Today's topic is time management. I'd like to share my time management strategy, as I used to have three jobs at uni and study full time simultaneously. While everyone is different and these tips could be unhelpful to people with different habits, hopefully, my time management strategy can inspire you to manage your time better as well.
My usual daily schedule: 3 hours in class, 2-3 hours for studying (x 2-3 days a week), 1-2 hours for cooking/cleaning/laundry, 8 hours of sleep (sometimes more...), 4-5 hours for work, 1 hour for extra study if necessary, and the rest for relaxing/resting. So I don't really study hard or work hard, I just spend enough time to actually finish my jobs. Below are the key points of my time management strategy:
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My usual daily schedule: 3 hours in class, 2-3 hours for studying (x 2-3 days a week), 1-2 hours for cooking/cleaning/laundry, 8 hours of sleep (sometimes more...), 4-5 hours for work, 1 hour for extra study if necessary, and the rest for relaxing/resting. So I don't really study hard or work hard, I just spend enough time to actually finish my jobs. Below are the key points of my time management strategy:
- Use a diary to plan for study (I don't think any electronic diaries like Google calendar are good ideas for study plans as fiddling on the computer can lead to other distractions). I list things I have to do for the week (eg. complete ENB472 tutorial, complete draft for ENB476 submission 1, etc.)
- I use Google Calendar to see when I have free time. Graphical timetable makes it easy to see when I have spare time. I also use different colour code to classify different tasks. But I still don't recommend using Google Calendar to plan for your study. When you plan for study, you will need to write down the to-dos first then allocate time and you don't know when or how long exactly you will be able to work on each task first.
- Study and work efficiently (these tips are on this blog site as well)
- Reply to emails/texts/messages on the spot instead of leaving them for later
- Remind people to get their jobs done that may affect my work
- Rest well and socialise. I make sure that I am doing something social once a week. I also make sure that once every fortnight, I do NOTHING for the day (stay at home, not cleaning/cooking, just reading books or playing games or sleeping)
- Don't commit to anything I'm not sure if I can do
- When a task pops up in my mind, I will do it straight away
- Always follow my mood. I can't study efficiently if I'm not in the mood. (Not in the mood? I go to bed/eat/socialise)
Article by Sae
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