Tips for Time Management

It is important to stay on task and be productive. In your calendar, enter in all your due dates. Estimate how much time you will need to complete your assignments and put some start dates in the calendar as well. From this, create a “to-do” list of your online course work. The Learning Center has a handy Semester on a Page handout that many students find helpful: You can coordinate the major assignments and tests for all of your courses with University deadlines on one page.

When you go to a face-to-face class you enter into a physical learning space with your classmates, and you focus your attention on the lecture, discussion, and activities. It's important to create that kind of space for your online class: This may be a desk or table at home or your dorm room, or a quiet space in the library. It's important to minimize noise and distractions, including pop-up notifications and texts on your computer and phone. Minimizing distractions will help you stay focused on your work. Store your course files on your desktop, and/or Google Drive Links to an external site. where you can store and access all of your documents from anywhere.

When you have a lot to do, it can often seem overwhelming to decide what you should be working on. Consider prioritizing tasks in the following way to help:

High Priority: Projects and assignments that are due within the next day or two. Topics and work that are most difficult for you. Do the work in this category first while you are the most mentally focused.

Medium Priority: This includes work that is due later, and larger research projects. Divide large projects into smaller chunks and schedule that work evenly over time so it’s completed by the due date.

Low Priority: This includes work that is not in the above categories and work that you find easy to complete. Save these items for last so you can still concentrate on them when you are less focused.

Try the Pomodoro Technique Links to an external site. of doing short bursts (typically 25 minutes) of work followed by a break. The idea is that the frequent breaks help to improve mental agility and allow your work time to be more focused. Check out the online Pomodoro timer Links to an external site..

Between school, work, and other sports and hobbies, it may be tough to find time to get anything else done. But there are other things that still need to get done. Use Google Calendar Links to an external site. or Flora Links to an external site. to schedule and remind you of your appointments, car maintenance, birthdays, etc. Google Calendar can be setup to email or text reminders so you don’t have to keep checking your calendar. There are a number of other methods to help you organize your time and send you notifications of important dates. Sites like Remember the Milk Links to an external site., Microsoft Outlook Links to an external site., and even reminders on your cell phone if you have one.