schedule.pdf

After you have completed your time management schedule for a typical day, read the following material from MindQuestAcademy.org and complete the “For Thought” activities in your journal.

Know how much time you need It helps to think about the time you need for categories of activities. How much time do you typically need for family? Recreation and friends? Housework? Other high-priority activities?

And, if you’re going to add college into this mix, you’ll need to know how much time you’ll need for classes and homework. If you don’t have enough time for everything, what will you give up?

Planning the time you need for homework

How much time do you need to study to do well in college? Make a guess now! If you’ve never been in college before, or haven’t lived with someone else who was attending college, you might be tempted (and rightly so) to base your guess on your past experiences in high school.

Making the assumption that college is like high school seems reasonable on the surface—but it’s a big mistake, one that is made by many new college students.

A general rule to follow when you’re planning a college schedule is this: for every hour you spend in class each week, you’ll need to spend two additional hours, on an average, studying. Using this rule, a typical schedule for a new college student—12- 15 class hours each week, would require 24-30 additional hours of study each week. Being a full time student takes as much time as having a full time job!

This rule doesn’t take into account additional time you might need for a particularly difficult course. Math students who get “A” or “B” grades often spend more than two hours per credit studying because learning math requires regular, persistent practice. If you’ve been out of school for a while and haven’t been doing a lot of reading, your reading assignments may take extra time, especially at first. And so on. So when you budget time for classes and study, be sure not to skimp.

Use a calendar to plan

Almost all experts agree that it is important to write down the things you need to accomplish. When you write your commitments down, you’ll be able to see whether you have conflicts, or need to prioritize because you don’t have time for everything, or any other lapses in logic, such as scheduling a doctor’s appointment when you need to be in class.

Electronic calendars

Some people like to use a computerized calendar, such as the one in Microsoft Works or Outlook. Netscape.com and other sites have calendars available as well. Or, you may have a hand-held computer or other electronic device. If you use an electronic calendar, you should make a point of printing out your upcoming month’s schedule and posting it where you can always see it. That way you won’t lose track of long- range commitments and assignments that require advance planning, like reports and projects.

Paper calendars and planners

Or, you may want to stick with a paper calendar, a daily planner, or some combination of a calendar and to-do-lists. Some students draw seven columns on a lengthwise page, put dates across the top, and list tasks in each column. Some keep a book of 3x 5 cards, and use one card per day. It’s generally agreed that some way of displaying at least a week but preferably a month at a time is important for keeping track of what’s coming up. No single approach will work for everyone, and we suggest you experiment with different options to find the one(s) that work for you.

Work toward a routine

When you get right down to the meaning of the word, “succeed,” you find that it simply means to follow through. --F.W. Nichol

Routine doesn’t sound like a lot of fun to many of us. We think of routine as dull, boring, repetitive activities. But routine is the backbone of production—whether it’s in a factory or in learning. An important outcome of a college education is the increased skill the graduate has in self-management—making use of available time to accomplish tasks as needed, on time, without sacrificing quality.

If you think about it, this is one of the most important work skills you can have.

Another way of thinking about routine might be “keeping everything in order. ” Being orderly doesn’t have to be dull, particularly when it includes some time for fun and friends. By imposing order on our time, we put ourselves in charge. We deliberately decide how our time will be used.

On the contrary, if we don’t plan how we want to use our time, the time may slip away, and we won’t make the progress toward the goals we’ve set ourselves.

Develop some sensible order or routine for your life, to the extent that this is possible.

Try to have

o a regular bedtime---so your body can be ready for sleep and sleep well

o regular exercise---so you can be mentally alert and physically fit

o regular time for study---so your mind will adapt more easily when it’s time to study

o a regular study place---so when you sit down to study, you’ll be organized and your mind more automatically aware that you’re about to begin studying.

o —and regular fun---so you build in rewards for your hard work.

This will make your life as a student much more manageable.

Click on the link below and read about different Study Environments. http://www.wcu.edu/academics/campus-academic-resources/writing-and-learning-commons- walc/course-tutoring-and-academic-skills/academic-strategies/ideal-study-environments-and- factors-that-influence-studying.asp

“For Thought” After reading the above link, what can you do to change your study environment? ______________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________