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Time Management

There is time for everything.
Thomas Edison

Time management is all about how you organise yourself in order to make the best use of your time and become more effective. At one extreme it is possible to spend long hours, drifting somewhat aimlessly from one subject to another and making only slow progress. At the other extreme you can work fewer hours, but by working much more purposefully you can complete tasks promptly and efficiently.

There is no single time management 'solution' which is best for everyone and every learning situation. The main thing is to experiment with your own working pattern, refining it until you feel comfortable with it and it works well for you. The following are some of the key features of time management which you might wish to take into account:

• Planning is essential if you have tight timescales to meet, such as for the completion of essays or a thesis.
• Where you have large and/or difficult tasks to complete, break them down into a series of more manageable sub-tasks. (See Problem-Solving.)
• Avoid time-wasting, unproductive activities. For example, when given a reading list, it is preferable to be selective about what you read, rather than slavishly trying to read every page of every book. And it is likewise not recommended to spend evenings rewriting notes taken at lectures attended earlier during the day.
• You should aim to do your most concentrated work during the part of the day when you are at the peak of your energy. For many people this will be during the late morning, around 10.30-12.30.

Recommendations

Experiment with your pattern of work and various time management techniques until you find what suits you best. And, for example, if you have just a 20 minute slot for working, try to fit in a 20 minute job, rather than make a start on a larger task which you will be unable to complete. Finally, be kind to yourself - give yourself regular rest breaks and reward yourself when you successfully complete tasks!

Further Information

For further information on time management see:

Meet the man who can bring order to your universe - David Allen of Getting Things   Done by Ben Hammersley
SelfGrowth.com - Time Management Information
Thirteen Timely Tips for More Effective Personal Time Management (University of
  Nebraska-Lincoln)
Time Management Tips (George Mason University)

 

	Page last modified: 8 February 2007