This part will take you about 3–4 hours. If needed, you can spread this task over a few days.


’Failing to plan is planning to fail. Plan Each Day, Each Week, Each Semester.
You can always change your plan, but only once you have one!’

Randy Pausch, Time Management, 2007


In the part 1. you had a chance to look at time management challenges and to prioritise your tasks following the ABC system.

Now focus your attention on the coming week. What should you do during it? Organize the post-it notes to find the tasks that you need to do in the coming week.

The next section includes practical tips on time management and instructions on making a weekly schedule.


1. Introduction to the weekly schedule: setting goals

Prioritizing. What are the most important things to you?

At this point you should have a preliminary plan for your week according to the ABC system, prioritizing your goals, broken into smaller tasks.

 

2. Breaking down your goals

In the ABC exercise, you broke down your goal into smaller weekly tasks.

Remember: Break tasks down into small enough parts to make sure you get them done. A reasonably sized task would be, for instance, one hour of work at a time. This way, you will get positive experiences as you get things done.

Break the goals down into weekly tasks by asking yourself: what do I have to do to meet this goal?


3. Tips on making a weekly plan

From here on, set aside some time each week for making a weekly plan. Write down your goals for the week, break them down into concrete tasks and enter these into the calendar. Some tasks, such as attending a class, may be put on the calendar directly. The timing and the amount of time required for other tasks may not be fully predictable. Write these down under the ‘Main tasks of the day’ heading for each date. You can directly copy lectures and assignments from MyCourses to e.g. Google Calendar.

  • Check your calendar daily.
  • In the morning, think about the main task of the day.
  • Check your list of goals weekly (even a physical printout/list may be useful).
  • Identify the most important goals.
  • Make sure you have a clear image in your mind of what you want to get done and what the day’s main task is; also, keep in mind what else you intend to do during the week – remember to reserve time for yourself!

 

‘Recognise your prime time and defend it ruthlessly’

Every person has their own ‘prime time’ or best time of the day. Identify which time that is for you and use it to accomplish the most important things. Just be firm and say no to other things during that time. Eliminate disturbances and avoid rabbit holes. Turn off your notifications. If you are interrupted in the middle of a difficult task, it may take 15 minutes to recover and get back to what you were doing.

 

Recording your independent study time on your calendar

In higher education, studying is done mostly independently. Write down explicitly the amount of time you will use to prepare for classes. You will get more out of a class when you acquaint yourself with the material ahead of time. Write down also the amount of time you will spend reviewing the lessons afterwards, e.g. the day after the class. This will help you considerably when you are studying for an exam. In the review, you might summarise the main points of the class visually, for instance.


4. Monitor your use of time

Tips for the future: 

  • For a few weeks, write down what you actually did during that time and how much of it was used for studying. You might find out that you did not, in fact, put so much time into studying as you thought, and it will help you determine how much time you need for similar tasks in the future.
  • Evaluate your success: how well did you stick to your plan? Where were you successful? Where did you waste time? Are there ‘time bandits’ – things that take up considerably more time than you realized? What was challenging? Was your plan realistic and doable? If you deviated from your goals, did you do it consciously or inadvertently? What should be changed? What things took place differently than you expected? Was your plan too detailed? Did you pack too much into it?
  • Students who monitor their use of time for four weeks during their first year of studies tend to get through their studies at a faster-than-average rate. 

You can now get started with the actual scheduling.


Instructions for making a weekly plan


Excercise: creating a weekly plan

Many people say they are good at making up plans and schedules, but things still don’t seem to get done – there’s too much to do, they can’t get started, or there’s a hitch somewhere. When you learn how to prepare a realistic weekly plan, then making the plan is more than half the battle!

Take out all your Group A post-its and stack them together. Which of them needs your attention and action during the next week (7 days)? 

 Use one of these scheduling templates or use some other suitable template/calendar or create your own visualization:

Excel template (more structured, use the time slots if desired) or a bit different kind of excel template.

Printable template (more free-form, perhaps best used as a print-out)

Write each weekly goal in its own slot (the “Weekly Objectives/Priorities” section) and tasks related to each goal (the “To Do Items” section). Remember that rest may sometimes be the main task of the day! Then make a schedule and distribute these tasks over the week. First add the compulsory events that take place at a definite time (such as lectures) and after that schedule your independent study time etc.

When you have made your schedule, try to follow it for the next week.

 

You can also use an Alternative Method: Time management with the help of a timeline 



Senast redigerad: onsdag, 28 september 2022, 16:06