Manage your time to meet your
deadlines
Dr Michelle Reid
Study Advice, University of Reading
© University of Reading 2010
To meet your deadlines, you need to…
…fit the tasks you have to do into the
time you have to do them in.
Sounds easy, BUT –
• “What should I do first?”
• “I don’t have enough time!”
• “I know what I need to do, but I can’t make
myself do it!”
• “Why can’t I stay focused?”
But we can’t do everything...
It’s not about working harder or faster...it’s
about spending more time on the right things
- Prioritising
- Knowing how you work best
“What should I do first?”
Deciding on priorities
-
What is due first?
What will count for more marks?
What is “added value” and can be left till later?
What can I get done quickly?
What do I need to take more time to understand?
What do I need more help with?
- What are the consequences if I don’t do this?
Which is most urgent / important?
How would you prioritise these?
-
Rewriting lecture notes
Background reading
Writing end of term essay
Reading for a seminar
Weekly maths / translation exercise
Project for the end of next term
Revision for an exam in middle of next term
What are my priorities?
1) List everything you have to do
2) Order them into doing Now / Soon / Later
3) Explain to the person next to you why you
have ordered them this way
- Why did you decide to do them in this
order?
Prioritising and setting goals
Know what you are aiming to achieve
- Be selective – you can’t do everything
- Break down into smaller tasks
- Have deadlines for starting as well as finishing
- What do you want to achieve today? This week?
- Don’t make inflexible plans
- Make your plans visible / visual
“Why can’t I stay focused?”
Identify how you work best
-
Work at your best time of day
Have achievable goals
Keep changing your study mode
Be aware of what distracts you!
Dealing with distractions
What distracts you from study and how could
you deal with it?
1) Write one thing that distracts you from studying,
then pass it on
2) Suggest a way to avoid the distraction you’ve been
given – pass it to someone different this time
The 5 step plan
A quick fix for when you are feeling overwhelmed
1. List everything you need to do
2. Break down big tasks into smaller steps
3. Put in three columns – Now / Soon / Later
4. Do something from the Now column and tick it off
the list – getting one task done will make you feel
calmer
5. Now put the rest in order and plan to tackle them
LearnHigher: www.learnhigher.ac.uk
Time management pages with excellent practical advice plus
downloadable planner grids and activities
ASK – Assignment Survival Kit:
www.kent.ac.uk/uelt/ai/ask/index.php
Put in your deadline and it will break your assignment into stages
and calculate how long you should spend on each stage
LeechBlock: https://addons.mozilla.org/enUS/firefox/addon/4476
For the Firefox web browser – block those websites that drain
away your time!
[email protected]