Time Management

What matters to you? For most students at Miami, getting a degree, hopefully within a reasonable time-frame, is one of their primary goals at the university. But almost everyone has other goals: long-term, short-term, and even goals related to their coursework. Some examples:

Long-term Goals

• Graduate with a degree from Miami University.
• Be a member of a team that wins a championship.
• Get into a prestigious graduate school.

General Short-term Goals

• Finish foreign language requirement.
• Train an extra hour each day.
• Research requirements for graduate school.

 Specific Project Short-term Goals

• Collect needed books and references
• Create an outline
• Write introduction
• Write section one

Your own goals and priorities will lay the foundation for time management. Having a firm understanding of what is important to you and what you want to accomplish will aid in making decisions about how you spend your time.

After thinking about your goals for the semester, you will want to think about how you can use your time most effectively to meet them. It helps to have a visual representation of your commitments for a semester, and there are a lot of ways you can achieve this, including: 

• Miami Memos, available at the bookstore
• Weekly or Monthly planners or calendars
• Google Calendar or similar programs
• The Rinella Learning Center planner

At the beginning of each semester, regardless of the type of schedule you prefer to use, it is good practice to put all major assignments from each of your syllabi into your schedule. If you prefer to use both weekly and monthly paper planners, it is in your best interest to put all of this into both types of planner. This way, you can easily take a look at your weekly and monthly assignments throughout the semester, and be aware of what is coming next.

Each week, you should review the following two to three weeks on your planner. You should also update your planner as soon as you hear about new assignments or responsibilities. This way, no assignments will surprise you, and you will be able to keep yourself aware of all of the work that you need to complete.

Digital vs. Paper: Pros and Cons

Online calendars, like Google Calendar, are a popular way to keep track of assignments. Paper planners require a lot of writing, and often require you to look at them frequently. Google Calendar can remind you of events, so if you are forgetful, this can be quite useful. Some students also find using both paper and digital planners to be helpful. Before you choose which will work for you, however, consider these pros and cons:

The first rule for successful studying is to establish specific and regular times to study within your schedule. A useful and effective method for organizing study time is to use the time immediately before and immediately following each class to study. This method allows you to effectively use time between classes and to create large blocks of time to study a specific subject. This type of focused study increases comprehension and retention.

Often, it is suggested to spend 2 hours out of class for each hour in class for studying. Considering that all courses are not the same, however, you may need more or less time for each course each week. Some courses are more time consuming and challenging than others, so it may help to think about which classes require more time for study. If you are taking a moderately easy course, for example, you may only need one hour of study time for every in-class hour. Likewise, more challenging classes may require 3 or 4 hours of out-of-class study time for each in class hour. For an example, see a sample schedule below:

After gaining an understanding of your studying and classroom time needs, you will be prepared to create a block schedule for yourself. Block schedules allow you to see how your day will play out. We encourage you to think about how you can best use the time you have available during the day—including before, after, and between classes—to complete most of your academic work. On the following pages, we present an example of how you can use your time most effectively during the day.

Block Scheduling

As you can see above, block scheduling allows you to visualize how your day can be the most productive. If you look at the above example, for instance, you can see that a majority of this student’s planned study times are during the day—for some classes, they are completely meeting their required study times just by studying in between and before classes. Consider how you can best use your time effectively during the day, so that you can meet your other goals during your time off in the evenings. 

Procrastination

Have you ever told yourself that you “work better under pressure?” Do you find yourself waiting until the last minute to complete your assignments? If so, you’re not alone. Procrastination is a common response to the stress of college, and it is easy to convince ourselves that it is just because we’re lazy or just work better that way. Procrastination isn’t necessarily a symptom of laziness, however. And few can argue that having less time to perfect an assignment is a good thing. It’s usually a symptom of being bored with the material you are studying or not understanding the assignment. These factors often make putting the assignment on the backburner seem much more attractive. If you find yourself struggling with procrastination, try the following:

• Talk to your professor, especially if you don’t understand what you need to do for an assignment.
• Work with one of the tutors available in the Rinella Learning Center, or for writing assignments, in the Writing Center, to get a better grasp on the material.
• Sign up for an appointment with a Learning Specialist in the Rinella Learning Center—they can help you identify ways to become more engaged!

Motivation

It’s hard to talk about procrastination without talking about motivation. While having low motivation can lead to procrastination, low motivation itself often has a number of causes. If you’re having trouble focusing on your schoolwork, it may help to first think about where your struggles are coming from.

Are you simply bored with college? Are other priorities in your life more important right now than your studies? Do you feel socially isolated or anxious about life in general? All of these can impact motivation, but all of these can also be addressed.

Finding a way to get yourself motivated is not something you have to do alone. If you’re simply bored with college, it’s good to consider the following methods and resources:

• Consider speaking to a career advisor or Learning Specialist about your major and career paths
• Break up complicated assignments into smaller parts
• Leave your technology behind—laptops and cell phones can be distractions and lead to lower motivation to work on your assignments
• Give yourself a clear stop and start time to studying, with time for breaks in particularly long stretches
• Find a quiet place on campus to study, where you’re less likely to be distracted

If you find yourself completely lacking direction, emotionally overwhelmed, or juggling too many priorities, keep in mind that there are resources on campus to help you.

• The Rinella Learning Center offers appointments for students struggling with motivation, and we can help you find resources on campus—give us a call at 513-529-8741
• If you’re feeling emotionally drained, overwhelmed, or anxious, professional counselors are available to assist you at Student Counseling Service: 513-529-4634