Managing Time

[Guest NatDancer]

I recently almost doubled the amount of dance I am taking (from 7 classes a week to 12) and I am also entering my junior year. I am taking many AP and honors classes, and was wandering if anyone out there has any tips on how to manage what little time I have left so that my GPA stays above a 3.3 (if it drops, my parents are cutting most of my dance, PLUS if it says up, I get my very own car!). Any suggestions would be appriciated! Thanks and God bless!

[Mel Johnson]

Here's a good list of time management tools which matches very nearly a list I got from a seminar run by Harvard Business School:

 

http://content.aol.monster.com/career/team/time_mgt/

 

To which I would add: Be proactive - in other words, act, don't REact, in as much as you possibly can on any given task.

 

And here's one from George Mason University especially for students who need to function at a college level:

 

http://www.gmu.edu/gmu/personal/time.html

[Guest attitude]

I have an organiser diary where I write the things I need to do. It's really good because it has times on the side so you can enter your tasks at the time you need to do them. I even write down when my fave tv shows are on. I also number my tasks according to which has a higher priority and watching tv is nowhere near the bottom of the list (relaxing should be just as important as homework if it's exam time then I tape my shows). I also reward myself for completing a task in the allocated time. The bigger the task, the bigger the reward I find that it keeps me running on schedule. I have fixed times for relaxing (eg snacking, flicking through magazines, little BRIEF things like that) and I work around that. Most people do it the other way around, working around their tasks. my way works for me. It keeps my head down on my work so I don't miss out on rest. It also means that I'm not overwhelmed by the amount of work I have to do. It's easier to work in 1-2 hour chunks than to work 4-5 hours non-stop. That's really exhausting.

 

Going back to prioritizing. That's always flexible. As long as there's enough time if you have more concrete ideas about an assignment that's dueon a later date start on that. A task that's done is one less to worry about so you can concentrate on the one that's due sooner.

 

I try to get to ballet early so I'm not rushing. I get changed straight away and then flop on the floor somewhere and read over the day's lectures/lessons or planning assignments while stretching.

 

I'm at university now and I get in really early to take advantage of the empty cafeteria and just read over what I have to do for the day specially lab practicals, while eating breakfast. There's so much work you can do in an hour if you just put your head down to it.

 

If you feel like having break and it's not time yet, don't - just glue your butt down and finish what you're doing. If you keep getting up everytime you feel like it nothing will ever get done.

 

I also rewrite my notes. In lectures I write in point form and we usually have handouts. I rerwite my notes in paragraph form expanding it by referring to textbooks (with reference to page numbers) I also cut out the figures in the handouts and paste them in my notebook in the appropriate places for easy reference and so I don't have loose pages that I know I will end up losing. This you can do while watching tv as it's not that important. It takes time but come exam time when everyone is stressing trying to find their notes and blindly searching through their 10 kilo text books I've got everything I need in the one notebook. I find that summarising notes is counterproductive as it takes out the details which is what you really need. Anyway, that's not really time management but it does save me time when I need it most.

 

And Sunday is a day of rest. I usually end up cramming on Sunday night anyway, but it's worth it.

[Guest Angel2Be]

I have a Palm Pilot (cheap one... only 80 dollars) that is a really handy way to do everything above but bring it with you everywhere.

 

Of course, I'm not quite as organized at Attitude. It's an effort. :mad:

[Guest attitude]

It's a lot of effort at first but after a while it just becomes habit. And it makes me feel good to finish what I set out to do.

 

Angel2Be, can the PalmPilot show your full day's agenda without having to scroll down the page? What about the week's agenda?

[Guest Angel2Be]

It can show daily, weekly, and monthly agendas. You have to scroll down on the day one but it's really no trouble... I've gotten used to it. There are some disadvantages, but overall it was a worthwhile purchase for me.

[Guest Nadezhda]

You'll gain lots of time, if you find which learning methods are right for you. To find this out, you'll have to invest some time in reading books about learning methods, but in the end it's worth the time.

 

• Have you tried doing mind maps?
  
• Do you know how to accelerate your reading and still understand everything?
  
• Do you learn thoroughly? (Having gaps in knowledge and filling them is VERY time consuming)
  
• Do you frequently revise?
  

 

These are just a few questions, but if you answer yes to all of them, then you are already sparing lots of time and all the rest of time you should have fun and realx. As attitude put it, relaxing is vital for being efficient while you're working.

 

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...=books&n=507846 - here you can find a very good book about accelerating your learning. Maybe you can find it in your local library.

 

Good luck!