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Finding the Time for� Time Management

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A Student Services Workshop

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What is �Time Management?

  • Time management refers to the development of processes and tools that increase efficiency and productivity (for a student, for a business, for an organization)

  • Time management doesn’t “just happen” for anyone – it is a skill that must be worked on, and that most people find to be a life-long challenge

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�What Do High School Students Have to Juggle Nowadays?�

  • School work
  • Jobs
  • Volunteer work
  • Co-curricular activities
  • Community activities
  • Family responsibilities
  • Social life

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Time Management Is Critical to Your Success In…

  • …getting your school work done and achieving good grades
  • …keeping a job (and being able to support yourself)
  • …maintaining your mental and physical health
  • …investing in and keeping good relationships with other people

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The Benefits of Having Good TM Skills

  • Time management helps you get the most out of your education
  • Allows you to be better prepared for the demands of your life…therefore decreases anxiety
  • Helps you to assign time to tasks in proportion to their importance (prioritizing)
  • Helps you achieve a more balanced life
  • Makes you a more productive, successful person

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Early Warning Signs of TM Problems…

  • Handing in work late
  • Submitting work that is not up to your usual standard
  • Forgetting commitments
  • Finding that you often don’t have enough time to complete a task
  • Making excuses for why work is not done
  • Having to let go of activities you enjoy because of a lack of time or low grades

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Early Warning Signs of TM Problems…

  • Asking teachers for extensions regularly on submitting your work
  • Your grades don’t reflect your ability

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  • Take a minute to complete the “Time Management Quiz” to determine how much you need to work on this important skill

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Why Don’t We Use Our Time More Effectively?

  • Planning out your time seems like more work
  • Adds more “structure” to your day – we have enough of this at school or work
  • Forces you to look at what needs to be completed – can be overwhelming
  • It’s not fun
  • You are lazy or just don’t care enough

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Crisis vs. Time Management

  • Lots of people use more “crisis management” than time management:

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Crisis

vs.

Time

“I wish I had more time”

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“My mark reflected the time I spent”

“I know I’ll get a bad mark”

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“I’ll get a good mark”

“I don’t want to see my grade”

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“I can hardly wait to see my mark!”

“Everyone will do better than I will”

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“I feel good about myself and my work”

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Three Key Steps to Good Management

  • Developing a Weekly Schedule
    • to provide an overview of free and committed time
  • Writing a Daily To-Do List
    • to provide daily reminders to assure key tasks are not forgotten
  • Preparing a Long-Term Plan
    • to promote overall organization and

future planning

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Step 1: �Creating a Weekly Schedule

  • Can use a weekly schedule template, a student agenda, or a computer program
  • Will allow you to:
    • Organize your regular activities
    • Determine your available free time
    • Look at hours spent on extra-curricular activities
    • See how much time you study
    • Know how and where you tend to waste time

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Step 1:� Creating a Weekly Schedule

  • Fill in the weekly schedule in this sequence:
    • Personal Maintenance (i.e. eating, sleeping, getting ready, travel)
    • Your classes
    • Your work commitments
    • Other Commitments (volunteer, extra-curricular etc.)

THEN fill in other OPTIONAL commitments

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The Typical Student Week

Things I Must Do +

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Things I Want to Do +

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Wasted Time =

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168 hours

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Where Does the Time Go?

  • Approx. 110 hours of time is consumed by personal maintenance and class time
  • Work and other commitments may take up to another 14+ hours
  • That leaves approximately 44 hours remaining - this is YOUR time to spend how you see fit!

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A Good Exercise…

  • If you can’t figure out where that 44 hours goes every week, keep track of how you spend your time for the next 7 days – you’ll be amazed at how it gets used!

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  • No one expects that a student will use every minute of their free time to do work – but it seems reasonable that at least half of it will be devoted to academics (and even more at very busy times)

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Step 2:� Daily To-Do Lists

  • It’s helpful to create a list with the following headings as a way to organize your time:

Wednesday, March 26

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Task Time Req. Importance Other Notes

Math homework 1 hour Important

Play rehearsal 2 hours Very important Drama Room

Science Quiz ½ hour Very important Cell structures

Geography mapping ½ hour Important Extra help from

Mrs. Belford

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Step 2:� Daily To-Do Lists

  • It’s even more effective to actually create a daily schedule and block out the time when events will happen (see sample)
  • It’s important to tick things off on your daily to-do list as you complete them – gives you a sense of accomplishment
  • Try to put down a little more on your list than you think you can realistically accomplish
  • Breaking down large projects into smaller tasks that you can accomplish in small chunks of time is one of the most effective TM strategies

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Step 3:� Long-Term Plans

  • Best to use a monthly calendar
  • Important to be able to look ahead by at least 4 weeks
  • As soon as you are informed of deadlines for assignments, test dates etc. put them on the calendar so you can ensure that you’re able to do some long-range planning
  • A very important step in preventing last minute cramming or rushed assignments

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Procrastination: �Enemy of Time Management

  • While procrastinating may give immediate gratification because it delays working on an important (but sometimes undesirable) task, it also brings:
    • Anxiety
    • Reduced sleep
    • Illness
    • Lower grades
    • Poorer quality of work
    • Less learning as a result of being rushed
    • A personal sense of disappointment
  • In the end, it hurts you more than it helps you!

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The Importance of Setting Priorities

  • At any one time, you may have 10 tasks that ideally you should be working on – it will be impossible to do them all!
  • Setting priorities means making a value judgment on each task you need to complete based on it’s worth and when it must be completed
  • In short: the tasks that are worth the most and due the soonest should be your #1 priority!

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How Much Time Should I Be Spending?

  • If you don’t know how much time a particular task should be taking up, here are some helpful suggestions:
    • Ask your teacher for some guidance
    • Speak to other successful students in the class
    • Break the task down into various stages and consider an appropriate amount of time for each step
    • Consider the value of and deadline for the task and weigh it against other priorities

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What If I Get Off Schedule?

  • It’s important to prepare for the unexpected – things will always come up that you didn’t plan for…even after great planning!

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  • When your plan is thrown into chaos:
    • List each necessary activity you need to complete
    • Define time limits for each activity
    • Set priorities within the list
    • Tackle assignments in that order

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What If I Just Have Too Much Going On?

  • If you find that you have very few hours left in your day, week or month to relax, spend time with friends or family, or pursue your own interests, it’s time to re-evaluate your commitments!
  • If you spread yourself too thin, you won’t fulfill any of the commitments in your life to your level of satisfaction
  • Again, be sure to prioritize and don’t feel guilty if you need to drop an activity or two – your health and well-being is always your #1 priority!

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In Summary…

  • Time management is a skill that EVERYONE must work on in all areas of their life (personal, academic, work)
  • Successful time management requires self-evaluation and the desire to improve
  • Effective time management will require you to do things you don’t want to do when you don’t want to do them – you have to push yourself!
  • The pay-off of good time management is ALWAYS worth the effort

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If you think you could use more help…

  • Talk to your teachers about their suggestions in how to manage the workload in the class
  • Let your parents, friends, coaches etc. know how you are feeling – their support is important
  • Book an appointment with your counsellor in Student Services to actually practice some of the time management techniques
  • If your mental or physical health is impeding your ability to manage your time effectively, see your family doctor

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