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LEARNING ZONE – ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE Academic success has many moving parts and each of the areas are linked together to create a total action plan. This workshop will be focusing on the areas of Time Management and Organization. Where Does your Time Go? We all have 168 hours in a week? Are you using your time wisely? The link below will take you to a survey to see where you are spending your time?
https://www.ferris.edu/HTMLS/academics/advising/Section5ExploratoryandGateway/time.htm Any surprises after taking the survey?
What changes do you want to make? Less time gaming? More sleep? Less social time? Study more?
The decision is yours. Now, we will look at some strategies to help you use your time more wisely. What are key steps for successful time management?
You may know the tasks you need or want to do. Sometimes it may seem hard to get started creating an action plan. Watch this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrERYg6t6NM on successful time management. TIME TO START...
Time management can feel a bit overwhelming. Let’s focus on one of the key components of organization, the management of your calendar. If you can learn to manage your day and schedule, your schedule won’t manage you; you will ultimately accomplish more throughout the day and hopefully feel less stress. Realize that time management and organization are not the same as multitasking. Many students think they can and should multitask, but it’s not necessarily a good thing. One definition of multitasking is doing two things at once by taking twice as long to do them, half as well. It is better to give your full attention to tasks, particularly the important ones. Usually multitasking occurs when you feel you don’t have enough time to get everything you want done. Create a semester calendar
Where to find time starts with creating a semester assignment calendar at the beginning of the term. It is an important step to getting organized. This will help you see the big picture for the semester. Put your tests, paper and/or project due dates on the calendar. Do you have a crazy week where you have projects, papers or tests happening at the same time? Knowing this will help you plan ahead to create an action plan, so you can be ready for that crazy week.
➢ Integrate your tests and due dates ➢ Work backwards with your planning ➢ Plan ahead Create a weekly schedule
This will help you see how much time you have each week to study. You will start by putting in your classes, if you work – work schedule, when you have meals, if you are on a team your practice and game times and your protected time (exercise time, meditation time, social time….your time). We all need time to relax with family and friends, pursue outside interests, and truly “get away,” we recharge and find renewed strength to tackle all of the important tasks ahead.
Then it’s time to put in your study/homework time. Remember you should spend 2 to 3 hours of study time a week for every hour your are in class.
Helps you create Helps you create your your study time. “protected time” Create a weekly To-Do Lists
Now the last step…..create a game plan for your scheduled school work time. Creating a weekly To-Do list will start the process. When you make your list, make time for planning and prioritizing.
Be realistic about what you want to accomplish when creating your To-Do List. If you overschedule yourself, you will be disappointed when you cannot accomplish every task. Tasks will always be added and changing on your list. Is it important to review your to-do list regularly, daily if possible, and revise as necessary. Your To-Do list will never get done – think of it as it as your action plan to start the completion of tasks.
Do you have a hard time deciding how long an assignment takes? • TIP: in the beginning of the semester write on your syllabus how long it took you to read a chapter, do your homework etc. This will help you for the next week when planning your TO-DO list. There are many apps to use for time managements
The time management techniques we learned today are things that you can do manually. All the calendars and forms used in this presentation are available for free at the Learning Zone. You can stop in to pick them up or download them on their website. However, there are many apps you can use on your phone, IPad, laptop. The time management system you choose to use isn’t as important as figuring out the style that works best for you and to USE IT! Five apps for Time Managements
Best for task management for individuals as well as teams.
Price: You can sign up for free and have a free account. One upgrade plan is also available for $39.99 per year. Features:
You can create as many lists as you want.
Tasks and sub-tasks can be created.
You can make the to-do-lists much colorful using tags.
The app will allow you to attach files for the tasks from Dropbox and Google Drive.
You can share your lists.
It can work offline in a web app. 2. Todoist Free Time Management App
Best for time management features.
