23/09/2023

Centre for Learning and Professional Development

(CLPD)
Academic Development Workshops

Time management

Sara Steinke
Associate lecturer
s.steinke@bbk.ac.uk

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Aims of the workshop

• what is meant by time management, and why time
management is important to being a successful
student
• value of time management to achieving your goals
• where does your time go; how well do you use your
time
• using to-do lists, a diary and establishing a study
time table as part of your time management
• dealing with distractions and time wasters
• plan your time to meet your study deadlines

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5 reasons for time management skills

1. Adult learners have many, often competing,
demands on their time; work, family, friends and
studying
2. Poor time management skills prevents students
from achieving their best, NOT lack of ability
3. Related to other study skills
- study space/resources, essay writing,
presentation, exams, revision, reading for academic
purposes, note-making
4. Helps you to achieve your goals
5. Link to employability - transferable skill

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C - Creative
have the confidence to use your individual strategies and styles,
apply imagination to your learning
R - Reflective
sit with your experience, analyse and evaluate your own
performance and draw lessons from it
E - Effective
organise your space, time, priorities, state of mind
and resources to the maximum benefit
A - Active
be personally involved, do things, physically and mentally in
order to make sense of what you learn
M - Motivated
be aware of your desired outcomes using short and long-term
'goals‘ Cottrell, S. The Study Skills Handbook

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"Time management is the skill which

above all others can make the difference between
graduating and drop out.”
Ruth Pickford and Sally Brown, Assessing Skills
and Practice
• What is meant by time management
• Where does your time go
• How well do you use your time

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What is time management

• Time management is about organising your
competing priorities in the limited time
available
• Time management often has very little to do
with time
• It is about organising your life around what is
important to you, dealing with and confronting
more emotional issues like fear, inadequacy and
other people’s demands on you

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What current pressures

are there on your time? Studying
lectures,
socialising
Have you thought reading,
about how you writing
are going to fit sleeping/
studying into travel
eating
your wider
schedule? work
exercise/
relaxation
Can you foresee home/
any problems personnel
which may arise?

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Time management skills

1. Small pockets of time - around 45 minutes - are more
productive; short portions of time soon add up; take frequent
breaks
2. Recognise and deal with procrastination; set goals; identify
your time wasters (self-inflicted and given)
3. Pareto Principle - roughly 80% of results/effects come from
20% of effort/causes; 20% effort delivers an acceptable result,
not perfect, but good enough
4. L’Oreal principal - ‘because you’re worth it’; educate your
family, friends and colleagues to respect your study space/time
5. Use one diary to create a ‘to-do list’; prioritise tasks; note
deadlines; write down dates you must begin working towards
the deadlines, establish study timetable

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More time-management skills

• Invest in your academic skills
- note-making skills: mind maps, linear notes;
reading for academic purposes: SQ3R (survey,
question, read, recite, review); dedicated study
space/equipment; goal setting: S.M.A.R.T.;
essay writing process; revision and exam strategies
• Beware of your time wasters/distractions
• Learn how to prioritise tasks
• Use a diary to create ‘to-do’ lists
• Establish a study timetable

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• Procrastination
• Perfectionism
• Lack of self discipline
• Worrying
• Personal disorganisation
• Lack of priorities 1. Which of these
• Inability to say ‘no’
• Indecisiveness
time wasters apply
• Socialising (too much) to you?
• Intrusions (visitors, calls)
• Not finding resources
2. How are you going
• Excessive family demands to deal with these
• Not able to contact people time wasters?
• Facebook/Twitter/internet

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What is prioritisation
• Quadrant A - Urgent and Important
The Quadrant of Necessities - reactive tasks
that need to be done, often at the last minute.
Crises, 'fire-fighting' and looming deadlines
are typical examples.
• Quadrant B - Important but not Urgent
The Quadrant of Quality - proactive tasks, often
habitual, that maintain or improve the quality of
your work and life. The more you expand this
quadrant, the more you reduce the other three,
particularly 'pseudo-emergencies' that should
never have been allowed to become so.
• Quadrant C - Urgent but not Important
The Quadrant of Deception - plenty of people
have gone home in the evening wondering where
all the time went. Well, it was here! It's so easy to
get sucked into doing things that are the wrong
side of the 80-20 rule.
• Quadrant D - Neither Urgent or Important
The Quadrant of Waste - you know what it is and
you know when you've been in it. The trick is to
know when you're in it. Often, it starts out as
restful time (which is Quadrant B).

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List of things to A B C D
do Importance Urgency Subtract the Order of
Need to do Do now score in column priority/
scale 6 scale 1 (must be B from column When to do
(unimportant) done at once) A. Number the
to to The higher order of
10 (essential) 5 (it can wait) scores in column priorities
C are priorities.
1. Print/submit
essay for today’s 10 1 9
deadline
2. Start to prepare
presentation for 8 3 5
next week’s
seminar
3. Sick child
requiring urgent 10 1 9
doctor’s appt.
4. Plan for work
meeting taking 9 2 7
place tomorrow
5. Book holiday
for next summer 6 5 1

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• Use one diary, carry with you at all

times
• Enter deadlines, lectures,
appointments, including extra time
needed to complete these tasks
• Check diary everyday
• Do not schedule 100% of your time,
allow for emergencies/the
unexpected
• Plan time for family, friends, eating,
shopping
• Create to-do list, using prioritisation
• Record follow up tasks

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Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri Sat Sun

am Gym/ Work Gym/ Work Work House House

8-12 Work Work work work
and and
errands errands
pm Work Work Work Work Work Study Family/
12-6 Friends/
Fun

Eve BBK BBK BBK Gym Family/ Study TV

6-9 Friends/
Fun

Night TV Library Key Key Family/ Family/ TV

9-12 reading reading Friends/ Friends/
Fun Fun

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Stages of essay writing

Stella Cottrell
1. Clarify task

2. Collect and record

information

3. Organise and
7. Final draft
plan

6. Work on your 4. Engage, reflect

first draft and evaluate

5. Write an outline and first draft

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Time management quiz

Do you:
have strategies to help you plan and organise
your time?
know how much time you have available for
your studies?
know what makes studying more effective for
you (i.e. when and where you study best)?
keep a diary or calendar so you know when to
attend lectures and when assignments are due?

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Recap of the workshop

• what is meant by time management, and why time
management is important to being a successful
student
• value of time management to achieving your goals
• where does your time go; how well do you use your
time
• using to-do lists, a diary and establishing a study
time table as part of your time management
• dealing with distractions and time wasters
• plan your time to meet your study deadlines

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Procrastination
• Avoid lots of displacement activities
• Check that your study goals are realistic -
are you trying to do too much? - S.M.A.R.T.
• Know yourself
• Reward yourself
• Just do it - something is better than nothing
• Talk to your family members/friends, ask them
to respect your study time
• Identify your time wasters

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