Manage your time, info and wellbeing
“I recommend to you that you take care of the minutes; for hours will take care of themselves."
Philip Dormer Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield
It’s easy to let a heavy workload and busy schedule overwhelm you. But knowing how to manage your time can help even the busiest person stay on top of things. Time management is a great skill to have not only for studying but throughout your whole life. This module provide techniques and suggestions to help you be more efficient with your study time and able to fit more into your days.
Styles of time management
Through nature, nurture and practice, young adults have already developed some methods and habits for managing time. Like many aspects of our personality, our time management traits can have positive and negative effects.
Complete this quick quiz which explores some time management traits in a fun way.
The importance of a routine
Treat your study day like a working day. The day should have solid periods of productive work time separated with restful breaks. The Pomodoro technique is a “distraction fighting, brain training" technique that encourages you to work in short blocks and remain consistently productive. It can help you stay truly focused on a task without becoming distracted.
The technique is simple to implement and all you need is a timer. Essentially it involves:
- working for 25 minutes
- followed by a short 5 minute break
- do this four times
- then take a longer break, say 20 minutes.
Some other practical techniques
Avoid procrastination
- Procrastinating is putting off doing a required task, often by finding something more enjoyable to do. It increases stress because the task still needs to be done.
- Make a start. Once you’ve begun something it is easier to continue.
- Set realistic goals and don’t attempt to do a whole assessment in one night. Break down your work into smaller, more achievable tasks. Then complete each task progressively.
- Reward yourself by doing something you enjoy after completing each task (instead of doing it beforehand).
- Plan ahead by marking dates and times for tasks in your planner or diary.
Deal with distractions
- Close your door and let others know that you are studying.
- If you can, turn your phone to silent or turn off social media and other notifications.
- Clear clutter from your desk and your workspace.
Consider the time you will spend in your study space
- Bring in natural light and plants.
- Make it a calm space where you can be productive.
- Organise your environment to suit you. Our brain works more efficiently in an organised space.
Create balance
- You need to have some downtime when you can.
- Break your day up with non-study activities like exercising, getting fresh air, and spending time with others.
- Include healthy snacks and non-screen time.
- Try to get a good nights sleep as your brain reorganises and restores itself while you sleep.
Managing information
Managing information effectively is an important skill. It involves knowing how to organise, store and share information.
When deciding where to store your documents, you should consider:
- Who needs access?
- Should the information be public or private?
- Is the information confidential?
- Do you have a back-up?
Version control is very important. You can get confused tracking old versus current versions of your document. It’s even more difficult when members of a group edit a shared document. Consider:
- Does the software you are using support version control?
- Have you saved a back-up of your files, so you don’t lose your work
- Do you need to track the history of your document?
- How will you name your files to help with tracking?
To make it easier to access your documents organise your files in a tiered folder structure and use descriptive folder and file names for the contents. For example:
In this example the folders are arranged by unit with separate folders for each assessment.
When you are saving and organising your files, try naming the documents and folders in a way that makes sense. This will help ensure your files and data can be easily located.
Apply a consistent format to naming your files, for example:
In this example the document title can be broken down into sections:
- The date format: YYMMDD
- The Unit Code
- The Document Title
- The Document Title
When you are deciding on a file naming convention, consider:
- Avoiding punctuation, use dashes rather than spaces
- Making file names short, but meaningful
- Incorporating the date in a file or folder name
Top Tech Tips
Helping you manage your time, info and wellbeing
If you don’t have a timer handy, there are many Pomodoro apps and browser extensions available.
There are a range of tools available to you that make storing, organising, and sharing information easier. Compare some of the tools on the Managing Information webpage.