Price: Todoist is free forever. The premium plan is available for $4 per month. It offers a Business plan for teams which will cost you $5 per user per month. Free trial of a Business plan is also available for 30 days Todoist will help you to manage everything from one place. It works on any device. It provides the feature of setting goals and visualizing the progress. With a paid plan, you will get more features like automatic reminders, template creation, and automatic backup of data. Features: You can set daily and weekly goals. You can visualize your progress. It will allow you to review your completed tasks. Todoist can take an automatic backup of your data. It will allow you to create your own templates for projects. Automatic reminders. 3. RescueTime
Best for time tracking for individuals and teams.
Price: RescueTime Lite is free forever. RescueTime Premium is for $9 per month. You can try RescueTime Premium for 14 days. RescueTime is a time management software which will provide you the analytics for your computer activities by tracking the time. It will help you to become more productive. It will allow you to pause and unpause the time tracking. It offers bank-level security. Features:
It will allow you to create alerts for notifications.
It can track offline activities like meetings and phone calls.
It can provide three months of report history with a free plan and an unlimited report history with a paid plan.
It will allow you to block websites to avoid distractions and become focused on the accomplishment of your goals. 4. My Life Organized
Best for task management for individuals.
Price: MLO provides a free trial for 45 days. It has categorized the pricing plans into four parts. MLO for Windows has two plan i.e. Standard ($49.95) and Professional ($59.95). My Life Organized (MLO) is a task management software for individuals. It can be used on Windows and Mac desktop, iPhone, iPad, Android phone, and Android Tablet. It provides a simple interface for creation of to-do-lists. Using lists and reminders, MLO will help you to manage tasks and thereby will help for time management. Features: It is easy to create new tasks and new lists with a drag-and-drop interface. It supports hierarchical lists. Smart reminders: It can send reminders based on the location. Data sync across all your devices. 5. Asana
Best for project management
Price: Asana has four pricing plans i.e. Basic, Premium ($9.99 per user per month), Business ($19.99 per user per month), and Enterprise (Get a quote). Asana will help you in time management by managing your projects, tasks, and work. For time management it will allow you to set goals and prioritize the tasks. It tracks the progress of the work in order to improve your productivity and to keep you stay focused. Features:
It will provide you real-time updates by tracking the progress.
It will streamline communication.
It will allow you to set the goals.
You can prioritize the tasks. Work on your Expectations – don’t fall into the trap of overestimating ourselves or how long a project may take to complete Multitasking is Evil - Multitasking is a focus killer. Prioritizing on one task at a time is the best way to get things done Setup a Routine - Lack of a solid routine can quickly take the day downhill. Create a semester/weekly/daily game plan Get Things Done - Focus on the task. Perfection is important but not at the cost of not completing a task Deadlines aren’t as bad as they sound - Every task needs a deadline. Deadlines helps us to be accountable CAMPUS SUPPORT: If you are feeling that you may need some help during the semester with time management or getting organized, there are many areas on campus you can get support.
• Professors – don’t forget that your professors have office hours and are willing to help. You just have to stop in and ask • Academic Advisors/Departments – provides support on the curriculum and academic programs, policies, course selections, major exploration • Learning Zone/Academic coaching – provides peer tutoring for academic/writing support and academic coaching is available to provide support with time management, organization, study skills • High Library –if you are doing research for a paper or project, the library staff can help. This will help with your time management and organization Resources Adams, R. V., & Blair, E. (2019). Impact of time management behaviors on undergraduate engineering students’ performance. SAGE Open. Retrieved from: https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244018824506. Jackson, V. P. (2008). Time management: A realistic approach. 2009 American College of Radiology, 6(6), 434-436. Retrieved from: https://doi.org/ 10.1016/j.jacr.2008.11.018.
Handouts: Weekly calendars: https://www.etown.edu/offices/learning/Weekly%20Schedule.pdf To-do List: https://www.etown.edu/offices/learning/To%20do%20list.2%20pdf.pdf
Links: Where does your time go? https://www.ferris.edu/HTMLS/academics/advising/Section5Exploratory andGateway/time.htm Kings College video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrERYg6t6NM