How Good Are Your Time Management Skills?
Success at UAMS is dependent on time management. You have multiple courses, projects, exams, study groups, and deadlines, and keeping up with them can seem overwhelming. In addition, many students also have to manage family, friends, and a full-time job. Learning to manage all the demands on your time is not just a skill for academic success, but one that will serve you in your future personal and professional life
There are many time management strategies and tools available to you, but most of them center on three components; scheduling, prioritizing, and completing.
Scheduling
Learning to schedule your time is one of the most important steps to learning to manage you time effectively. Get a calendar. It doesn’t matter if it is a traditional hard-copy notebook, or an online calendar you have on your phone or mobile device. Just make sure you have some place to keep track of your coursework. As soon as you can, download the schedules for all your courses and put all your assignments, projects, tests, and deadlines for all your courses on the calendar. Your calendar will give you a clear picture of when you are going to be the busiest.
Prioritizing
Learning to prioritize will help you make certain you are doing the most important things first. Break down your big projects into manageable chunks and work on them a little at a time so you aren’t overwhelmed when the deadline is upon you. Make a to-do list each week, and prioritize your tasks according to importance.
It might help to organize your tasks into three categories: Must Do, Should Do, and To Do. Work through these in order of priority, and be disciplined about taking care of the most important things first. Just remember, that Should Do and To Do items can become Must Do if they are not taken care of when you have the opportunity. Take satisfaction in checking items off your to-do list. It shows you how much you have accomplished, and motivates you to stay focused and finish strong.
Completing
Scheduling and prioritizing are great for planning, organizing and understanding your workload, but the actions you take to complete your tasks and accomplish your goals are what will make your time management plan a success. Follow the schedule you have created and work through the items on your to-do list. Remind yourself of your goals when your motivation sags, and don’t be discouraged when unexpected interruptions occur. Make sure to reward yourself when you complete a large task or achieve a goal. Your success will be a reflection of your discipline and determination in carrying out your plan.
Find Support
The are many different ways to manage and organize your time and workload. Click here to find information, tips, and tools on the Learning Support page.
Your success in managing your time and tasks directly impacts your success at UAMS. Keeping up with your courses, projects, exams, study groups, and deadlines can be overwhelming without a plan for managing it all. Using a time management plan that includes maintaining a schedule, prioritizing a to-do-list, and completing your work will not only help maximize your academic success, but will help you succeed professionally.